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Gemma Bulos

@gemmabulos

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Power Builder. Master Reinventor. Impact Leadership Strategist.

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This is 60.

Every line, a lesson.
Every wrinkle, wisdom hard fought.
Every scar, evidence.

Looking back, I see all the ways I could have loved better.
I could have been kinder.
More patient.
More forgiving.

I also see a life that was often messy.
Confusing.
Chaotic.
Full of wrong turns, detours, heartbreak, and starting over.

And yet…

I also see someone who was braver than she knew.

Who left home.
Chose the uncertain path.
Wandered farther than she ever imagined.
Achieved more than she ever thought possible.

Who discovered that you can lose your way without losing yourself.

That the path was rarely straight, but somehow it kept leading me home.

Today, I carry more gratitude than regret.

Because so much was given to me before I ever arrived.

By my ancestors.
By my family.
By teachers.
By communities.
By friends.
By people who allowed me to choose every step of the way however reckless, irresponsible, inappropriate, risky, bold, opportunistic, aspirational, impossible, unimaginable, planless…

They created the conditions that allowed me to build a life I could never have built alone.

My hope now is to do the same.

To become part of someone else’s foundation.

To create the conditions for others to dream bigger, love deeper, and go farther than I ever could.

To be the kind of ancestor they will one day acknowledge, even if they never know my name.

If these sixty years have taught me anything, it’s this:

Life isn’t measured by the choices we make, but by how deeply we allow it to change us.

Here’s to the next chapter. by @gemmabulos

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3 months ago

On July 16, I turn 60.

My life has been shaped not only by what I have built, but by who I have been fortunate enough to build beside.

And I cannot think of a more meaningful way to mark it than by introducing you to one of the most important people in my life and work: Engineer Godliver Businge.

She is an engineer, a teacher, a builder, and has trained thousands of people across East Africa. She has designed water systems that communities can build, maintain, and replicate. And she has helped women see themselves not as recipients of change, but as the people capable of creating it.

She has also changed me.

In my 6 decades on the planet, these are some of the things I feel most proud of.

The women I stood beside.
The power we recognized together.
The systems we built so that knowledge, dignity, leadership, and possibility could remain long after we were gone.

That is the heart of @SheBuildspower- the women and water work I’ve been doing for nearly 2 decades.

To enter with curiosity.
To listen before deciding.
To imagine alongside people, not on their behalf.
To build from what they know, what they value, and what they already carry.

I am thinking deeply about what I want to carry forward. And I know this much: I want to keep building with people whose courage, intelligence, and imagination make the world larger.

Godliver is one of those people.

So, for my birthday, I would love for you to join us.

Thurs, July 16
1pm EDT
To Register go to link in bio
This is how I want to celebrate sixty:

By gathering around work that still fills me with wonder,
and beside people who continue to expand my sense of what is possible. by @gemmabulos

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3 months ago

Today is the International Day of the African Child, and every year I find myself reflecting on the phrase **”girl child.”**

If girls are children, why do we have to say ‘girl’ child? Because in many parts of the world, when someones says child, they mean boys.

For too long, girls had to be named to be counted. Their education, safety, opportunities, and dreams had to be intentionally considered because “children” didn’t always include them equally in practice.

I’ve met those girls. In my nearly 20 years working in the Global South (18 in Africa) the more girls I’ve watched grow into women, the more I understand why the distinction matters.

The little ones carrying jerry cans alongside their mothers. The girls hovering at the edge of meetings, listening carefully while women learned to build water systems, start businesses, save money, and lead. The daughters watching what was possible.

Many of those girls are women now.

Some are mothers raising daughters of their own.

And I often wonder what they remember. What possibilities they inherited. What examples of leadership they witnessed. What they came to believe about what a woman could be.

Because legacies aren’t only passed down through land or money.

They’re passed down through opportunity.

Through visibility.

Through seeing someone who looks like you solve problems, speak up, build something, lead.

Today, as we celebrate the African child, I hold a special place in my heart for the African girl child.

May she be seen.

May she be included.

May she know that her voice, her ideas, and her leadership matter.

May she always recognize that @shebuildspower .

And may the opportunities we create today become the legacies she carries into tomorrow.

❤️ Happy International Day of the African Child.

#AfricanChildDay #GirlChildRights #shebuildspower #Girlchild by @gemmabulos

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4 months ago

Tomorrow.

Mother’s Day Live with Gemma Bulos. 12:00 PM EDT. Online.

