Graça Machel is an African stateswoman whose decades-long professional and public life is rooted in Mozambique’s struggle for self-rule and international advocacy for women’s and children’s rights. She is a former freedom fighter in Mozambique’s FRELIMO movement and that country’s first Minister of Education.

She founded the Graça Machel Trust based in South Africa, where she focuses on advocating for women’s economic and social advancement and capacity building for adolescent girls. She also founded and serves as President of the Foundation for Community Development (Mozambique) and the Zizile Institute for Child Development.

She works through several regional and international development bodies to accelerate social transformation. Machel is a founding member and Deputy Chair of The Elders and a member of the UN Secretary-General’s High-Level Sustainable Development Goals Advocacy Group. She lends her expertise to several organisations in a governance role. Graça Machel has dedicated her life to improving the fate of women and children, inspiring hope, and building a more just and equitable world for us all.