Advocacy & Ubuntu with Refilwe Ledwaba - Social Entrepreneur, Pilot, Educator

Sylvia is joined by social entrepreneur, pilot, and educator Refilwe Ledwaba. Refilwe is the first black woman from South Africa to fly a helicopter and she is also the first black woman to fly for the South African Police Service. Most recently she founded the Girls Fly Programme (GFPA) in Africa, a nonprofit designed to shape, empower, enable and support the next generation of changemakers and problemsolvers in the aviation and space industry.

Topics Include

  • Growing up in apartheid South Africa

  • An upbringing surrounded by strong women

  • The importance of seeing people that look like you in positions you aspire to

  • Giving recognition to the change-makers that came before us

  • The burden of being “the first”

  • The danger associated with breaking glass ceilings

  • Pre- and post-apartheid

  • The spirit of ubuntu — "I am because we are."

  • Transforming community through mindset and education

  • Flying into remote villages in Africa to run workshops in S.T.E.A.M. and design

  • Becoming an Obama Foundation Fellow and a Gates Foundation Goalkeeper

  • Pivoting during COVID to serve a community with minimal internet access

  • The problem of access and the digital divide

  • Pausing to heal and self-reflect during quarantine

Resources Mentioned

Connect with Refilwe Ledwaba, MBA, MRAeS


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Empowering & Enabling Women with Abingdon Mullin - Entrepreneur, Pilot, Watchmaker