Wanjiru Kamau-Rutenberg

"women scientists don’t just survive but thrive, excel and innovate"

"We need to leverage the talents of all innovators, including those of women."

"Women do the bulk of the work to produce, process and market food. They are on the frontline of agriculture in Africa."

"Innovation has a critical role to play at every step of the agricultural value chain."

"If we are to address the challenges of our generation, we must be both intellectually and politically courageous in the face of questions of what justice needs to look like."

"By virtue of this expensive and precious Whitman education, we are called to be part of the solution to very serious challenges."

"The arc of the moral universe bends toward justice, but it is the committed purposeful actions of change agents who reach into the sky to force the rainbow back to earth."

"It is men of purpose and women of courage taking that commitment from the home into the workplace. There is a big piece of this that is calling for our men to lead differently and not just make this womans work."

"I want to honor the fact that you are graduating into a world that is tight with tension and we, you and I, have real work ahead of us."

"As a continent though, we are going nowhere if we leave 50% of us behind"