Mary Mwende is proof of what a girl once empowered can achieve. Mary grew up in the slums in Mombasa, Kenya. Her mother inspired her to study hard and Mary earned a place at a national secondary school for Kenya’s most vulnerable but gifted girls.

In 2006 Mary became a member of the Global Give Back Circle. Because of her gift for choral poetry and public speaking, Mary was chosen to represent the Global Give Back Circle and was on stage with President Clinton in the 2009 opening plenary session of CGI in New York. Mary left CGI with a full four-year scholarship to the American University of Dubai (AUD), and was recently elected as president of the student body.

It is Mary’s turn to inspire. In November she spent ten days in Haiti facilitating a knowledge transfer initiative for an organization that mentors at-risk youth. She recently learned that she was one of 100 young leaders (out of 6,000 applicants) selected to receive a full scholarship to attend the Women Deliver Conference in Kuala Lumpur in May 2013. She is partnering in a Clinton Global Initiative University (CGIU) Commitment, 'Hey Sister, Get Clued-Up', a website dedicated to getting vital information on health and financial empowerment to girls throughout Africa.

Inspirational, Activists, Social Justice, Social Entrepreneurship, Mashable, Mashable social good summit, Social Media,