🔥 Can clean cooking spark a revolution for gender equity and climate justice?
In this powerful episode of Tangelic Talks, co-hosts Victoria Cornelio and Jensen Cummings speak with Katleho (Queen) Mojakisane, founder of Youth on the Rise, to uncover how women-led energy initiatives are reshaping Africa’s climate and development story—starting with clean cooking.
🎙️ Episode Highlights:
👑 Why women’s leadership is essential in energy access and clean cooking
🍲 The life-changing impact of clean cooking tech on health, livelihoods & safety
🌍 How Bola empowers women in rural Nigeria as clean energy entrepreneurs
🧠From lived experience to leadership: what makes grassroots solutions effective
✊ Breaking barriers: gender equity, white saviorism, and redefining "empowerment"
🔹 About the Guest: Katleho (Queen) Mojakisane is a climate activist, entrepreneur, and founder of Youth on the Rise in Nigeria. She champions clean energy, women’s empowerment, and policy transformation—empowering hundreds of women and shifting the conversation on sustainable development.
đź’¬ Join the Conversation: How do we empower more women to lead in clean energy? Drop your thoughts in the comments!
✅ Like • Share • Comment • Subscribe
Let’s power the future together—through equity, energy, and action. 🌍⚡
#TangelicTalks #WomenInEnergy #CleanCooking #GenderEquity #ClimateJustice #YouthLeadership #EnergyAccess #WomenEmpowerment #SustainableDevelopment #CommunityLedChange #CleanEnergyAfrica #ClimateResilience #EnergyEntrepreneurs #WomenLeadChange #EquityInAction #LocalSolutionsGlobalImpact #AfricaRising #EmpowerHer
In this powerful episode of Tangelic Talks, co-hosts Victoria Cornelio and Jensen Cummings speak with Katleho (Queen) Mojakisane, founder of Youth on the Rise, to uncover how women-led energy initiatives are reshaping Africa’s climate and development story—starting with clean cooking.
🎙️ Episode Highlights:
👑 Why women’s leadership is essential in energy access and clean cooking
🍲 The life-changing impact of clean cooking tech on health, livelihoods & safety
🌍 How Bola empowers women in rural Nigeria as clean energy entrepreneurs
🧠From lived experience to leadership: what makes grassroots solutions effective
✊ Breaking barriers: gender equity, white saviorism, and redefining "empowerment"
🔹 About the Guest: Katleho (Queen) Mojakisane is a climate activist, entrepreneur, and founder of Youth on the Rise in Nigeria. She champions clean energy, women’s empowerment, and policy transformation—empowering hundreds of women and shifting the conversation on sustainable development.
đź’¬ Join the Conversation: How do we empower more women to lead in clean energy? Drop your thoughts in the comments!
✅ Like • Share • Comment • Subscribe
Let’s power the future together—through equity, energy, and action. 🌍⚡
#TangelicTalks #WomenInEnergy #CleanCooking #GenderEquity #ClimateJustice #YouthLeadership #EnergyAccess #WomenEmpowerment #SustainableDevelopment #CommunityLedChange #CleanEnergyAfrica #ClimateResilience #EnergyEntrepreneurs #WomenLeadChange #EquityInAction #LocalSolutionsGlobalImpact #AfricaRising #EmpowerHer
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LearningTranscript
00:00Thirdly, I am the warm and engaged in my community for your podcast and specifically tell me as a suggestion that combines an upbeat and abiding spirit of anatomy and grow music.
00:10Welcome to Tangelic Talks, your go-to podcast from Tangelic, where we dive into the vibrant world of clean energy, development, sustainability, and climate change in Africa.
00:20We bring you inspiring stories, insightful discussions, and groundbreaking innovations from the cons of making waves in the global community.
00:28Tune in and join the conversation toward a brighter, greener future. Let's get started.
00:36Welcome to Tangelic Talks, a podcast at the intersection of energy equity empowerment with your co-hosts, Victoria Cornelio and myself, Jensen Cummings.
00:46In today's episode, we're discussing youth leadership for a sustainable Africa with our guest, Queen Mojaki Sane.
00:53As the founder of Youth on the Rise, a nonprofit focused on youth empowerment, Queen has spearheaded initiatives addressing youth unemployment, education gaps, and gender-based violence in Lesotho and South Africa.
