Zuriel Oduwole – Worlds most powerful girl “Who says a teenager can’t be Governor of California?”

BY SIMONE J. SMITH

When I received the email that this young lady was exploring the idea of running for Governor of California, I was not surprised. Her name had come across my desk a few times, and from what I had already learned about her, if anyone can do it, for sure she can.

She has met with more than twenty-eight world leaders, mediated a peace initiative between Guyana and Venezuela, and made a strong enough case to end child marriages in Mozambique, which outlawed girl marriages in July 2019. In January 2017, when she was just fourteen years old the US Secretary of State, The Rt Hon John Kerry honoured her at the State Department. It was for her tireless development work across the globe and advocating for girls’ education, especially in Africa, so they can go to school. Her advocacy brought her profiles in Forbes Magazine at the age of ten, and ELLE Magazine listed her among thirty-three women who changed the world in 2015, and this was when she was only twelve years old.

She has spoken directly to 48,630 youths in eighteen countries about the power of education, including 16,000 screaming youths at the SAP Center in San Jose, California. She has met the Presidents of Malta, Ghana, Kenya, Croatia, Tanzania, Namibia, Guinea, Malawi, and Egypt, to share ideas on addressing the world’s social development and global youth educational challenges.

As a special envoy on climate, she spoke on behalf of six governments (Fiji, Samoa, Marshall Islands, Jamaica, Vanuatu and Tuvalu) about the effect of rising sea level on their primary existence.

Zuriel Oduwole is the founder of the DUSUSU Foundation, and each year, Zuriel and her foundation recognize the measurable efforts of an African First Lady in their country’s gender development, including girl’s education. So far, the first ladies of Tanzania (2014), Kenya (2015), Namibia (2016), Senegal (2017), Mozambique (2018), Cabo Verde (2019), and Sierra Leone (2020) have received this now coveted award.

In February 2021, Zuriel was honoured by the City of Beverly Hills in California as one of tenty-eight Americans chosen to feature each day in commemoration of the annual Black History Month events. When she is not advocating for girl’s education, she teaches a basic filmmaking class for unemployed young women, a program she has now delivered in: Ghana, Ethiopia, Mexico, Cote D’Ivoire, and Namibia.

Zuriel always brings a simple but insightful youthful voice to major social development causes, and she is an inspiration to millions of girls, women and families, around the world. Again, it is no stretch that many believe that this young philanthropist will become either the youngest UN Secretary-General or the youngest President of the United States.

So who is Zuriel Oduwale? She is a Los Angeles native, born in West Los Angeles to British parents [who themselves were born in Scotland and England], and whose grandparents are from Mauritius and Nigeria. From the age of ten, she has been quietly making an unforgettable mark across the globe. Zuriel has flipped the script, and re-defined what it means to be a true world changer, and now, Zuriel is exploring a run for Governor of California.

Amid the dysfunction that currently characterizes the political system, this is really the first generation that has the ability to make real change. It is unfortunate that many young people are disengaged, and it is great to see a young person who cares. Zuriel has come to realize that having political ambitions is the only way that she can truly effect change. She realizes that if you don’t have a seat at the table, even if you are highly effective in a behind-the-scenes kind of capacity, you are not living up to the full potential of options you have.

Zuriel, the world is watching, and the team at the Toronto Caribbean Newspaper stands with you. We will be watching.