Olaoluwa Abagun is a lawyer working in gender & development. Ola is the Executive Director of ATHENA and she is the Mom to a sassy one-year-old girl.
In this episode, Ola discusses ATHENA, a global feminist network that seeks to advance gender equality and human rights and that elevates the voices of young women and girls in the HIV response… the status of women and girls in society… how her parents unknowingly set her on the path of feminism by modeling the importance of education and of gender equity and equality, and by encouraging her, even as a young girl, to use her voice and to speak up… her first step into advocacy as an opinionated 13-year-old selected as a representative to the Children’s Parliament in Lagos, Nigeria, and learning about the challenges that many other girls were facing, including exclusion from education, child marriage, child trafficking, child labor, FGM, and rape… being an overachiever and multitasker for most of her life, and then feeling isolated and overwhelmed as a new mom… therapy… learning to be kind to herself… unrealistic expectations… the importance of giving yourself grace… emphasizing sisterhood and looking out for the women in your life and around your life who need your support. (Nigeria)
