It’s easy to put Silicon Valley on a pedestal. It’s home to some of the largest tech companies in the world and the most coveted roles in digital innovation. But Gregory Rockson had his sights set elsewhere: home. Though he originally planned to pursue a job at Google after earning his college degree, he changed his mind when he learned about the thousands of preventable deaths attributed to lack of available medications in hospital and outpatient settings in Ghana. So he returned home and started a different career at warp speed. Gregory is co-founder and CEO of mPharma, a digital platform spanning eight countries that solves the problem of patients lacking quick access to safe, affordable medications. It addresses the twin obstacles of supply chain inefficiencies and high prices by connecting patients with providers who can diagnose their illness and connecting providers with well-stocked pharmacies that charge affordable prices.

Aya is a Pan-African feminist and diplomat. She rose to prominence as a political activist-blogger during the Tunisian Revolution. She served as the first- ever African Union Special Envoy on Youth and the youngest diplomat at the African Union Commission Chairperson’s Cabinet (2018—-2021). Currently, she is the fFounder and cChair of Nala Feminist Collective—a Pan-African front of feminist leaders with a mission to foster, embolden, and mobilize women and girls from Africa and the Diaspora.

Racha Haffar was 18 years old when she almost fell into a human trafficking trap. She needed income to afford postsecondary education in the UK and responded to an ad for babysitting jobs. She later realized this ad was false. In this sense, Racha is one of the lucky ones—she soon became aware of how many other girls in need of income and lacking economic empowerment had fallen for these ads and become modern-day slaves. Racha’s narrow escape stoked a fire in her to speak out about this alarmingly common, yet seldom acknowledged, evil.