Ann Mutua

I would absolutely say my mom. My mom passed away in 2020. She was the epitome of strength combined with faith, combined with hard work, and persistence. She was very persistent in everything she did. My dad passed away way before her, and before he passed away, my mom was a housewife - she had never worked a day in her life. So when my dad passed away, she had to wake up and take care of seven children without a plan. I watched her work herself off. She worked so hard, she made sure we all stayed in school, we all went through college, all seven of us. And there was no grants, there was no help from anybody. She had to get herself up and running. Watching her do all that, she was every woman - with so much grace, and grit, and faith. She remained grounded. She still managed to allow us to be children. As a grown-up person, I realized she really was someone I looked up to, and admiring her made me want to do better for myself and achieve goals that she only dreamt of, because she did so much yet she had nothing. She started from nothing. So with the privilege of just having an education, I felt like I did not have an excuse. I had to really do better than she did, or just even try to emulate her strength or her perseverance and the grit, just to be a better woman leader and mentor others, just the way I watched her mentor younger women as well. Her name was Rael.

I would tell women to believe in themselves. We get a lot of imposter syndrome, even when we know things. It's very important to know that you actually belong in the room, and it's important to sit in your space and allow yourself to be seen and believe in what you know. Men get into rooms with even 50% knowledge of what's happening, but we sit back and shy away until we think we know 100%. We should be able to allow ourselves to take up spaces and rooms and be heard, even when you know 60% to 70% - that should be enough to let you sit in a room and feel like you can actually be heard. There's no ceiling. You can literally break that ceiling and create a new one. I was a very young mom because I got my son at a really young age, and imposter syndrome always follows you and makes you feel like you don't know what you're doing, but you actually do. When you get into the room and see how conversations are had, you can actually look around and be like, I actually have a better point, and make it, and allow yourself to accept that you know what, I actually have the right to thrive in this environment. Just seek mentorship from other women or other people in the same spaces and allow yourself that kind of growth.