01:06She mobilized over 500 young leaders for the Lesotho Youth Summit and received the Future Africa Leaders Award for her outstanding contributions to socioeconomic development.
01:17And Queen, thanks for being with us.
01:19Welcome.
01:20Thank you so much.
01:21Thank you so much.
01:22I'm excited to be here.
01:25And yeah, just excited to share more about my country, my continent, what we do and what we're about.
01:33We can't wait to hear it.
01:34Yes, that's good.
01:34We got a lot to talk about.
01:36And so we'll get right into it.
01:37I'm interested for you from your perspective, maybe take us back a little bit.
01:41What's the inspiration for you kind of melding youth leadership and empowerment with kind of climate justice, climate action, climate change, how you're kind of navigating and bringing those two worlds together?
01:54Where did that start for you?
01:55Okay, that is a very important question because prior to being part of Tangelic, I mainly focus on empowering marginalized groups.
02:09And in different societies, these groups are a different set of people, but majority we know that women and young people are normally on the sidelines when it comes to things like decision making, economic empowerment.
02:24And some of the stats that you'll hear about how much women actually earn are very distraught.
02:32And those are the kind of things that I'm passionate about.
02:38And it's even more challenging coming from a developing country where you have to work 10 times as hard to get certain opportunities.
02:51And so it means that the marginalized groups in these particular communities have to work even harder to have their voices heard or to be empowered or to have the capability to step into certain spaces.
03:06So these are the problems, the socioeconomic problems that I did realize coming from a very poor country that is not known.
03:17I heard you, like even the pronunciation was not, you know, when you were talking about it, because people don't really know it.
03:26Like there's a lot of corruption, poverty going on there.
03:29So seeing all these problems actually moved me to kind of be the change I want to see or be the change.
03:42Yeah, make the change, bring about the change that I want to see.
03:46And that was how I initiated several projects and in me initiating several projects that aimed to empower young people in their different, how do I call it, demography, demographics, for example, or in their different vicinities where you'll have young people who can afford a certain type of education.
04:08Young people who are marginalized because of maybe the mistakes that they've done and now they're in prison and they live in a continuous cycle of crime and depression.
04:18And, you know, so these are the different sets of people that I had an interest in and young girls as well.
04:24Growing up as well, being a victim of maybe the crime that was in my community, you know, I got to learn about, you know, and see like the problems that we live with as a society and then kind of said, you know what, I'm going to change this.
04:42And meeting different organizations, volunteering, volunteering, most of the time, initiating projects because I was in the heart of what was happening.
04:54That was how I came across Tangelic because I am passionate about volunteering or helping organizations achieve equitable or gender equity as a whole.
05:08So, funny enough, when I applied for Tangelic, I applied to be a podcast host.
05:18So, I should be the one interviewing, but it's fine because I was trying to like step out of my comfort zone and I was also just, you know, that was the only post that I had seen and I applied.
05:35So, when I applied, yeah, obviously I didn't, things changed because I am now, I now have a different position, but that was how I became part of Tangelic.
05:46And I was particularly interested in the mission, which is to kind of address the energy poverty that is in Africa.
05:58And this was not me being an expert in anything, but it was me having gone to Ghana because I initiated a project in Ghana.
06:10I saw what it means to live because I did a project in central Ghana, so I didn't do it in Accra where it's like the city.
06:17I saw what it means to live in rural Ghana, I saw the power outages, I saw the kind of poverty that both young people, old people, different kinds of people, the kind of challenges they have to go through.
06:33And I was like, I'd love to be part of this movement, I'd love to, you know, kind of be part of the change.
06:43And that was how I came to be part of a movement that advocates for gender, not gender as such, but like the climate, climate equity and the likes.
06:56And it feels like a big journey, but you're also really young, so I can imagine you've lived a lot of lives in such a short span of time.
07:05And if you guys want to hear more about Queen, she's on a podcast basically every week and she's doing conferences and interviews.
07:12So she's great, absolutely great.
07:15And I think your insights are really interesting of how you say, because you were right there living it, you said, I want to be part of the change.
07:23And it sounds like a lot of the work you do is very community driven and community driven solutions.
07:30And we hear that buzzword a lot.
07:31But what does that mean?
