Congratulations, Class of 2020!
On June 18, our community came together to celebrate the graduation of the Class of 2020 - a cohort of over 400 passionate, courageous, and brilliant young women.
This extraordinary class gracefully navigated an abrupt pivot to online classes. Despite a tumultuous year, they fiercely loved and supported one another. While we missed the dancing, singing, and hugs, our virtual graduation was a beautiful celebration of their accomplishments.
CEO & Co-Founder Elizabeth Dearborn Hughes shared this inspiring message during the ceremony:
Class of 2020, I have 3 pieces of advice for you. Things that I wish someone had told me at the beginning of my career.
1. Identify the source of your energy. Many leaders are filled with sadness and anger about injustice. This gives them the energy to advocate for change, to create something new. I’m a good example of that. I moved to Rwanda when I was 21 because I was so sad about the state of the world and the lack of opportunities for women in Africa. It took me many years to let go of that sadness and instead find my energy from an internal place of love and joy.
Great leadership rarely, if ever, comes from a place of anger and sadness. Truly great creative leadership comes from a place of love, inspiration and gratitude.
2. Invest in your personal growth and spiritual development. Spend time on the spiritual practices of prayer, meditation, worship, time in nature, or other activities that help you to center yourself and quiet your mind. You will be more successful in everything you do.
3. You have to love and believe in yourself if you want others to believe in you. Don’t seek your value or self worth externally. Don’t become an entrepreneur or leader because you need to prove yourself to others. Do it because you are inspired by the idea of creating something new. You are remarkably and wonderfully made, no matter what you accomplish in your career.
You are not your career, your possessions, your salary, your thoughts. You are the divine space in between your thoughts. You are the light of the world. If you’re willing to embrace that and continually and courageously pursue your personal and spiritual growth, then you will be a great leader.
At Akilah, we talk a lot about careers, resumes, accomplishments and yes all these things are important. But I hope you will consider your most important lifelong goal to be discovering and loving yourself, and developing the inner peace and wisdom that will prepare you to lead your life with authenticity, vulnerability, and gratitude for every moment.
We were also inspired by our Guest of Honor, The Hon. Claudette Irere, Minister of State, ICT and TVET, Government of Rwanda, who shared this special message to the graduating class:
“Graduating during this pandemic is certainly quite an achievement in itself. But most importantly, having gone through all the challenges of this difficult time that we’re in, I hope today you are ready to go out into the world and face these challenges head on, with a resolve to create resilient jobs and businesses.
I’m aware that Davis College and Akilah trained you to not only be good employees, but they trained you to be leaders. You have the capacity to deal with today’s challenges. The discipline and values you’ve acquired will serve as your north, to confront the challenges and shape future opportunities.”
If you missed the virtual graduation ceremony, watch it now on our YouTube channel: