ATLANTA/ST. MAARTEN:--- In the midst of the many global threats, terrorist acts, violence, crime and corruption; bravery, tenacity, courage and resilience are especially essential for leaders in our societies. Consequently, the visionary and president of Victorious Living, Dr. N. Erna Mae Francis-Cotton, in a recent press release saluted 17 year old Malala Yousafzai on recently winning the Nobel Peace Prize, especially as the world community celebrated The United Nations' International Day of the Girl Child on October 11th.
Malala Yousafzai was born on July 12, 1997, in Mingora, Pakistan and proves that we must be courageous in the midst of opposition and threats. As a child, Malala became an advocate for girls' education. When she was 14, Malala and her family learned that the Taliban had issued a death threat against her. Though Malala was frightened for the safety of her father—an anti-Taliban activist—she and her family initially felt that the fundamentalist group would not actually harm a child.
On October 9, 2012, on her way home from school, a man boarded the bus Malala was riding in and demanded to know which girl was Malala. When her friends looked toward Malala, her location was given away. The gunman fired at her, hitting Malala in the left side of her head; the bullet then traveled down her neck. Two other girls were also injured in the attack.
The shooting left Malala in critical condition, so she was flown to a military hospital in Peshawar. A portion of her skull was removed to treat her swelling brain. To receive further care, she was transferred to Birmingham, England.
Once she was in the United Kingdom, Malala was taken out of a medically induced coma. Though she would require multiple surgeries—including repair of a facial nerve to fix the paralyzed left side of her face—she had suffered no major brain damage. In March 2013, she was able to begin attending school in Birmingham.
Despite the Taliban's threats, Malala remains a staunch advocate for the power of education. On October 10, 2013, in acknowledgement of her work, the European Parliament awarded Malala the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought. That same year, she was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize. She didn't win the prize, but was named a nominee again in March 2014, and recently became the youngest ever Nobel Prize recipient in any category.
Francis-Cotton salutes and honours Malala's bravery and recognizes her award especially because she was only 14 years old when she stood up against her opposition and stood up for what is right. Therefore, if this 14 year old girl could be courageous in the face of adversity and evil, Francis-Cotton admonishes the people of St. Martin and its leaders to rise up and fight against the evils in this land as this seventeen year old Nobel Peace Prize recipient has done and continues to do.
Francis-Cotton reminds the leaders of Government, business, education, clergy, families and our society to recognize the importance of bravery and courage in leadership. She therefore invites all leaders to register for the early bird registration of Leadercast 2015 which takes place on May 8th, 2015 where Malala will be one of the keynote speakers.
Bradley Hutson, Vice President of International Business Development for Leadercast stated, "Leadercast continues to grow in the international community and is currently in over 20 countries around the world. We are pleased to be partnering with Victorious Living Foundation for the [third] consecutive year to bring Leadercast Live 2015 to St. Maarten." He underscored the fact that Giant Impact, the organizers of Leadercast, rely on host sites like Victorious Living to effectively grow their international footprint and ultimately change the way the world thinks about leadership.
Leadercast's mission is to build leaders worth following. To help clarify, this leader, a leader worth following thinks, leads, and behaves differently. These leaders pursue an innate ability to create culture, an unyielding passion for simplicity, an ability to drive creativity deep within an organization, and just insane bravery.
Hutson expressed his gratitude to Victorious Living in a personal letter to the Foundation's visionary, N. Erna Mae Francis-Cotton by stating: "Thank you for your support in meeting the leadership needs of St. Maarten and helping to build leaders worth following!"
Early-bird Registration for Leadercast is now open, and businesses, schools, Churches and other civic organizations that see the need for exposing their leaders to such dynamic content are invited to partner and underwrite the costs of this powerful and transformative event. Businesses and organizations that desire to partner with Victorious Living, a local non-profit organization, for Leadercast 2015, as part of their corporate social responsibility may contact Victorious Living at 1-721-524-8731/1-305-407-9260; visit www.victoriouslivingsxm.org or e-mail This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to do so. More information about Leadercast can be found at www.leadercast.com.
