Ivory Coast native Maud Kouadio capped the last six weeks of her time as an ASU Humphrey Fellow at the Flinn Foundation.
Kouadio has been in Arizona since August 2024 when she arrived as a Humphrey Fellow. In Ivory Coast, or Côte D’Ivoire, she works as a communications professional and helps lead Empowering Women in Africa, an NGO that helps girls and young women gain access to educational opportunities.
The Humphrey Fellowship program places global media leaders at schools across the country to pursue leadership training and gain a better understanding of how communications and media work in the U.S. Kouadio spent the academic year at ASU’s Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication.
At Flinn, she worked with the Communications team, helping develop ideas for the roll out of Arizona’s next Bioscience Roadmap, which is expected in the fall.
As Kouadio prepared to return home to the city of Abidjan this summer, she reflected on her time in Arizona.
Question: What interested you about the Humphrey Fellows program?
Answer: In 2022, in Côte D’Ivoire, the illiteracy rate was 47%, of which two-thirds are women. In many African societies, women have been denied the privilege of education.
This statistic reminds me that women’s education is necessary and urgent. So, I decided to embark on this Humphrey Fellowship to help young girls and women.
I want to develop my communication skills and gain global perspectives, strengthen my leadership and advocacy abilities, and learn about American NGOs’ best practices that I can replicate to improve EWA’s impact.
Q: What have you found most rewarding?
A: Meeting students and learning about their goals and aspirations, sharing my skills, experiences, and culture with the students and my peers, and giving back to the community through volunteering.
All these activities and encounters opened my mind and helped me understand the process of engaging with society. To help girls, I will need to raise the issue and bring it to the attention of key stakeholders who can change the system.
It is not only a societal issue but a human one that goes beyond borders, continents, and skin color. It is an African issue, an American issue, an Asian issue, and more. All over the world, many women are still marginalized.
Q: Tell us about EWA. Why is its mission important to you?
A: Our mission is to empower young girls and women, particularly those living in underprivileged communities, so they can bring change for a stronger community and partake in its development and economic growth.
I saw how poverty, early marriages, discrimination, and lack of confidence can prevent girls from pursuing their education. I want to change the narrative, do my part in downsizing the illiteracy rate, and help build a generation of girls who are educated, confident, and know their real potential.
Q: Who inspires you?
A: I am lucky to have a father who firmly believes that a girl should be as educated as anyone else. I grew up seeing my mother confidently give her point of view in an African society where a woman couldn’t sometimes make her own decisions. My grandmother’s upbringing influenced my passion for social causes and public services. I was impressed by her love for people even when she didn’t know them.
Q: What has been the most surprising thing for you about living in Arizona and the United States?
A: One of the most surprising things is the contrast in how the systems are built in the U.S. Whether it comes to paying bills, public transport schedule, returning items to the store, directions, or deadlines, it is well-structured and transparent compared to my country.
The second thing that surprised me about living in Arizona was the individualism of people sometimes, which was quite different from where I come from. In Côte D’Ivoire, we rely a lot on community and neighborhood as pillars of our cultural identity.
I am not saying that one is better than another. I’ve been enriched by the U.S. culture. However, seeing such isolation, at times, made me a bit saddened for a country that is so large and diverse.
Q: How do you plan to incorporate what you have learned to your work back home?
A: I hope to build partnerships with government institutions, NGOs, private organizations, and community leaders to support girls’ education.
I want to implement a well-rounded leadership and confidence program for elementary school girls to equip them with skills to navigate social challenges and advocate for themselves; to use strategic communication to shift mindset and bring awareness by educating the parents, policymakers and the Ivorian community on the necessity of girls’ education.
Empowering elementary school girls is essential. It can foster gender equality, ultimately promoting healthy communities, increasing self-confidence, enhancing leadership skills, establishing mentorship relationships, expanding opportunities for girls, raising community awareness, and creating a generation of empowered women.
Q: Do you have a specific person you could tell us about?
A: Makeba was just 7 when her life was turned upside down. She lived with her parents in Togo, but after her mother became a victim of domestic violence, they were forced to flee to Côte d’Ivoire.
Makeba was supposed to enter fourth grade, but her rural school had no class available at that level. Her mother asked the school director if Makeba could still be admitted to the sixth grade despite the mismatch in grade level. The director agreed, and Makeba kept up.
EWA supported her education by paying her school tuition, providing emotional support, and mentorship. Today, Makeba is in her final year of high school, preparing to pursue her dreams.
Q: What can others do to help?
A: Parents are the first support to their children’s education. Championing their children’s educational path could be the first step.
Community leaders and NGOs worldwide should continue to discuss the importance of girls’ education and the positive impacts on the community. Also, governments should not only establish laws but oversee and ensure the effectiveness of those laws that promote girls’ education and women’s well-being, especially in rural areas.
Finally, donations, contributions, volunteering, and accessible funding all help. We can change the narrative.
Q: What will you tell people back home about Arizona? What will you miss?
A: Beyond the desert, Arizona is rich in diversity, innovation, and warmth. It is where I learned to sharpen my thinking, increase my resilience, and connect with many smart, kind, and welcoming individuals — whether at a conference, ASU, in my classes, or at the Flinn Foundation.
I will miss the tranquility of the desert, the stunning sunsets, the awe of the Grand Canyon, my Humphreys cohort, my mentor, and the global friends who became like family.
I will also cherish the incredible support from ASU, a place where people believe in your potential and encourage you to turn your ideas into reality. And, of course, I will miss the American buffalo chicken recipe.
Arizona has given me not only a variety of experiences but also a new perspective on the world and my goals.