Empowerment Speaker
About Shelmina Abji
Shelmina was born in Mwanza, Tanzania. Her parents had very little money but always instilled in her the importance of an education. Although not monetarily rich they were abundantly rich in family values and love. Even at a very young age, determined to make her parents happy she focused diligently on her studies and got excellent grades. At 15 years old Shelmina completed 10th grade and had to leave home in order to obtain a higher education. She initially moved to Dar-es-Salaam to finish high school and then to Pune in India for a Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics. She brought back and sold clothes from India to help pay for her tuition and her airfare to see her parents during summer. Being far away from home was difficult for her as writing letters was her only form of communication with her family who did not own a phone. It was obvious that Shelmina was bright, optimistic, eager to learn, and not to mention, stubborn; nothing would get in her way of an education. Shelmina was the first person in her family to obtain a college degree. With a degree in hand, she had zero indication as to what she wanted to do and then came upon an article on computer science while reading a magazine. In order to pursue such she would have to move to the United States.Shelmina Abji's Journey
Leadership & Experience
Former Vice President
Global Microsoft Alliance
Advisory Council
United Nations Foundation - Girl Up
Advisory Board
Young Women Empowered
Former Co-Chair
Asian Executive Diversity Council
Testimonials
“Whenever a woman I have spoken to tells me I have influenced her positively, it energizes me to do more. It is my desire to empower young women everywhere.” - Shelmina
Embrace Obstacles
Shelmina shares how she learned to us the many obstacles she faced as a woman in a male dominated field and a single mother as a springboard to build new competencies, resiliency and confidence.
1
Overcome Fear
Shelmina talks about how she learned to overcome fear and self doubt to build her self belief.
2
Owning Your Career
Shelmina talks about how to position yourself by leading with your strengths and constantly seeking new challenges that keep you relevant and enable you to build new competencies for an upward movement.
3
Consciously Build Your Personal Brand
Since the decisions about your promotions are made without you being in the room, it is imperative that you influence how people perceive you. She provides tools and guidance on how to consciously build your current as well as your aspirational brand.
4
Intentional Attention
Shelmina talks about how she consistently delivered on all her business results while being a single mother by intentionally focusing her attention on what mattered most and not let the noise distract her.
5
Making your mental chatter work for you.
The conversation you have with yourself can make or break you. Shelmina talks about how she has used her mental chatter to work for her.
6
Consciously Adding Value
Shelmina talks about the importance of the value you add in all your interactions: professional and personal.
7
Confidence Through Competence
She talks about using the combination of confidence and competence to remain relevant and create an upward spiral for continued success.
8
Some of Previous Engagements