07:32What does that look like to you in practice?
07:35That's a very important point.
07:38It is a buzzword.
07:39And, you know, I'm also trying to get in between, you know, learning the semantics of the, I'll call it the industry that I'm trying to be in.
07:52But as well as remaining authentic and staying true to the lived experiences of the people that we're trying to reach out to.
08:03And what it means for me is for people like me, people who actually come from these communities but want to make a change, how they can be part of the transformation,
08:22how they can be empowered to actually ensure that there is change in the communities that they're living in.
08:33If for someone who is visionary like me was not given such opportunities, it's very few people, for example, from my country that can speak English the way that I can,
08:44for instance, express themselves the way that I can, have the technology to even be on Zoom the way that I am or to join podcasts.
08:52I am, I live that reality every day.
08:58And so for someone or an organization to see me and say, hey, I want to change your life.
09:04Hey, I'm giving you a scholarship to go to school.
09:06Hey, I'm giving you the platform to be part or have a seat on the policymaking table and have a say.
09:15That is what community engagement is about.
09:20It's, yes, I agree that we should, it's important for institutions to be part of this as well so that we have expert decisions taking place.
09:30But it's also very important to empower the people from these communities to put them in and not just say, hey, I'm giving you a solar microgrid.
09:41I'm giving you a tablet, but say, I want you to be in that room where decisions are being made because you have those insights.
09:53And particularly important for why it's important for a young person, particularly, because now they are part of,
10:03I want to say things are happening differently for them as compared to, let's say, the president.
10:08The president, most presidents are like over 50 years old.
10:12So the challenges that we're facing as young people are not the same as the challenges that they were facing.
10:18So for me to be engaged, for me to be, for example, to be in a position where I'm meeting the president of Nigeria,
10:26the president of Ghana, explaining to them, this is what we're facing as young people.
10:32This is what the young girls are facing.
10:34There's a lot going on in our communities, just in South Africa alone, outside the scope of climate and, you know, energy,
10:45just in South Africa alone, South Africa is a very dangerous place for a female to live.
10:49So many people are being victims of gender-based violence.
10:54And it's not something that is, you hear on the news.
10:59It's something that you hear on campus, something happened.
11:03Next door, something happened.
11:05Oh, this person was killed by her boyfriend.
11:07Oh, this.
11:08So it's not something that is so far away.
11:13We're leaving.
11:14Every time there was this, during a protest, girls normally write on the placards, am I next?
11:20Because truly, we're all wondering, am I next?
11:25So for me to be living through all these challenges and not be given the space to say, this is how I want this policy to be implemented and made, this is what I want to happen, it would be great injustice.
11:38So for me, this is what community engagement is really about.
11:42Well, that's a very powerful answer, Queen.
11:45Thank you for that and very personal.
11:47I'm interested, you mentioned kind of having a seat at the table, being in that room.
11:52I wanted to dig into that a little bit more because a lot of times these outside entities are coming and forcing a round peg in a square hole saying, this is the best solution for your community.
12:05We're experts, we have the resources, we have the experience, the expertise, and all this, so you must do what we're saying if you want to have a better life.
12:15But we're trying to figure out a way that not only do you have a seat at the table, but that that community itself is building the table at which those decisions are happening.
12:23So can you give some more insights for organizations, potentially like Tangelic, our organization, or others that are trying to help these communities without being heavy handed, without being forceful in the way that we're trying to initiate these potential solutions?
12:43Yes, that's a very important question because I don't like to admit it, but a lot of the philanthropic organizations, you know, as time goes on, we get to see the hidden agendas behind some movements.
13:01And it's really challenging to know if an organization really has the community at heart to begin with, if the people fund and the organization are really for the communities.
13:20And also sometimes, you know, in my, in another life, Victoria mentioned that I might have many lives, but in, in my other life, I volunteer with an organization that actually is strategically looking at, you know, some of the things that organizations look past when they're doing the outreaches, things like the white savior complex.
13:50You know, you know, you know, some psychological things that, you know, some psychological things that they may not particularly be doing them purposefully, but sometimes the meaning gets lost in saying we're helping people and also being out of touch with the communities that you're trying to help.
14:08And which is why I do appreciate the effort that Tangelic has made to include people who come from the communities that are being assisted, right?
