We believe the world needs to celebrate excellence and this is exactly what 11 year old Zuriel Oduwale represents, excellence. She is the youngest person ever interviewed by Forbes Magazine, not because she is black, but because she is supremely talented.

Zuriel, beautiful name which is Hebrew for ‘God is my Rock’, is an award winning documentary filmmaker who loves interviewing the world’s top leaders and reporting on important stories people need to follow.

You might not think she is like the typical preteen, but she begs to differ.

From RisingAfrica.org: “I do all the usual things like go to the mall with my mum and sisters and ride my bike with my neighbours,” she says, although she is more than aware her life differs slightly from most girls her age. “I am in a home school-based curriculum, so that allows me to get ahead in my school work and then I have some time to travel for my extra curricular programmes like my Dream Up, Speak Up, Stand Up programme, or interviewing leaders for my documentaries.

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Zuriel began pursuing documentary-making and journalism when she was nine after entering a competition in the United States, where she resides with her Mauritian mother and Nigerian father and three siblings – two sisters and one brother. The competition asked applicants to produce a documentary “about a revolution or reaction in history”.

“I knew right away what I wanted to do even though I was only nine. It was my opportunity to find a successful revolution and show the world that Africa is not all bad.”

She is being called the next Oprah Winfrey and is focused on rebranding Africa by showing the positivity happening on the continent, fighting for education of girls and setting a great example.

We know she will complete every goal her young mind sets out to achieve and much, much more. The wonderful thing is we will be able to watch and admire her progress over the next few decades.

Read more here: RisingAfrica.org