Babou Olengha-Aaby

Babou Olengha-Aaby is the Founder & CEO of The Next Billion, a for profit- for impact driven startup with a vision to ‘change the way we see business’. One woman, one company, one portrait, one feature, one find at a time. She’s on a mission to close the visibility gap for women in business globally by empowering the next billion women entrepreneurs, manufacturers, producers and employers to show up and be visible. Congolese born and mother of 3, Babou is a passionate advocate for Female Entrepreneurship and for greater diversity and mindfulness in business.

She is a big believer in the collective power of one, the Crowd and technology to affect positive change in the world. Through her work at The Next Billion, she’s conceived and launched initiatives such as Access2, ProfileMe, as well the social media campaign #WinningFacts #WinningEffects. Highlighting the benefits of investing in women. And In 2016, her company launched Globally Spotted a discovery platform with the aim of raising more visibility for inspiring women founded and led ventures globally. Those with innovative, smart and purpose-driven business models.

Babou is the proud recipient of an Honorary Female Entrepreneurship Ambassador Award, awarded to her at the IV European Congress of Small Business in 2014 in Poland. She is also an enterprise mentor, who champions and advises ‘business underdogs’ (i.e. SMEs, purpose driven companies, mature entrepreneurs and more precisely female entrepreneurs).

She’s an experienced keynote speaker and TEDxWomen alumni. Most recently, she joined Forbes as a contributor, where she writes about inspiring companies founded and led by women worldwide. Those largely undiscovered by mainstream media. And why investing in them matters, why female entrepreneurship is no longer just a gender issue but an economic one. Why it’s a win-win for all.