Nadine Niyitegeka graduated from Rwanda’s Akilah Institute, where she is now a global ambassador. Recently Nadine has found herself sharing a conference stage with female leaders like Melinda Gates and Barbara Bush, and becoming the subject of a Washington Post article, plus this recent article in the Boston Globe by Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and Swanne Hunt.

Nadine was three years old during the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi. Her family did not have much, but her single mother made education a priority. As a teenager, Nadine walked the four miles to and from school each day. This month, Nadine’s journey comes full circle when she visits Akilah Founder Elizabeth Dearborn Hughes in Tampa. Nadine will be traveling the U.S. to spread the story about how the Akilah Institute educates female leaders to solve the world’s most pressing challenges.

If you’d like to meet Nadine in person and you live in the U.S., she may be visiting a town near you this summer. (Contact holly@akilahinstitute.org for details.) Her visits include:

Washington DC: May 3–May 20th

Boston: May 21–May 22

New York City: May 27–31

Los Angeles: Early June

Boston: June 18–20

More than 5,400 women applied for Akilah’s last intake—over five times the current student body. Akilah aims to grow its capacity to serve, and increased funding through donations will make this possible more quickly. Nadine says:

“I have been able to contribute to my family, my community, and my country. I believe there are Nadines everywhere. We can change the world if we work together.”