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.
Having delivered thousands of presentations over two decades Jason Hewlett Legacy Project is the only speaker in the world teaching leadership skills, tools, and mindsets in such a powerfully unconventional way. With out-of-the-box performances of uncanny musical and comedy impressions of incredible stage legends, Jason’s keynote, The Promise: Become a Legendary Leader and Discover Your […]
Her heart has answered the call to empower the next generation in Africa to learn to code. Camille Agon has been instrumental in co founding a French and South African initiative We Think Code with Arlene Mulder. Her ambition to source and develop the next generation of Africa’s digital talent is realised thereby echoing the […]
Arogyaswami J. Paulraj was born in Pollachi near Coimbatore, India. He joined the Indian Navy at age 15 through the National Defence Academy, Kharakvalsa and served the Navy for 30 years. Paulraj received his bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the Naval College of Engineering, Lonavala, India, and his doctorate in electrical engineering from the […]
Jeremie Kubicek is the founder of the GiANT Companies (GiANT Worldwide, GiANT Impact, GiANT Partners, GiANT Capital and GiANT Experiences) and the author of Making Your Leadership Come Alive (a Wall Street Journal and INC. Magazine bestseller). They own and operate the global brands and events, Catalyst and the Leadercast. My Definition Of Success | My […]
Nigel Saval was motivated by his love for surfing and the pivotal role that this sport played in his life, he started the 9 Miles Project in 2013 with the vision of improving the community. The project works with the youth of Strandfontein, Bayview, San Remo and surrounding informal settlements in the Western Cape and […]
Carina Schmid Legacy Project is the co-founder and CEO of The Global Experience, a non-profit organization and international youth media network dedicated to increase the intercultural dialogue. Since being in high school Carina enjoyed exploring different fields of work, including media production, marketing and journalism. A trip to Namibia eventually changed her life and made […]
Vicky Colbert is the Founder and Director of Fundación Escuela Nueva, and co-creator of the Escuela Nueva pedagogical model, known for its effectiveness in improving the quality and relevance of basic education in underprivileged schools across Colombia and beyond. She is the 2013 WISE Prize for Education Laureate. Vicky Colbert of Success | For me […]
Suzanne Frazer is the co-founder of the MACZAC Douglas Tom “Thumbs-Up” Award winning non-profit organization Beach Environmental Awareness Campaign Hawai’i also known as the B.E.A.C.H. The all-volunteer organization’s mission is to build awareness of marine debris and find solutions through environmental education, plastic reduction, litter prevention campaigns and beach clean-ups. In 2013, Suzanne together with […]
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