14:20Right. So that is one step that organizations should actually, you know, um, take include those people.
14:28Um, like I've already said, include the people that you're actually trying to empower, hear their voices genuinely also work with people who are maybe experts from those communities because they're able to connect with them more.
14:42And this helps to make your work easier and, um, essentially make sure that you actually at heart want to do what you say you want to do, because we've all seen how, because of funding priorities and lines get blurred.
14:59And we find ourselves carrying out agendas of our funders and we don't want to get, um, in the mix of all of that.
15:08So coming from, you know, me as a young person, seeing what's happening in my world, this is what I would say to these communities without having a PhD, without having all these terms to put forth.
15:18But, um, this is really important. Yeah. Yeah. Thank you for that. And I think you're right. I always use the example when I got into the sector that the buzzword of a cycle to work scheme was so important.
15:36And it's like, right. That's just riding your bike to work. Why do we have all these fancy words for things?
15:41And in this space, then, like you said, you come in with the lived experience and with this will to make change and be the change you want to see.
15:50So how have you felt you have to sort of push for a place at the table you're invited, but does it feel like you're invited or does it feel like you're fighting for that space?
16:01How do you sort of manage those, you know, those weird places that one can be in when trying to make that difference?
16:08I can already tell nobody's stopping Queen from being at that table.
16:12A hundred percent.
16:14Um, thank you for your vote of confidence. Um, but it takes a lot, Victoria. It actually, it takes a lot.
16:25Um, I always say that I want to live a life of purpose, ensuring that I am living my divine purpose.
16:35And that comes with taking a lot of what's the word, a lot of, um, risks, right?
16:44So me coming into this space, I took a sacrifice as well.
16:49I sacrificed something else because, um, let me make an example.
16:54Um, I'm very, very smart, right? Book smart.
16:58And I, you know, I come from a very poor country where you really, when you're looking, when you're thinking of, I want to have a job, engineering, medicine,
17:14um, you know, all the, I'd say maybe the, those, the STEM, for instance, the STEM, um, that's where you're thinking at.
17:25Because even for the government to sponsor your education, you have to be in that field.
17:30And I felt like, yes, it's important for everybody and women to be in that field, but it doesn't necessarily interest me that much because I want to live my purpose.
17:39And I want to study a degree that is more aligned to the work that I already do.
17:43And that's not medicine. That's not engineering.
17:46And so, however, my grades are saying, you go study engineering, girl, you go do this.
17:54But for me to even say no to that, um, I had to take a risk and, um, I had to apply for funding from outside my country to go to university.
18:08And that was a challenge as well, even to go to school, to learn how to be, um, a policy maker or how to have a seat at the table because my country doesn't prioritize that kind of education.
18:22So you see where it starts, even in the education system itself, the country doesn't say we have a problem, we have corruption.
18:30So probably we should think that we could sponsor people who are going to solve this problem.
18:36No, that's not the direction that the government is taking. Right.
18:40So now I have to like go source out external funding.
18:44So that's just a, a, like a glimpse of the kind of work that I had, the extra work that I had to put through.
18:53And now getting into these spaces is not a joke.
18:56Um, I have to make sure that the way that I present myself, uh, is in such a way that someone would be like, yeah, I want her to be part of my team.
19:09I want her to be part of, you know, and that takes a lot of learning.
19:13I have to learn how to do that.
19:15Um, I have to spend a lot of time with myself and actually make sure that I'm on the path that I want to be on.
19:22And even when I do get into those spaces, meet these people, I'm just a young girl.
19:27What do you know?
19:28And I'm seeing all this beautiful, um, women and men that I now have to be like that.
19:36I want to potentially mentor me.
19:38Where do I even start?
19:40Because, you know, so it's that kind of challenge.
19:44Now I have to work on my personal brand to make sure that by the time they go and read about me, um, they're like, okay, I see what I'm working with.
19:53Now I have to learn how to, you know, curate my personal brand in that manner.
19:58And when I see the men, I become, you know, there's a lot of, um, in where I come from, um, there's a lot of abuse in the workplace where the older men tend to take advantage of the younger women, uh, because of, uh, let's say they want to get a job or they want to get a certain position.
20:20Right.
20:21So when I get into these spaces, if it's only men, it's very, I'm like, I have to pray.
