Your Excellencees
Honorable Member of Parliament
Members of the Board of Directors
Dr Patrick Awuah
Faculty and staff
Family and friends
The class of 2025 –
Good morning!
Graduates, what a remarkable group you are.
From 20 different countries, from many different backgrounds, cultures, and ideas, from refugee camps and rural areas and big cities alike, you formed a single, exceptional community here. Each of you traveled a unique path to get here. But you all leave today with a shared distinction. You are now graduates of Ashesi University. Congratulations. As I think about what small wisdom I can impart today, my thoughts turn to beginnings.
After all, your very name, Ashesi, means “beginning.” In giving this university its name, Patrick Awuah took inspiration from a verse from the German poet Goethe (GER-ta):
“If there is anything you can do, or dream you can [dream], begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it. Begin it now.”
How fitting that it helped launch a place like this – a school synonymous with creative disruption and audacious imagination.
Begin it now.
Class of 2025, today is a new beginning in each of your lives. The question before each of you is: what will you make of yours? There are no simple answers. So instead, let me offer three pieces of hard-won advice about how to begin that have guided me in my own journey.
First, begin boldly. Second, begin together. And finally, begin again.
I’d like to reflect on each one in turn.
Begin Boldly
Of course, while today is a new beginning in your lives, you graduate into the middle of the story for everyone else. Yours is a moment full of possibility but also of exceptional uncertainty. The world you graduate into can feel upside down and on fire all at once. In moments like this, some people freeze. Others wait for clarity before acting. Or search for safety in thinking small. That’s not Ashesi. That’s not you. This is not a place that trains the status quo. It’s a place that equips builders, creators, and visionaries.
So, begin boldly.
You’ve already started to live that out. You’ve won prizes for environmental, technological, and social innovation from Paris to Kigali. You launched a ride-hailing app to help rural rickshaw drivers. You genetically engineered bacteria to devour plastic pollution at sea. Your ranks include the first-ever graduate class in Mechatronic Engineering – combining mechanical, electrical, and computer engineering—and Ashesi’s largest ever cohort of graduating female engineers. We need the disruptive new beginnings that you have to offer. Do not wait for perfect conditions to begin. The act of beginning takes on a life of its own. Put your idea into motion and others will join.
You’ll find that clarity often comes only after you begin – that sometimes the plan only becomes fully clear in hindsight. Almost two decades ago, the Mastercard Foundation was a startup foundation. There was no road map. No institutional memory to draw on. We just had to build even as we began. We chose to make Africa our focus because we saw a young, dynamic, aspiring continent overflowing with opportunity and creativity.
And after a decade, we built upon what we learned and set out an ambitious goal for our next decade. Enabling 30 million young people, especially women, to access dignified and fulfilling work. None of that was pre-ordained. In those early years, there were so many gaps. But those gaps we found an invitation – to listen, to learn, and to imagine what is possible.
My advice to you is to embrace uncertainty in your own journey. It’s a passport to go where others will not DARE. If you begin boldly and embrace uncertainty, then the path before you will start to come into focus.
Begin Together
That clarity is immensely satisfying. But, the most meaningful of beginnings are the ones you share. It is remarkable how one person’s beginning can create possibilities for so many others. Right here at Ashesi University, Gabriel Domoninge Naa dreamed up a social venture called EcoRabbit Revolution it provides employment and modern farm skills to young people in rural communities.
Primerose Katena, the daughter of shop owners, fell in love with technology – and carried forward her family tradition by founding an online marketplace to resell wholesale goods. Her new company is empowering salespeople to earn money and small businesses to compete and thrive.
I’m proud that Gabriel and Primerose are Mastercard Foundation Scholars. I’m even prouder that there are thousands more like them, like you, who – when given the opportunity – lift others up. Mentor younger students. Support your siblings and even entire villages. Start businesses that address real needs. Give back to communities. Each one a ripple of opportunity that radiates forward.
Whatever your journey may be, bring others with you.
But you won’t be able to truly begin together unless you understand who you’re traveling alongside. The best way to do that is to embrace the lost art of listening. When I began at the Mastercard Foundation, I began by listening. To farmers in Ghana. Entrepreneurs in Kenya. Refugees in Uganda. University leaders. Government officials. Most of all to young people themselves. And that has made all the difference in going forward together. Listening doesn’t just lead to better decisions. It helps you see the person in front of you more clearly. To win their trust. To know who you are working with. Working for.
Too many people are focused on proximity to power. Too few are focused on the power of proximity – to the people, the problems, and the solutions at the heart of your mission. Let that be your power. In a world where too many are shouting past one another, be a leader who listens. That, too, will set you apart and serve you well. You will be most fulfilled when you measure success not just in the possibilities you create for yourself, but in those you create for others.
Begin Again
There will come a time when your own beginnings start to feel distant. When you’re well into your career. When people look to you as the expert. When things feel settled. In those moments, I hope you remember this: the most courageous leaders are the ones who keep on beginning. They keep learning. They keep questioning. They keep starting anew.
As you advance in your careers, you will gain knowledge, skills, and experience. But, don’t be limited by what you know. Don’t let your expertise crowd out your imagination. Hold on to that curiosity. Open mind. That capacity to imagine the world anew.
Don’t be afraid to begin again.
That spirit led me to an unorthodox decision within our field of philanthropy. We worked with international organizations. Over time, we saw that the organizations doing the most interesting and enduring work were local country or communities themselves. They had local knowledge. They had trust. And we began to work more with them. When we began our 2nd decade, our new strategy, our values and vision told us we needed to be closer to the problems and the solutions. To embrace the power of proximity. We just needed to be present.
So, in addition to Toronto, we opened up offices and set up teams in 7 African countries. The majority of our staff and leaders are based in Africa. And I moved to Rwanda 5 years ago. At the time, I heard from many seasoned leaders in philanthropy who told me this just wasn’t done.
But, I knew that this was where our values and vision were leading us. And it’s paid off in terms of results. Today, more than 16.5 million young people are working. Over 22 million entrepreneurs are building businesses. The vast majority of our partners are African organizations. Institutions tell us they are stronger and thriving. We’re not just funding programs. We’re nurturing leadership, dignity, and trust.
GRADUATES, let your beginnings be shaped not just by what you know, but by what you discover along the way. We know that beginnings are not always smooth. You will face setbacks. You will be told no. You will be misunderstood. You will experience loss and heartbreak. I certainly did. But in those moments, you will have a choice. You can shrink into yourself. Or you can find a way to begin again.
Beginning again is not failure. It’s resilience. It’s wisdom. Its renewal. It’s how we grow – and keep growing. Graduates, you’re not the only ones confronting a new beginning. After eighteen years, I’ve made a decision to step down in a year as President and CEO of the Mastercard Foundation. It’s been an honor and the journey of a lifetime to build the Foundation and grow our impact. The process of beginning and beginning again never really ends.
As I chart my next chapter, I’ll try to follow my own advice to you today. Begin boldly. Begin together. And don’t ever be afraid to begin again. The world is waiting.
Begin it now.
Congratulations.
THANK YOU.
