President of Malawi to deliver Grosvenor Distinguished Lecture

Posted by Jayme Blaschke
University News Service
August 23, 2013

Joyce Banda, president of the Republic of Malawi, will deliver the 15th Annual Grosvenor Distinguished Lecture Thursday, September 19 at Texas State University.

This year’s lecture, “Transformational Partnerships in Malawi,” will be at 7:30 p.m. in Alkek Library Teaching Theater on campus. The event is free and open to the public. All seating is on a first-come, first-served basis.

Banda is listed by Forbes' African Magazine (2011) as “Africa’s Third Most Powerful Woman.” In 2013 she is listed as the 6th most powerful black woman in the world. The first five are all located in the United States.

Banda was sworn in as President of the Republic of Malawi on April 7, 2012. She holds a bachelor of social studies in gender studies from the Atlantic International University, and a diploma in management of NGOs from the International Labour Organization (ILO) Centre in Turin, Italy. Currently, she is reading for a master of arts in leadership at Royal Roads University in Canada.

She was first elected to parliament in 2004 under the United Democratic Front (UDF). She served as minister of gender, child welfare and community services (2004-2006), minister of foreign affairs (2006-2009) and in 2009 was elected vice president of the Republic of Malawi. In 2011 she formed the People’s Party (PP) following her expulsion from the then-ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).

Banda has a strong passion for women, children and the under-privileged. In this regard, she has been involved in development and humanitarian work. She formed the National Association for Business Women (NABW), an organization that lends start-up cash for small-scale business people, especially women, in 1990. In 1998 she successfully negotiated with the Hunger Project in New York to establish the Hunger Project in Malawi. The Hunger Project reaches out to many rural households with sustainable livelihood activities. In 2000 she, founded the Young Emerging Leaders Network, which aims at enhancing leadership skills among young executives, and mentors female students in school. In addition, she also founded the Joyce Banda Foundation, School for Orphans, Early Childhood Development and Orphan Care, Youth Development, Food and Income Security, Safe Motherhood, Water and Sanitation, Women’s Leadership and Economic Development for Women.

The 15th Annual Grosvenor Lecture is being co-sponsored by the Gilbert M. Grosvenor Center for Geographic Education, the Meadows Center for Water and the Environment and the 100 X Development Foundation. For more information about the upcoming Grosvenor Distinguished Lecture contact the Grosvenor Center for Geographic Education at (512) 245-1823 or e-mail lg33@txstate.edu.