Kenya Allison was recently appointed Battalion Commanding Officer for the UNC Naval ROTC, making her the first black woman to attain the position. Kenya Allison is a self-proclaimed military brat — military life is all she has known. Growing up, Allison lived all over the world. She watched her father hold leadership positions in the Navy. As her mother went through health struggles, the military helped Allison’s family afford her health care. Allison said this inspired her to one day join the military. “In a way, I always knew I wanted to go into the military,” Allison said. “I’ve seen how much they’ve given me, and I wanted to give back in a way.” Allison, now a senior at UNC, have always admired past occupants of that position and is optimistic about fulfilling her role. The Battalion Commanding Officer is the highest student leadership position within the Naval Reserve Officers Training…

The International Trade Centre (ITC) has launched a new online platform that will allow women traders to market products in the Commonwealth countries. The directory has been produced under the She Trades project and will be hosted by the Kenya Export Promotion and Branding Agency (Keproba). The platform enables women-owned businesses to market their wares globally where ITC will facilitate networking of small and medium enterprises. “We hope to increasingly partner in similar initiatives to expand our export pie in the global economy,” said Keproba chief executive Wilfred Marube. The project aims to increase economic growth and job creation in Commonwealth countries by increasing the participation of women-owned businesses, positioning the Commonwealth to create trade and investment opportunities for women. The She Trades initiative that goes live on February 25 and brings together three million women onto one e-platform is aimed at enhancing exports by local women-owned businesses. Participating businesses…

U.S. voting rights activist and Democratic Party politician Stacey Abrams has been nominated for this year’s Nobel Peace Prize for her work to promote nonviolent change via the ballot box, a Norwegian lawmaker said on Monday. Abrams, whose work was credited with boosting voter turnout last year, helping Joe Biden win the U.S. presidency, joins a long list of nominees, including both former President Donald Trump and his son-in-law, former White House adviser Jared Kushner. “Abrams’ work follows in Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s footsteps in the fight for equality before the law and for civil rights,” said Lars Haltbrekken, a Socialist Party member of Norway’s parliament. King, a Baptist minister who became a leader of the 1960s civil rights movement, won the Nobel prize in 1964 and remains among its most famous laureates. “Abrams’ efforts to complete King’s work are crucial if the United States of America shall succeed…

The World Economic Forum Davos Agenda is taking place from the 25-29 January and is this year embracing collective action by public and private partners for bold solutions to improve the state of the world and manage the direct consequences of the COVID-19 crisis. The Generation Equality Action Coalitions build on and reflect this imperative as innovative, multi-stakeholder partnerships that will mobilize governments, civil society, international organizations, and the private sector to catalyze action, drive investment, and deliver concrete, game-changing results for gender equality. It is in this spirit of cross-sector collective action that leaders from the Action Coalition on Technology and Innovation for Gender Equality have released a joint statement calling for extraordinary collaboration and solidarity – among people, organizations, and countries. The diverse Action Coalition partners express their unwavering commitment to design and implement transformative ideas that will drive a more equal and inclusive digital transformation as we…

Struggling with the Covid-19 slump, India’s female entrepreneurs are hoping for a win with this year’s budget. Between March and June when India was under a complete lockdown, several people—especially thousands of women—took to entrepreneurship. This was either because these people had lost their jobs and were looking for ways to earn, or because they sensed an opportunity in the growing trend of hyperlocal demand as physical stores and restaurants remained shut. For instance, thousands of women turned home chefs, serving customers who wanted home-cooked food but lacked culinary skills. Many others tried to make a buck from pandemic-related trends. In rural Karnataka, for instance, 200 women banded together to start producing and selling masks. Others created healthcare and ed-tech products to solve new problems birthed by the pandemic. However, as economic activity trudges back towards normal, these entrepreneurs see several obstacles ahead of them. In October, the Indian government noticed the sudden spur in the…