Tererai Trent

Tererai Trent
Tererai Trent
Born	1965
Residence	America
Education	Western Michigan University, Oklahoma State University–Stillwater
Occupation	Academic ,Researcher , Development practitioner
Spouse(s)	Mark Trent

Tererai Trent is a Zimbabwean-American academic.Dr. Tererai Trent is one of today’s most internationally recognized voices for quality education and women’s empowerment. Distinguished as Oprah Winfrey’s “All-Time Favorite Guest,” Tererai is a scholar, humanitarian, motivational speaker, educator, author, and founder of Tererai Trent International.^[1]

She has a statue erected in her honour in New York City.^[2]

Background

Tererai grew up in a cattle-herding family in rural Zimbabwe, then Southern Rhodesia under colonial rule, where cultural practices and a war that liberated her country charted the course of her life. Tererai did not have the opportunity to go to school. Undeterred, she still dreamed of an education and determinedly taught herself to read and write from her brother’s schoolbooks. Despite being married young and having three children by the time she was eighteen, she never lost sight of her dreams.^[3]

Tererai met a woman who would profoundly impact her life: Jo Luck, president and CEO of Heifer International. She told Tererai, If you believe in your dreams, they are achievable With this inspiration and her own mother’s encouragement, Tererai wrote down her dreams of going to America for higher education, sealed them in a tin can, and buried them under a rock.

Career

Trend is an adjunct professor in Monitoring & Evaluation in Global Health at Drexel University, School of Public Health, Dr. Trent is a senior consultant with more than 18 years of international experience in program and policy evaluation and has worked on five continents for major humanitarian organizations. As a fellow at the Center of AIDS Prevention Studies (CAPS) at UC San Francisco, Dr Trent conducted research on HIV prevention in Sub Saharan Africa with a special focus on women and girls.

Appearing on the Oprah Winfrey Show

A two-time guest on The Oprah Winfrey Show, Tererai was named by Oprah as her “All-Time Favorite Guest” and received a $1.5 million donation to rebuild her childhood elementary school in recognition of her tenacity and never-give-up attitude. With the firm belief that education is the pathway out of poverty and a desire to give back to her community, Dr Trent founded Tererai Trent International.

Tererai Trent International

Through strategic partnerships with Oprah Winfrey and Save the Children, Dr Trent’s mission to provide universal access to quality education while also empowering rural communities is now being realized. Eleven schools are being built in Zimbabwe and education has been improved for over 5,000 children so far.

Awards

Dr Trent won the 2018 NAACP Award for Outstanding Literary Work (Instructional) for her latest book, The Awakened Woman—Remembering & Reigniting Our Sacred Dreams. She was invited to speak all over the world, to share her remarkable story and the valuable lessons she has learned along the way. She was a keynote speaker at the UN Global Compact Leaders Summit where she used her growing voice to appeal to international businesses to invest in equal access to quality education. Leading the global charge in the fight for quality education for all children and women’s rights, Dr Trent has become a symbol of hope for everyone, and living proof that anything is possible. Her favourite motto is “Tinogona,” meaning, “It is achievable!”