Empowering Young Women Quotes

Young girls come up to me all the time to ask for advice. They see me as a survivor.

Today, this young woman is me, a Nobel laureate. I'm now on a journey to fulfill the wish, in my tiny capacity, of little African girls - the wish of being educated. We set up a foundation. We're giving full four-year scholarships to girls from villages that we see with potential.

It's rare for anyone to value the opinions of a teenage girl.

I had the vision of creating my own camp to make sure I was teaching the campers what I wanted. Plus I picked other players that were good on the field and off so we could be great role models for these girls to look up to. I hope to inspire others and encourage them to go after their dreams.

I think that the thing that holds so many of us back is our fear that we might fail, and I think we lose an incredible amount of talent and energy and enthusiasm that way. So I think, since I'm kind of a shining example of losing, that it's important for me to show that it's OK to lose, that I'm still so happy that I entered the fight, that I fought for something that mattered to me and that I gave voice to it and I made it part of the conversation. I want young women to know that it is OK to fail - it's not OK to stay home. It's not OK to not try.

I want to encourage more young women to get involved in coding, because it's important for them to be able to help shape the future, and coding is the future.

I had such a good time doing that movie [Sister Act 2]. My daughter's in that movie. It was a fun film to do. And it shocked a lot of people, because they loved it, and they take it with them.

I think that the idea of reaching young girls that are in college is something that we are strongly open to because who better wants to know how to live a more purposeful life than people who are starting out?

I know there are a lot of eyes on me now from young girls, and it makes me so proud. The only Black woman examples aren't Rihanna and Beyoncé. It makes me proud that I am a classical ballerina and they can look at me and see another way to succeed. That is setting a new standard.