Bono, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, local heroes honored

Last night at Philadelphia’s National Constitution Center, Bono (watch his 2005 TEDTalk) and Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala (watch her TEDTalks) accepted the Liberty Medal, honoring Bono and DATA for their work in Africa. One of the local papers put together a fascinating section to go along with the event: “Philadelphia’s Team Africa,” profiling 10 locals in diverse fields — teaching, health, entrepreneurial philanthropy — working to build a stronger continent:

We have a 79-year-old nun who saves babies in Malawi and Uganda … a middle-aged married couple from the Main Line whose day job is HIV/AIDS prevention in South Africa … a 27-year-old Drexel MBA who’s her own personal Small Business Administration, with microloans out to 18 small businesses in Kenya, Uganda, Togo and Ghana ….

It’s an inspiring reminder of the thousands of ways to be involved. Doing business in Africa is a big part of that equation: Also mentioned is “City Hall’s own division of international trade (who knew?) who helped broker $6 billion in imports from Africa last year.”

Photo by CLEM MURRAY / Inquirer Staff Photographer