Vera Songwe serves as The World Bank’s Country Director for Senegal, Cape Verde, Gambia, Mauritania and Guinea-Bissau. She is also a non-resident senior fellow at the Brookings Institute with the Global Economy and Development and Africa Growth Initiative. Dr. Songwe holds a Ph.D. in Mathematical Economics from the Center for Operations Research and Econometrics from the Catholic University of Louvain (CORE-UCL) in Belgium. She was previously a visiting scholar at the University of Southern California and at the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. In 1997, she joined the World Bank Group as an economist on the Middle East and North Africa. She is also a member of the Mo Ibrahim Governance Advisory Board.
Vera Songwe
My Definition Of Success | Success means achieving everything you strive for and then more. Yes my definition has changed, from considering success as my personal achievements to my actions that have a positive influence on others.
I Am Driven By | The pursuit of excellence, collective excellence. Today this means moving the dial in Africa. Working in Africa for Africa and being part of this moment of hope and change. The desire to want to be part of those who contribute in earnest to making Africa a better place. A place we can be and should be proud of.
A Key Talent | Hard work, persistence and the courage of my convictions. Nothing comes easy and you have to work hard at everything. Success is never ready made or given. With persistence you have the strength to keep fighting for what you believe in, what you think is correct. Hard work prepares you for the challenges, persistence allows you to keep going even when it all seems futile and the courage of your convictions gives you a reason to keep working hard and persisting. It is the result you are looking to achieve, but you must work hard for it. Nothing worth celebrating is ever handed to you freely.
The Principles I Live By | You must do onto others what you expect them to do to you. This is a very simple rule but it is one of the most difficult I find. One does not always succeed but the important thing is to keep trying to live up to it and at the end of every day to ask if you met the goal and how you can do better the next day. This process of self-assessment reminds us we are not perfect but also helps you to keep on trying to improve. It is a positive and constructive affirmation of who I am and want to be.
How I Use My Mind | I am always and constantly asking myself why I do what I do? What are the results I am looking to achieve. The discipline of having a clear result is sobering but also helps you to focus. For every action I take I have an expected result I hope to achieve. Having daily, monthly, yearly targets and working against these targets has been a very good disciplining tool for me. But it only becomes binding if you are honest with yourself.
Warren Moss is a founder and CEO of Demographica, South Africa’s most progressive data driven direct marketing agency. Warren and his company Demographica, have been recognized by winning some major business awards including multiple Assegai and Bookmarks Awards as well as multiple awards from the African Access Business Awards. He was also presented with […]
Mike Laws is an expert in mobile communications and is currently the CEO of Imaginatrix, a company providing mobile marketing and advertising consulting services. He has worked with some of South Africa’s biggest brand names and was instrumental in the commercialisation of Vodacom’s “please call me” service. He strongly believes that mobile communications have the […]
Zainab Salbi | The Legacy Project is an Iraqi-American humanitarian, entrepreneur, author, and media commentator who has dedicated herself to women’s rights and freedom. At the age of 23, she founded Women for Women International—a grassroots humanitarian and development organization dedicated to serving women survivors of war. Under her leadership (1993-2011), Women for Women International […]
Alyson McGregor is a graduate of Boston University School of Medicine and Brown University Emergency Medicine Residency. Dr. McGregor is the Director for the Division of Sex and Gender in Emergency Medicine (SGEM), formerly Women’s Health in Emergency Care, at Alpert Medical School Department of Emergency Medicine and Co-Director for SGEM Fellowship. Dr. McGregor is […]
Jason is one of the leading thinkers, consultants, strategists and educators in the emerging world of social media marketing. Jason Falls is a leading digital strategist, author, speaker and thinker in the digital and social media marketing industry. He is an innovator in the conversation research segment of social analytics, having published the first-ever Conversation […]
Piers Fawkes is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of PSFK.com, a go-to source for new ideas and inspiration for creative professionals. Each month, 1 million creative professionals turn to the site to unearth new ideas that enable product, service and marketing innovation. Piers also hosts conferences and salons around the world, during which he and his […]
Valarie Kaur is a national interfaith leader, documentary filmmaker, and lawyer who centers her work around the power of storytelling. She is the founder of Groundswell at Auburn Seminary, a non-profit initiative with 100,000 members that equips people of faith in social movements. Working with students and communities, she has made award-winning films and led […]
Prof. Sesh Paruk has 18 Years’ experience at Senior & Top Management level in the Private and Public Sectors. She is currently supporting the Department of Public Works Turnaround strategy in the capacity of change management and culture change specialist. Prof. Sesh Paruk | The Legacy Project Sesh completed her role as the 1st HR […]
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