As the exquisite Celebrity Apex sailed into the setting sun from Port Everglades, the moment was made sweeter as the ship’s Godmother, Reshma Saujani, the inspiring the founder of groundbreaking non-profit Girls Who Code and the Marshall Plan for Moms and author of bestseller, “Brave, Not Perfect” joined Lisa Lutoff-Perlo, Celebrity Cruises’ President and CEO, and Richard Fain, Chairman of the Royal Caribbean Group and hundreds of guests including local dignitaries and media and influencers in an official naming ceremony of the stunning vessel.

Saujani is a lifelong activist who surged onto the political scene as the first Indian American woman to run for U.S. Congress in 2010. Her viral TED Talk and international bestseller “Brave, Not Perfect” have sparked a worldwide conversation about how we’re raising our girls and inspired countless women to fear less, fail more and live better.

Since launching in the U.S. in 2012, Girls Who Code has reached 450,000 girls across the globe at nearly every stage of their educational journey. With a presence in the UK, U.S., India, and Canada the organisation runs free programming for girls from ages 11-18, to inspire them to get excited about coding and computer science by providing learning opportunities, clear career pathways and a supportive sisterhood of peers and role models. In 2019, Girls Who Code was named the No.1 Non-Profit on Fast Company’s The World’s Most Innovative Companies list.

Building on her work to empower women and girls, Reshma has most recently founded the Marshall Plan for Moms, a campaign to put women at the center of our nation’s economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. After witnessing the impact the pandemic had on working mothers, millions of whom were pushed out of the workforce to care for children and take on increased labor at home, she built a movement to champion public and private sector policies to support all moms. Her efforts have led lawmakers to introduce resolutions in support of the plan.

Celebrity Apex‘s much-anticipated arrival to U.S ports is a landmark moment for the brand, as the vessel’s launch was originally planned for March 2020. Following a short run of Greek Island sailings this past summer, the ship now embarks for the first time from U.S shores on rotating Eastern and Western Caribbean itineraries, where guests will visit the picturesque islands of Puerto Rico, St. Thomas, Belize, Grand Caymans and more.