FFW Liberia CEO Emily Guegbeh Peal received standing ovation at TEDxWomen in Washington DC Nov 30th!

The Foundation for Women (FFW) CEO of Foundation for Women Liberia, Emily Guegbeh Peal, spoke to a riveted crowd at the TEDxWomen Conference in Washington, DC, on November 30, 2012, at the United States Institute of Peace.  At the end of her speech, she received a standing ovation for her inspiring story of hope and triumph.

The theme for TEDxWomen 2012 is The Space Between.  Peal spoke during the opening session of the conference called Povertyand Plenty, exploring the space between having a little and having a lot.  Peal is no stranger to either, having escaped her homeland of Liberia during incredibly turbulent and violent times when rebel forces were taking over.  During this time, 250,000 people died and 75% of the women were raped.  Her story details her emotional struggle to leave members of her family behind to flee the murderous chaos occurring all around her.  And then, her subsequent return to war-torn Liberia, where she has risen to become one of the country’s top female leaders through the Foundation’s program that empowers women by providing microcredit loans.

As CEO of Foundation for Women Liberia, Peal has helped to provide thousands of microcredit loans to Liberian women to enable them to start their own businesses to support themselves and their families.  Modeling itself after the Grameen microcredit model, the Foundation is helping to rebuild not only Liberia’s economic infrastructure, but also the hearts and minds of those women damaged by brutal war and violent rape and searching for renewed hope.

Peal was chosen because she exemplified the theme of this year’s TEDxWomen conference.  You can see her speech on the TEDxWomen.org website. Click  HERE