20:32I'm like, I hope that doesn't happen to me every time I get into these spaces.
20:37So these are the psychological things that I have to go through.
20:41And then now present my, um, what do I call my, um, uh, arguments in front of these groups.
20:50And it takes courage.
20:52Um, it is discouraging a lot of the times because there are systemic barriers put in place to ensure that you are in the place that we're saying you should be in, um, um, for the different organizations that have helped me believe in my purpose.
21:10And in the work that I'm trying to do, I'm very grateful, um, because it's been very rewarding.
21:16And, um, it's very sad to say that none of those are actually from my country, even though the work that I was doing was in my country.
21:24So you get to see the different challenges that we face.
21:28Right.
21:29And.
21:30Yeah.
21:31So it's a journey of constant learning, always being, you know, up to learn how to better yourself, how to, um,
21:40make meaningful connections and how to make yourself relevant in these spaces so that your voice is heard.
21:47Also learning how to work meaningfully in groups so that, um, in your leadership journey as well, you're not an oppressive leader.
21:56You're not an oppressive leader in the footsteps of the people you're trying to not be like.
22:00Um, so it's continuous learning really.
22:04And with that, I, I have to, I use poetry to calm me down.
22:08I love writing and, um, yeah, no, I really, I really commend you for that.
22:16Cause it sounds like it's a lot to juggle and it's a lot to sort of balance all at once.
22:21And you have five minutes to prep for an interview and you're having all these gymnastics going on.
22:26And then you present and you're like the most calm and collected person in the room.
22:31Yeah, definitely feel that.
22:33You, you mentioned your work sometimes having to happen outside of your country because of a multitude of factors.
22:42And I I'm interested in what is the work that you want to see happening today right now in your country that you feel like can start, can spark the change that you're making yourself in the world that you want to see happening in South Africa today.
23:03Where, where can that start?
23:04So I come from Lesotho and Lesotho is a country inside South Africa.
23:09So inside South Africa, there's another country and look, I am tired of conferences.
23:15I turn a lot of conferences, summits, this, that, um, in that I feel like the work that has been put into conferences to say, we're organizing such a conference to empower.
23:31I'm tired of that whole set up people sitting down, people in front telling people.
23:40And then after that, what next?
23:44Like what's happening?
23:46So I'm coming to your conference.
23:48You're telling me this is a youth empowerment, blah, blah, blah, and everything.
23:55And then after that, yes, we live with information with motivation.
24:00But after that, there is really no sustainable development going on.
24:05And it's just for sure, just for the camera, just for PR.
24:08And that is one thing that I'm really tired of, um, that has been like, that usually happens, um, at home.
24:17Um, certificates are great, but we want some, a sustainable pathway, um, for us to be continually engaged.
24:26And I want to say that money is very important in all these things that we're talking about, because without empowering people financially in a sustainable way, what you're talking about is useless.
24:40If I'm hungry.
24:41Um, if you're talking about, uh, how can I, you know, so what I want to see happening is actually, you know, sustainable development.
24:53I don't know, like, um, I don't know if I'm articulating what I want to say properly because it's such a pressing matter.
25:00And for people, let's say for young people who can like rise above the situation and try to maybe go into more spaces where they're actually empowered, you get to see that they're just wasting their time.
25:13Um, going to all these empowerment seminars and all that and all that without actually being empowered, hoping to one day, um, get a connection and then get a job and then do this.
25:23It's really challenging.
25:24And I would really like to see something that's actually, that is actually, you know, um, sustainable and something that a person could stand and say, because of this, my life changed.
25:38For instance, um, I, I was given a scholarship by the MasterCard Foundation to study and within that scholarship, um, you know, the benefits are immense and I really feel empowered by being a MasterCard Foundation scholar.
25:55Um, this I feel for me is a sustainable way to empower someone because the economic landscape of, you know, or the economic trajectory really, really changed for me because I was able to do a lot of other things with the resources that I was given, um, to actually empower myself even more.
26:16Right.
26:17So these are the different ways that people can be empowered after actually talking to them and assembling them in one place.
26:25And even with maybe the different conferences that we're going to have, this is why, um, like, for example, um, the conference, the virtual conference that Tangelic would have, for instance, um, we're already advertising and putting it out there.