The link is in your inbox and in our bio. Bring coffee. Bring a question.

See you there. by @gemmabulos

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5 months ago

Two days until Mother's Day Live.

Gemma is going live with Florence — a mother whose story holds the full arc of what She Builds Power does.

Q1 update. Florence's story. Real questions, real answers.

📅 May 7 · 12:00 PM EDT

RSVP link in bio. by @gemmabulos

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5 months ago

Mother's Day Live with Gemma Bulos, and a mother who named her daughter Gemma.

This Mother's Day, sit with Gemma and her guest, Florence.

Florence came to her first SBP training nine months pregnant. Two days later, she had a baby. She named her Gemma.

The next year, she came back. Baby Gemma is on her back.

Last Wednesday, the spring well in her community was finished.

Thursday is when you hear the rest.

📅 Thursday, May 7 🕐 12:00 PM EDT 💻 Online — free

RSVP — link in bio.

#SheBuildsPower #MothersDay by @gemmabulos

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5 months ago

Meet Grace Mushongi. 🌿

In Tanzania, Grace didn't wait for permission to build a better life.

She planted a kitchen garden — carrots, vegetables, beans, sweet potatoes — and dug her own composting hole to keep the soil rich and the harvest strong.

She identified water springs at Nsisha and Kabale in Bukoba, laying the groundwork for her community to follow.

And she grew her soap business — making more, selling more, and doing it side by side with her daughter.

This is what power looks like when it takes root. Not loud. Not waiting. Just building — one seed, one bar of soap, one generation at a time.

Grace is a Shiftmaker. And she is far from alone. 💪

Women like Grace are building food security, economic independence, and community leadership from the ground up — all at once.

She Builds Power exists to stand behind women like her.

👉 Learn more about the women rewriting their stories at shebuildspower.org by @gemmabulos

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6 months ago

by @gemmabulos

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6 months ago

Water has always been part of Gemma’s story, long before She Builds Power began.

Her dad became a U.S. citizen through his service in the Navy. The ocean didn’t just shape his life, it connected the two places he called home.

As a boy in the Philippines, he swam in the river behind his house every day until pollution slowly took that away. That loss stayed with him.

He carried a quiet dream of one day returning—to restore what was lost, to give back, to make a difference.

But life moved quickly, and that dream remained unfinished.

Years later, when Gemma launched her first water organization in the Philippines, something unexpected happened: he saw his dream come back to life. What he carried as hope found its way forward through her.

Today, that same legacy flows into the work of She Builds Power—bringing clean water, dignity, and opportunity to women and communities who need it most.

Some call it a mission. For Gemma, it’s personal, and it’s only just beginning.

👉 Help continue the legacy. Give today or join us monthly to bring clean water and opportunity to more women. Give now at http://www.shebuildspower.org/donate by @gemmabulos

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7 months ago

We had to jump on this trend. 🤭

This is who founded She Builds Power.

A little girl who grew up to follow a calling bigger than herself.

A woman who saw injustice and chose to do something about it.
A leader who believes women already have what it takes… they just need access and opportunity.

Today, Gemma is helping women across East Africa build sustainable futures through clean water, food security, and financial empowerment.
Because when one woman is equipped, everything changes.

💛 Be part of the story she’s still building. Visit http://shebuildspower.org/donate to join. by @gemmabulos

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7 months ago

Thank you to everyone who joined our International Women’s Day Live with Gemma Bulos.

Your presence and support remind us that when women rise, communities transform.

If you couldn’t join us live, you can watch the full conversation here:

🎥 Watch the replay by visiting the link in bio.

Together we continue building power through water, food security, and financial independence for women around the world.

Water. Food. Finance. Power.

#InternationalWomensDay #SheBuildsPower by @gemmabulos

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7 months ago

Powerful change begins with powerful women. 💜

To celebrate International Women’s Day, join our founder live as she shares inspiring stories of women across East Africa who are transforming their families and communities through opportunity, resilience, and support.

At She Builds Power, we believe poverty isn’t solved in pieces; it’s solved in systems. Through our Power Stack of water, food, and finance, women gain the tools they need to move from survival to self-sufficiency.

✨ Hear their stories
✨ Ask your questions live
✨ Celebrate the impact you’re helping make possible

📅 LIVE on Friday, March 6th at 2 PM EST

Register today via the link in our bio and join us for a conversation about what happens when women are equipped to lead.

Because when women rise, communities transform. by @gemmabulos

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7 months ago