"Believe in yourself." The superpower that Alexandra Machado brought to Mozambique through the Girl MOVE Academy and which marke

Ten years ago, Alexandra Machado made a career decision that would change her life and the lives of more than fifteen thousand Mozambican girls - to become a social entrepreneur in the area of education and girls' empowerment. Having already received several international awards, the Girl MOVE Academy, co-founded by Alexandra Machado and Luís Amaral in 2013, is the central focus of the career of the CATÓLICA-LISBON Alumna, who received, on June 29th, the 2023 Career Award, in a ceremony at the Cardeal Medeiros Auditorium, at Universidade Católica Portuguesa.

The ceremony, which was attended by more than 250 guests and highlighted Alexandra Machado's professional career in management, leadership, and positive impact on society, was marked by interventions by Filipe Santos, Dean of CATÓLICA-LISBON, who opened the session, followed by Vasco de Mello, President of the 2023 Career Award Jury, who outlined the winner's journey and the reasons that led to the unanimous choice by the Jury. Next, Alexandra Machado shared her extraordinary story of entrepreneurship and impact. Finally, Sérgio Rebelo, CATÓLICA-LISBON Alumnus, Economist and former Career Award laureate, spoke of the challenges of the Economy of the Future, giving a new vision of the phenomenon and trends of globalization, as well as the challenges of the energy transition and the impact of AI on the future. Isabel Capeloa Gil, President of Católica, closed the ceremony, having also shared the news of the recent licensing by the Lisbon Municipality of the architecture project of the new UCP campus, which includes the new building for the expansion of CATÓLICA-LISBON.

A Career Creating Value
 

Alexandra Machado's social impact journey, built with "all the faith, soul and gifts that God gave me," comes after deciding to make a major change in her career as Country Manager for Nike in Portugal. Ten years ago, Alexandra Machado chose Mozambique to start fighting against unequal opportunities in women’s education, as it is a developing country and because it "speaks our language," as the Alumna mentioned.

"I will fight for a cause that I believe in and that I think is fundamental, which is to combat the lack of opportunities in women’s education in the world and in Mozambique in particular."

It was an exploratory train journey between Nampula and Niassa that inspired what became the Girl MOVE Academy. "I particularly remember, on that long journey of 14 hours by train, stopping at all the stops, noticing that there were only women on that train, who told me difficult stories, of polygamy, violence, school dropout and poverty, but all these stories, so sad at first, were told in a light, almost joyful way, the fighting spirit and strength of these women shine through."

It was then that Alexandra realized that with her “grit”, that of these women and that of the many "sisters" who joined along the way, it was truly possible to change the world! The Girl MOVE Academy is a leadership academy that empowers women just out of college to be the next generation of changemakers. Each "Girl Mover" is responsible for a group of young teenage girls, for whom they become mentors, role models and inspiration.

"Today, there are more than 15,000 young teenagers impacted by this model, who managed to continue from primary to secondary education, significantly changing the educational situation in Mozambique. There are already many seeds scattered throughout the country," she explains.

This year, the 2023 Career Award winner took the same train ride again, in order to understand what had changed in these ten years. "To my amazement, it took me 15 hours, instead of 14, to cover the same distance. I found the same poverty and the same women, some similar stories," but she assures she found many more dreams.

She was surprised by the responses of the children who participated in a focus group at a school in the Niassa province. When asked about their dreams, one girl stood out, saying she wanted to "become a lawyer and defend girls' rights and women's education." When Alexandra asked the next question: What superpowers would they need to conquer their dreams, the same girl got up, opened her school uniform shirt, and showed a t-shirt with the phrase "Believe in yourself!" that had been distributed in the community three years earlier by Girl MOVE Academy, and she stated, "This is my superpower!"

Are there coincidences? How likely is it that a girl randomly selected to participate in a focus group, 15 hours away from Nampula, where the Academy is located, and years after being impacted by this movement, would have worn a t-shirt that day that gave her the right answer to such an unusual question? Some things are truly inexplicable. At that moment, Alexandra Machado realized one thing: that in ten years, in Mozambique, the future changed.

One of the most inspiring leaders of Portuguese society

 

Vasco de Mello, President of the 2023 Career Award Jury, acknowledged that it was "a true privilege to perceive, through live testimonies, concrete facts, and stories, that when we put our soul into our gestures and actions, however simple they may seem, they can be truly transformative.”

For the President of the Jury, Alexandra Machado's strong human and Christian values, combined with doses of courage and determination, have made her one of the most inspiring leaders of Portuguese society and of the new generations.

Filipe Santos, Dean of CATÓLICA-LISBON, reiterated that "by honoring Alexandra Machado, we are celebrating our entire community for her proven example, but also for her potential for the future.

In the year that CATÓLICA-LISBON celebrates 50 years as a pioneering school in Portugal in the teaching of Business Administration and Management, this distinction is proof that the school continues to equip Portugal and Europe with a generation of managers, entrepreneurs and economists who make a positive difference in society.

Isabel Capeloa Gil, President of Católica, also pointed out the path of CATÓLICA-LISBON, based on training professionals for business, professional, ethical, and responsible leadership. For the President, Alexandra Machado demonstrates that "the motto of CATÓLICA-LISBON Achieve Greatness is being widely achieved and has been fulfilled in the last 50 years. It will certainly continue to be so.

The ceremony, in addition to a celebration, was also a moment of knowledge sharing.

 

Sérgio Rebelo, CATÓLICA-LISBON Alumnus, and winner of the Career Award in 2007, continued to inspire the audience with his lecture on "The Economy of the Future". For the Economist, "there are three fundamental factors that will mark the future: globalization, climate change and Artificial Intelligence", and, to deal with all of them, "a spirit of cooperation is needed. And we are in a world where there is less and less cooperation.

Regarding Artificial Intelligence, Sérgio Rebelo shared an important reflection. Artificial Intelligence began in 1956 in the USA with a group of mathematicians and engineers who got together and developed an extremely ambitious research program, which seemed practically impossible to become a reality. But it was supported for 50 years and it became a reality! "And this is a very important lesson, because this public funding of basic research is absolutely essential. Because without that, nothing happens," concluded the Alumnus.

"We have this challenge of Artificial Intelligence, which is going to ask questions about 'what is special about humans?' or 'what is it to be human?' And I think this is the job of Business Schools - to prepare managers for a world that is very different."