At a young age, she discovered books by French feminist author Simone de Beauvoir and European enlightenment philosophers which made her question the society in which she was raised.

From 2011 to 2015, Kanko worked in communications for the bank BNP Paribas before studying a master's degree in international politics at the CERIS-ULB Diplomatic School of Brussels.

From 2015 to 2019, she worked for the Belgian Technical Cooperation (now Enabel) as a director and in 2018 was an advisor to Mouvement Réformateur (MR) politician Denis Ducarme on issues related to violence against women.

She argued against neutrality with Russian president Putin and supports sending surplus military equipment to Ukrainian forces, stating: "If I were Bambi, unarmed, why would I negotiate peace with a lion?

[14] In addition to her political work, Kanko has also been active as an author (see Bibliography), as an advisor to companies on how to best implement Sustainable Development Goals, and as a columnist for De Standaard.

[15] Kanko has described herself as a women's rights activist and founded an organisation called Polin to encourage equal opportunities and more female involvement in politics.

The award was presented by N-VA general secretary Louis Ide who justified the prize by stating: "As a politician, she tells a story about security, about the economy, about education that is a breath of fresh air in French-speaking Belgium.