Quotes from Liya Kebede

I've been told the best way to make a sexy face is to say 'pruuune.'

For my wardrobe, I like to invest in classic pieces and pair them with more trendy new pieces and accessories each season.

I'm a mom. I'm from Ethiopia. I gave birth in the U.S. and had all the proper care available to me. If I had given birth in Ethiopia - I don't know if I might have even survived it.

It's one thing to donate money. It's a whole other thing to give an opportunity for someone to make his own money.

The best lesson that I've learned from my mother is that she just never accepted no for an answer and I think that's something that has stayed with me.

Children with healthy mothers are much more likely to survive childhood, attend school and live healthy, productive lives.

We can't end poverty if we fail to save the lives of our world's mothers.

A small gold plain cross was passed down from my grandma to my mom, then to me, and now to my daughter. It is always nice to own something that connects you to the women who made it possible for you to exist.

When our mothers are alive and healthy, they do extraordinary things... like the mothers of Plaza de Mayo, who marched in Argentinean plazas, defying the military junta dictatorship and demanding the whereabouts of their abducted children... or the Liberian mothers who faced down civil war armed only with T-shirts and courage.

When I see Lemlem walking around New York City, it's just mind-boggling, because I know it came from this one man sitting and weaving this little product.

There's a saying in Africa: 'To find out you are pregnant is to have one foot in the grave.'

The most inspiring piece of advice I've gotten is simply to persevere. My mom taught me to always keep going no matter what from an early age. When it feels too difficult to push forward, I always remind myself, 'This too shall pass,' and then I redouble my efforts.

President Obama has made maternal health one of the core priorities of U.S. international aid funding.

I don't listen to people who say my dreams are impossible; I just work to prove them wrong.

When countries commit to protecting vulnerable lives, they should receive support from those who can provide it in order to make their programs a success.

No other health disparity is so stark; virtually every woman who dies giving birth lives in a poor country.

I actually started modeling in Ethiopia, because that's where I grew up, and I started out by just doing little fashion shows for school, and I liked it so much that I started pursuing it.

When a woman has her first child in places like Africa, they're really young. They can be 12, 13,14, so their frames are really small, and they're usually malnourished.

While I was pregnant, I had dozens of checkups. They covered everything from blood tests to ultrasounds, and I even had the option of attending birthing classes with my husband.

One thing modeling taught me is that the spotlight can change everything.

First I became U.N. Goodwill Ambassador for WHO, and that was in 2005. And then, about a year or so later, I decided to start my foundation.

Helping others isn't a chore; it is one of the greatest gifts there is.

There are things that I will always shoot, but now that the modeling and acting worlds are becoming very close, you can do a little bit of one and more of the other.

In 1967, the world health community launched a global effort to eradicate smallpox. It took a coordinated, worldwide effort, required the commitment of every government, and cost $130 million dollars. By 1977, smallpox had disappeared.