Next up in our Women’s Herstories Month series is our first trip to Botswana. I met this week’s guest, a native Motswana and globe trotter--Caroline Modise, in Accra earlier this year representing in her role as the Sustainability Engagements Manager at De Beers Group. At De Beers she plays a key role in socialising and amplifying the company’s social impact programs across a diverse ecosystem of stakeholders. The how of our meeting is the Stanford Seed program where De Beers participates as a key partner in Botswana.

Caroline built her early career managing relationships with some of the world’s leading diamond jewellery retailers and later became a founding board member and Head of Strategy for the Botswana Careers Roundtable, a pioneering networking platform designed to bridge experienced professionals with emerging talent across corporate Botswana. As an alumna and former board member of the African Leadership Academy—an institution committed to transforming Africa by developing a network of future-ready young leaders—she remains passionate about Africa’s developmental journey, with particular interest in social enterprises and sustainability strategies for grassroots organisations.

Listenandlearn more about how her experiences with women in leadership inspire her professionally and creatively, then get to know Caroline the artiste!

Where to find Caroline?
On LinkedIn
On Instagram
On Facebook

What’s Caroling reading?
The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese

What’s Caroline listening to?
Anything Beyoncé
Kaytranada

Other topics of interest:
My local for this conversation - Nanyuki, Kenya
About Gaborone and Palapye in Botswana
From Debswana to
About the Okavango Basin, the National Geographic’s Okavango Project and watch the film
About the Nkashi Storytellers
Traditional cuisine in Botswana
Treehaus Botswana

Special Guest: Caroline Modise.

If it’s March then it’s that time again for a month of conversations centering women’s stories and experiences. This week, we’re also kicking off the series with the launch of our Glocal Citizens x Black Women in Real Estate collaboration--Borderless Building. Founded in 2019, Black Women in Real Estate (BWRE) is an organization that aims to bring together black women in property, creating opportunities for upcoming talent and organizing workshops for those already in the industry. Througout the year, we’re teaming up with BWRE to showcase the personal and professional journeys of Black women in the real estate industry; highlight how Black women in the industry invest and structure value in/around land/property across global markets; and offer valuable insight into the business/operational functions in the real estate industry to inspire a spirit of land stewardship. All ideas you’ll hear in this week's conversation.

Kicking off the series is BWRE Founder, Hanna Afolabi. A few years after founding BWRE, Hanna found herself furthering her entrepreneurial journey with Mood and Space (MAS), a development company supporting clients in embedding social value in their development vision and strategy as well as efficiently managing processes delivering community focused building and urban neighborhoods.

Prior to setting up MAS, Hanna was a Development Director for Balfour Beatty Investments seconded into East Wick and Sweetwater Ltd a joint venture with Places for People. She lead on the feasibility, business planning, budget, design, programming and planning of the mixed-use regeneration project of approx. 1,900 homes on the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. Her other notable projects in London, include Hallsville Quarter in Canning Town and Borough Triangle in Elephant and Castle.

Additionally, she is Vice Chair of the University of Greenwich’s Construction, Property and Surveying Practices Industry Advisory Board and is on Estates Gazette's Diversity & Inclusion Content Advisory Panel, advocating for diverse representation in property.

Where to find Hanna?
Black Women in Real Estate (BWRE) and get your tix to their International Women’s Day Gala
@ Mood and Space
On LinkedIn
On Instagram

What’s Hanna watching?
All her Fault
Bridgerton on Netflix
His & Hers on Netflix

Other topics of interest:
Oke-Ila in Osun State, Nigeria
About Hackney
Estates Gazette

Special Guest: Hanna Afolabi.

Over the week/weekend just passed, the world recognized International Women’s Day as well as Ghana’s 68th Independence Day. Both happenings inspire thoughts, reflections, and movement in my heart and mind especially as I, we sit in constant review of the world we are making, remaking and re-imagining for our now. My conversation this week, in our continued March Herstories Month series is with British-Ghanaian, Elvina Quaison, is with a diasporan working intently with and within communities engaged in this re-imagining. She's now based back in the London after relocating to Brussels since our last conversation. In her time in the EU hub, she supported diaspora and government representatives as Diaspora Engagement Specialist for the EU Global Diaspora Facility (EUDiF), a pilot project funded by the European Commission and implemented by the International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD). Elvina recently took on the role of CEO with Shabaka, a values-driven consulting and research organization focused on diaspora and migrants' humanitarian preparedness, response and recovery. She has worked in the international development field, with a focus on African diaspora, for over 20 years; her experience spans diaspora engagement in humanitarianism, development, private and public sector as well as within civil society. She specializes in diaspora and private sector investment with a focus on the utilization of diaspora investment to enhance economic growth in countries of heritage and residence. Our conversation is a wonderful flash forward offering a hopeful persective on how #dynamicdiasporans are engaging with the concept and a #borderlessmindset, and #manifestinganewworld.

Where to find Elvina?
On LinkedIn
On Instagram

What’s Elvina reading?
Kindred by Octavia E. Butler

Other topics of interest:
Notes on serving on boards
On Belgium’s Human Zoo
Brussel’s AfricaMuseum
On the brutality of Belgium’s King Leopold
On Onyekachi Wambu
A conversation with Sophia Stewart, creator of The Terminator and The Matrix
Shifters Play UK
About Supacell

Special Guest: Elivina Quaison.

As is our tradition, this month is all about herstories. Kicking it off is fellow Stanford Cardinal and return guest, Stacy Kirk. Stacy has over 15 years of experience helping organizations and entrepreneurs achieve their visions through technology and process optimization. She specializes in strategies that drive sustainable growth and scalability, with a passion for supporting diverse, small businesses. Stacy excels at turning visionary ideas into practical solutions, enabling success for her clients. Her dedication to innovation and inclusion continues to make a lasting impact in the business world. As the founder of QualityWorks, she empowers visionary entrepreneurs to achieve their go-to-market goals through technology, AI, and an iterative release process. Continuing to expand on her tech activism Stacy is increasingly dedicating her craft to social impact and human progress for all. She recently teamed up with another fellow Stanford Alum, Dr. Anndretta Lyle as co-founder of Thrive Culture Box which is all about empowering families and educators to change the ways that we are building knowledge in Black communities.

Where to find Stacy?
@posture
@Quality Works Consulting Group
On LinkedIn
On Instagram

What’s Stacy Reading?
Life Is a Comeback : 299 Inspiring Success Stories of Redemption, Determination, Second Chances, Forgiveness, and the Amazing Force of the Human Spirit by Daron “Dr. Comeback” Fordham

Other topics of interest:
Thrive Culture Box in Black Enterprise
Black Arts Camp
The Bionic Woman Series

Special Guest: Stacy Kirk.