Small Girl, Big Spaces: World Bank, Dreams and Gratitude.

The World Bank was such a surreal experience, that I kept pinching myself to remind myself that it was real. I have always imagined myself in such spaces. I come from Zambia, and because as a country we struggle a lot with issues like debt and corruption, it of course always trickled down to impact the quality of education we receive. And growing up I always thought, if only I could walk into the UN or World Bank and speak for my country. 

It is interesting to note that again, I somehow kept thinking that there would be a man who would walk into the room as a speaker too and then see women like Ms Jo Bourne and Ms Nidhi Kattri, leading big projects and being a great influence at advancing education outcomes for children across the world, I definitely found it so much easier to still dream. Little Nelly’s dreams felt like a reachable star. 

Ms. Shamis Salah Musingo, Operations Officer at The World Bank Group, Somalia Program gave us an interesting twist on her views on leadership as a woman, and also as an African, I was very delighted to see the importance of representation. I love how she spoke about the importance of having boundaries in a workspace, even as a woman. Because women are inherently seen as the more accommodating ones. Her life story, and how she came to be resonated with me a lot. I was really inspired and left that building thinking, “How can I just work for the World Bank RIGHT NOW?”