Program

2021 Global Women’s Empowerment Award Honoree: Her Excellency Fatima Jabbe Maada Bio

Her Excellency Fatima Jabbe Maada Bio is the First Lady of the Republic of Sierra Leone. She is motivated by pan- Africanist ideals and she is a strong believer in women empowerment as key to sustainable development. A native of Sierra Leone, she pursued her passion for women empowerment as First Lady by staging a peaceful protest against gender-based violence. It was a historic march and for the first time in history, First Ladies from different African Countries came together in unity and joined the peaceful protest march on the streets of Freetown in December 2018. This was the beginning of her very powerful campaign themed “Hands Off Our Girls”. Her Excellency, started her education at the Ansarul Islamic School in Kono, where she did her primary education and part of her Secondary schooling. She later joined the Saint Joseph convent in Freetown (Capital City) for her GCSE studies. Sierra Leone’s illustrious first lady has garnered success through hard-work over the years in the entertainment industry in which she was an actress, Script Writer, executive producer and a multi award winning face of the Nollywood industry. Among her barrage of prominent features in cinema is the ‘Mirror Boy’, which she played the lead character and the movie ‘Battered’ which concept is based on Gender Based Violence and which was written and produced by her.

Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala is the Director-General of the World Trade Organization. She is the first woman and the first African to hold the office. In addition, she is a global finance expert, economist and international development professional with over 30 years of experience working in Asia, Africa, Europe, Latin America, and North America. Currently, Dr. Okonjo-Iweala is Chair of the Board of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. Since its creation in 2000, Gavi has immunized 760 million children globally and saved thirteen million lives. She is regarded as an effective consensus builder and an honest broker enjoying the trust and confidence of governments and other stakeholders.

Previously, Dr. Okonjo-Iweala twice served as Nigeria’s Finance Minister (2003-2006 and 2011-2015) and briefly acted as Foreign Minister in 2006, the first woman to hold both positions. She distinguished herself by carrying out major reforms which improved the effectiveness of these two Ministries and the functioning of the government machinery. She had a 25-year career at the World Bank as a development economist, rising to the No. 2 position of Managing Director, Operations. As a development economist and Finance Minister, Dr Okonjo-Iweala steered her country through various reforms ranging from macroeconomic to trade, financial and real sector issues.

WMBI 2021 Trailblazing Women Awards Honoree: Hon. Daniella Levine Cava

The Honorable Daniella Levine Cava was elected Miami-Dade County’s first-ever woman Mayor in November 2020. She entered the Mayor’s office following a nearly 40-year career as a relentless advocate for South Florida families in public service and elected leadership.

As Miami-Dade County’s Mayor, she oversees a metropolitan government with more than 28,000 employees serving nearly 3 million residents, managing an annual budget of approximately $9 billion.

A social worker, lawyer, and community activist, she was first elected in 2014, and re-elected in August 2018, to serve as the Miami-Dade County Commissioner representing District 8.

As Commissioner, she invested in Miami-Dade small businesses and expanded economic opportunity, protected the environment and our water, increased the County police force for underserved areas, advocated for an expanded, reliable public transportation system, worked to create affordable housing and revitalize neighborhoods, and helped make local government more accountable and transparent.

Mayor Levine Cava came to elected office after having served as an advocate for South Florida families for over 30 years. She served special needs children and immigrants at Legal Services of Greater Miami, and then represented children in the child welfare system as Associate and Legal Director for the Guardian Ad Litem Program.

Dr. Malou Harrison is Provost of Miami Dade College. As Chief Academic Officer of one of America’s largest multidistrict colleges, she leads the development and execution of the academic and student affairs priorities of the institution. MDC’s Business Affairs, IT, Human Resources and Facilities are also part of her portfolio of leadership. With 35 years of transformative leadership experiences championing the cause of underserved students in public higher education, Harrison has led the creation of high impact initiatives which have advanced equity and student success. An accomplished thought leader in student affairs and former Dean, Harrison’s groundbreaking work in building partnerships brought national endeavors like Single Stop, Year Up and Educate Tomorrow to MDC, where today these partner programs effect significant positive outcomes. Harrison’s creative expertise in developing precollege programs has given rise to novel immersion and dual enrollment programs.

A prolific writer, Harrison is the author of a 2018 Chapter, “Community Colleges: Fertile Ground for Black Male Student Success in the book-Engaging African American Males in Community College (Contemporary perspectives on Access, Equity and Achievement); she also authored a 2019 Chapter, “Toward Equity: The Immigrant Experience at Miami Dade College” in the book-Working Toward an Equitable and Prosperous Future For All: How Community Colleges and Immigrants Are Changing America. Harrison is also co-author of the League for Innovation in the Community College’s Student Services Dialogues: Community College Case Studies to Consider; and the Association of American College and Universities’ (AAC&U) Peer Review: Models for Student Success: Developing a Community College Student Roadmap.

Harrison has been at the helm of resource development that has garnered millions of dollars from a combination of private and public funders like the National Science Foundation, U.S. Department of Education to support Trio, Title V and Title III programs as well as numerous educational and undergraduate science research programs aimed at advancing equity and minority student attainment. Her foresight in authorizing prison education as a strategic imperative, where she lay the foundation for the comprehensive faculty-led, collaborative work with correctional institutes in Florida; MDC’s recent designation as a Second Chance Pell Experimental Site has not only contributed to the national agenda on mitigating recidivism but it has also opened the door of educational opportunity to the incarcerated.