Joyce Banda is the former president of the Republic of Malawi (2012 to 2014), the first female to hold this position. An entrepreneur, activist, philanthropist and global champion for women and girls, Banda was named one of the world’s most powerful black women by Forbes in 2013 and 2014, and one of the most 100 influential people in the world by both TIME and Forbes. In 2014, CNN named her one of the most inspirational woman in politics. She has won numerous awards for her work on the global stage, and was recently named one of Apolitico’s most 100 Influential People in Gender Policy. She is the founder of the Joyce Banda Foundation, which she established after receiving the Africa Prize for Leadership for the Sustainable End of Hunger in 1997. The foundation has served over 1.3 million Malawians.