26:42Um, you know, would love to really see the people that we're, um, that we're reaching out to would love that post engagement, even the organizations that will be working with all that, um, stakeholders from all these organizations post engagement is where it's at, because that is actually.
27:01Why we're having, um, why we're having, um, the conference that we're talking about.
27:06So I guess what I'm saying is to let us redefine the meaning in sustainable development and actually ensure that, um, it entails what it actually means.
27:17I'm so glad you're on my team.
27:19Exactly.
27:20The three of us to, to expound on that, the three of us and several other members of the Tangelic team are working on a virtual conference that's going to be coming up.
27:28And Victoria is leading that team and do an amazing job of that.
27:32We really appreciate that.
27:34Uh, one of the things that I really believe is like every, every story has a beginning, middle and end, and the conference always gets stuck in the middle.
27:43And so we're going to do a lot of work on the front end of telling the stories to get people understanding, inspired and lay down the credibility so that we don't have to waste 45 minutes of our hour long talk, trying to validate our existence.
27:54We can go right into action and then post that.
27:57And we need to continue the story and check in with people, have accountability, have, have support on the back end.
28:04So really appreciate that clean because, because we definitely need that.
28:07And we see that a lot.
28:09Oh, we got a lot more to talk about one quick question, Victoria.
28:13And then again, everybody, you know, that we're going to have some more technical, I think some more technical Q and A stuff, because we want to find out more about the, the actual programs that Queen is working on.
28:23So that'll be on the Tangelic podcast page on the Tangelic life.org website.
28:30So definitely check that out.
28:31But one last quick question.
28:32What do you got for Queen to kind of wrap up the video cast side of this?
28:36I mean, I'd just like to know, because we've been talking a lot about very heavy things, a lot of barriers and a lot of challenges, but also how you've been able to sort of navigate them and rise above them.
28:47So what gives you the most hope right now when it comes to coming into these spaces and seeing that change that you want to make?
28:55What is something that you say you point to when you say, yeah, this keeps me motivated?
28:59That's very interesting.
29:02It's actually seeing someone's life actually change.
29:07I did a project where I reached out to boys in juvenile prisons.
29:12I always talk about this because, yeah, that is why I do what I do.
29:18And so I reached out to these gentlemen and a year and then the following year I returned home.
29:27I kept in touch with them.
29:29You know, we're talking about living a crime free life.
29:32We're talking about mental health and then also keeping in contact with them to ensure that they're implementing what we're saying they should implement.
29:39They're going back to school instead of going back to the streets there, you know.
29:42So the following year I returned home, called up one of them and he was in school and I was so excited.
29:52He was in school and we did a whole TV show on TV where he was actually encouraging young people who were in his shoes before he got to prison saying live a crime free life.
30:06Drugs are not the way like this is very.
30:11And you're seeing that this person is not actually being transformed into being a leader.
30:16This person now wants to, you know, join the things that I do.
30:20You see his life literally changed and, you know, you see him talking on TV and it's not a small thing because had we not gone there, I don't know if he would have decided to follow that path.
30:34But it's seeing that actual tangible change in people's lives that I feel like, yeah, even if I did all this work and only one person's life was like was able to be changed.
30:48It's definitely worth it because trust me, they'll remember you for the rest of their lives.
30:53And not only that, but the fulfillment that you get from doing such work is incredible.
30:58So these are the kind of things that actually keep me going.
31:02And yeah.
31:04Yeah.
31:05Thank you for sharing that.
31:06Yeah.
31:07That's a powerful story.
31:08Yeah.
31:09If you can change one person's life, you've changed the world for forever.
31:13Right.
31:14Especially if it's a young person, because then that becomes a generational shift and change.
31:20So, wow.
31:21We could talk for days and days and days again, everybody.
31:24This is all the time that we have for the podcast.
31:26Part of this will go to tangelic life.org, check out the full blog post.
31:30So you'll get to get a little of that Q and A.
31:32We're going to hear about a couple of projects specifically that Queen has spearheaded and is working on.
31:38So you can get kind of some of the technical aspects of the things and how she's blending youth leadership for sustainable Africa, along with that climate justice side of things as well.
31:49So once again, this is a tangelic talks episode here with the one and only Queen.
31:55We appreciate you for being on.
32:02Thank you so much.