I was born a village girl, but I refused to become a village woman. As the youngest of 12 children, growing up in the tiny Ugandan village of Gomba, my opportunities were very limited. At five years, I started walking three miles to school without shoes. Each wobbly step built my resilience and changed the trajectory of my life. My father died when I was eight, and although it was a difficult time for the family, my mother’s strength pulled us through. Despite having very little education, my mother defied the cultural norm that pressured women to remarry into the family. I watched my mother turn 1 shilling into 100 shillings to provide for us education. The values of integrity, hard work, compassion, courage, and service motivated me to pursue my legacy and goals of helping young people and women. My life so far is a testament to dreaming big and living a purposeful life. I use my voice and skills to create systemic changes, shift mind-sets and empower people to achieve their full potential. I strongly believe that quality education breaks intergenerational cycles of poverty. I am committed to inspiring, mentoring, connecting and skilling young people to get agency and confidence to take charge of their lives, lead change in their communities and keep hope alive.