A US-based private organization, Ford Foundation will invest Ksh5 billion ($50 million) for the next 10 years in Ford Global Fellowship where five Kenyans have been selected to join.
Ford Global Fellowship invests in individuals and institutions that trigger a change in the society.
The five Kenyans are part of the 24 who are part of Ford Global fellows 2020. They are drawn from all over the world.
They include Nanjira Sambuli who is a researcher and policy analyst, Wawira Njiru who runs Food4Education, John Muthee the CEO of Savannah Informatics, advocate in criminal justice Teresa Njoroge and Dr. Melsa Auma Omaya of Nairobi Hospital.
The fellowship hopes to build up the capacity of the five Kenyans and their institutions to connect and support the next generation of leaders with an interest in social justice to continue innovating solutions while striving to end inequality.
“The program will run for 18 months with an emphasis on shared learning, building and strengthening connections, and developing a supportive, interconnected cohort. Our hope is for the fellowship to serve as a catalyst for the fellows to accelerate the impact of their work, individually and collectively,” a statement by the fellowship read.
Omaya who sees the running of the Gender Violence Recovery Centre at the Nairobi Women’s Hospital and is a medical officer in the Department of Gynecologic Oncology at Nairobi Radiotherapy and Cancer Centre hopes to use her capacity as a medical doctor to care for the vulnerable and end gender violence.
Muthee hoped to use his skills in the technological world to ensure that Universal Health Care in Kenya (UHC) is a success.
“I believe that innovation can benefit humanity and serve the less fortunate,” he says.
Sambuli who has vast experience in ICT hopes to promote digital equality and address the digital gender divide. She hopes to tackle this issue by shaping global governance and establishing baselines for digital equality.
Wawira, a nutritionist known for her school feeding program courtesy of Food4Education hopes to feed one million people in Africa by 2025 from the current 10, 000 school-going children who she feeds.
She has incorporated technology in her drive and hopes to get more from it.
Lastly, Njoroge, criminal justice advocate knows all too well the problems facing women in prison and out of prison.
Through her firm, Clean Start Solutions, she hopes to transform the lives of marginalized, poor imprisoned, and formerly imprisoned women and their children.
