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These Are The Leaders Obama Honored In His International Women’s Day Tweets

by Monica Hunter-Hart
Streeter Lecka/Getty Images Sport/Getty Images

The 44th president is at it again with those inspiring tweets. On Friday, President Barack Obama tweeted about International Women's Day with a thread highlighting three female leaders who are involved with the Obama Foundation. The women — who are Indian, French, and Ivorian — are all working to create change around the world.

"On International Women's Day, I'm reflecting on the future we all want for our daughters: one where they can live out their aspirations without limits," Obama tweeted on Friday morning. "And I'm celebrating some of the women who are building that future for all of us today."

First he brought up Preethi Herman, an activist who spent the early part of her career working with disadvantaged groups in India, including poor communities, people facing caste discrimination, and female elected officials in rural areas. She joined Change.org in 2012 and has since worked her way up to being the Global Executive Director. Herman also founded She Creates Change, an organization that trains Indian women to be civic organizers.

Obama wrote on Friday that Herman, who is a fellow at the Obama Foundation, is "helping women unleash their power to change their societies." He praised Herman's work at Charge.org, calling it an "initiative that combines online tools with in-person organizing, giving women a voice in her native India — and beyond."

Next, Obama tweeted about Alice Barbe, a French social entrepreneur and a co-founder of SINGA France, a branch of a group that works to build bridges between refugees and their host communities. Barbe has worked on environmental protection issues at GLOBE International and the United Nations Environmental Protection Office. She's worked for the child nutrition and education initiative Save the Children in Mexico.

In his tweet about Barbe, who is an Obama Foundation Scholar, Obama wrote that she "is helping refugees resettle into welcoming communities in France, offering them job training and language immersion, as well as a place to stay." He added: "More importantly, she's fighting a narrative that suggests our differences are more important than our shared humanity."

Finally, the 44th president highlighted Sefora Kodjo, a woman who is, in his words, "helping the next generation of women leaders in Africa rise up." Kodjo heads the nonprofit Sephis, which promotes sustainable development in Africa and gender equality in Côte d'Ivoire. Through Sephis, Kodjo has launched training programs to help women address gender-based violence. She also began a fellowship to help mentor young female professionals.

"Her organization is training and mentoring young women across the continent to adopt a new model of leadership," Obama wrote on Friday, "one that puts gender equality at the heart of economic development." Kodjo is a member of the Obama Foundation's "Leaders: Africa" project.

"Preethi, Alice, and Sefora are just three of many @ObamaFoundation leaders who remind us what International Women's Day is all about: imagining a world free of artificial ceilings for the next generation," Obama tweeted on Friday, "and doing the hard work to get us there."