Women Leaders Working for Change

staff/reuters

This weekend Malawi become the first country in southern Africa to swear in a female president. Former President Mutharika passed away last week from cardiac arrest. As Vice President Joyce Banda was officially sworn in on Saturday. We stand with the nation of Malawi during their time of mourning, and look forward to celebrating this fresh opportunity for Malawi. Joyce Banda was last year named by Forbes Magazine as Africa's most powerful female politician after Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and Nigerian Minister of Finance Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.

We believe that women from all walks of life - whether as nurturers, business or community leaders, mothers or grandmothers - have an integral role in addressing the issues that threaten our global society. As we welcome a new strong female leader in Malawi we thought we'd share a feature from VERVE magazine of World Camp co-founder, Laura Ivey, who recently graced their cover. Thanks ladies for all you do!

photo by Matt rose

"No doubt about it: Laura Ivey is a bit of a do-gooder. She’s currently the volunteer services manager for the Asheville Area Habitat for Humanity, coordinating shifts at Habitat’s ReStore, just south of downtown, for some 1,800 volunteers each year. She also assists volunteers who construct, and deconstruct, around a dozen homes each year for needy families.

Before Habitat, Ivey spent a total of five years living in Malawi, in southern Africa, helping to educate residents there about AIDS and HIV. While she was a student at both University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and University of Massachusetts-Amherst, she co-founded a program, World Camp, which is now based in Asheville and has educated more than 40,000 students in Malawi. One of her favorite parts? She helped scores of young women and teachers in the program, who were looking to empower themselves through classwork and learning critical life skills."

-VERVE article by Mick Kelly