GAB Speaker Series

Girls Across Borders is constantly growing, and we’re always pursuing new ways to help girls achieve their goals. Our Speaker Series is a new addition to our Projects, where every other month we invite a speaker to discuss their organization and inspirational work. Join us to hear from leading voices in girl’s education, empowerment and community development.

Speaker Series Gallery

Our GAB community is all about supporting and uplifting girls across the globe. That's why we're thrilled to showcase our upcoming speakers, who have made incredible impacts in their respective fields. Whether you're interested in social justice, education, or community engagement, you won't want to miss these inspiring talks. Check out a few recordings of GAB Meetings below to learn more!

GAB Meeting with Shu Yi Zhou

Early Life & Background
Born to immigrant parents from Guangzhou, China.
Raised in a low-income neighborhood in Brooklyn.
Challenged stereotypes and broke barriers in education and career.

Overcoming Adversity
First in her family to attend middle school, high school, and college.
Lacked guidance on scholarships, financial aid, and navigating higher education.
Faced pressure to choose a "successful" career, with limited knowledge of her own passions.
Worked two jobs in college to support her family, making it difficult to study or attend office hours.
Chose to major in human biology due to societal expectations rather than personal interest.

Defying Societal Norms
Graduated from SUNY Albany with a 2.7 GPA, impacted by financial struggles and homelessness.
Felt defined by numbers and rankings but refused to let them dictate her worth.
Embraced her individuality, symbolized by her vibrant purple hair.
Advocates for breaking gender biases and uplifting young women who face systemic barriers.

Inspiring Change
Began her career as a preschool teacher, driven by her passion for education despite low wages.
Transitioned to nonprofit work and later secured a role at Yale University.
Applied to Harvard Graduate School of Education during the pandemic, despite doubts about her GPA.
Overcame academic barriers, graduated with a 4.0 GPA from Harvard.
Works to promote a more inclusive, equitable education system that values diversity and individual potential.

Legacy & Impact
Proves that success is not defined by GPA or conventional measures.
Advocates for education reform and greater opportunities for underprivileged students.
Inspires others to embrace their unique strengths and persevere against adversity.

GAB Meeting with Rana Alzoubi

The SOS Children’s Village is the world’s largest organization focused on ensuring that children and young people without parental care or at risk of losing it grow up with the care, relationships, and support they need to become their strongest selves. While providing the backstory of SOS Children Villages, Ms. Alzoubi highlighted how Hermann Gmeiner founded this nonprofit organization after WWII to cater for many children who lost their parents in the war. She highlights how SOS Children's Villages ensures that no child grows up alone without parental care.

The main takeaways from our talk were:

1. Jordanian girls, part of SOS Villages, are combating many social issues, including the stigma of having no parents. In Jordanian culture, it is rare to be alone, even in old age. So, girls at SOS have to face those stigmas.

2. Rana Alzoubi encouraged GAB Members to continue our work championing climate change issues since, in a few years, many families will drop below the poverty line due to its effects. Climate change affects the environment, people, lifestyles, and the economy.

3. The economy is the most challenging sector for youth, especially in finding meaningful and well-paying jobs. Jordan has one of the highest unemployment rates in the world, especially for young women. GAB will continue to add its voice to this campaign, as whatever affects a young woman anywhere in the world affects all of us.

4. The number of women who study IT in Jordanian universities is high. They usually excel at the university level but hardly join the job market when they graduate. Several cultural factors are responsible for this sad situation. GAB will seek ways to continue to highlight these issues until every young woman everywhere in the world can live out her full potential.

GAB Meeting with Alice Apostoly

Girls Across Borders hosted its monthly Speaker Series earlier today with Alice Apostoly, Founder of Gender in Geopolitics Institute. She spoke to GAB-er about the importance of girls' involvement in politics and government. She advised us on the following five (5) points.

1. Women need to redefine the meaning of a politician
2. ⁠Nothing in life comes easy or cheap, but never accept cheap labor
3. ⁠Marketing is an essential tool in politics; learn it and use it
4. Nothing happens overnight; it takes grit and perseverance
5. Keep learning, seeking advice, reading, watching documentaries, and following news outlets because the more you are knowledgeable, the easier it will be to discuss and lay your mark on the political scene

Girls Across Borders is a platform that connects girls for positive change and social impact. Please visit our website to learn more about how we are trying to address critical gender issues.

GAB Meeting with Chioma Agwuegbo

GAB hosted Ms. Agwuegbo, the Executive Director of TechherNG. She discusses the importance of women and girls’ exposure to technology. She has spent the last decade working with women and girls without technology exposure and giving them opportunities.

She highlights that the main problem - that Techher is trying to solve - is that different world solutions are sometimes suboptimal as the men do not experience those issues as the women do. Chioma stated, "If you are not experiencing, you can't really solve the problem to the fullest extent." TechHerNG seeks to empower women with technology so they can adequately address their problems. She stated how TechHerNG's overall goal is to give women and girls the opportunity to learn about the world of technology to, in turn, solve issues using technology as the world continues to advance.