My first experience with Girl Up happened in 2020, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. I came across a post on Instagram from Girl Up and, at first, I thought it was all about merch. But then I engaged with an online “STEM for Social Good” bootcamp, and it turned out to be so much more. I remember feeling genuinely inspired, and that inspiration pushed me to create a positive impact in my community using the problem-solving strategies inherent in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).
Shortly after completing the online bootcamp, a call was announced for applications for the role of Regional Leader for Kenya. I was incredibly excited about what felt like a chance to create meaningful change while being part of a connected movement. I applied, and the rest is history.
I served as Regional Leader for Kenya from 2021 to 2023. In this role, I engaged with Girl Up’s global and local leadership summits, numerous local and virtual “STEM for Social Good” bootcamps, and launched and executed local leadership training campaigns to build the base of Girl Up clubs in Kenya across secondary schools, high schools, and community ecosystems.
It is hard to choose a single meaningful moment from my time with Girl Up. Every project and initiative carried deep meaning and brought forward a new perspective. One transformational moment came when I realized that the work was too vast for one person alone. I began a campaign to recruit a team that was focused on change and grounded in feminist principles. The process was both challenging and exciting, and eventually it became incredibly rewarding.
Working alongside a powerful group of like-minded people, including Hamda Said, Naima Omar, and Wamuyu Karani, showed me how impactful collective leadership can be. Our passion aligned naturally, and together we rebuilt and re-energized Girl Up in Kenya after COVID, supporting the ecosystem in an effective way. I truly appreciated how much impact young women and girls can have on each other and on their communities.
Girl Up taught me that every action, no matter how small, creates a ripple of impact.
Within Girl Up, I came to understand the wisdom of the butterfly effect: every action, whether small or large, creates a ripple of impact. Girl Up’s mantra, “When Girls Rise, We All Rise,” inspires me to pursue actions that are positive and uplifting for others, especially young female-bodied people. That is how I create change, and how we create change collectively.
Since starting with Girl Up, I have gone on to pursue a degree in Aerospace Engineering, which I recently completed. During my undergraduate years, I explored many facets of aerospace and space, including systems engineering, sustainable aerospace manufacturing, space economics and entrepreneurship, and space policy. I joined the rocketry initiative Nakuja Project and interned with the Kenya Space Agency. A remarkable moment in my career was attending the 5th Space4Women Expert Meeting, where we explored how space utilization can better benefit women and girls in marginalized communities and across the global majority. It was during this meeting that I truly understood the role of policy in determining who benefits from space technologies. Since then, I have taken a wonderful leap at SGAC, facilitating and coordinating research projects focused on scientific solutions and initiatives that challenge inequalities in the global space sector. I love the impact we are creating, and I hope to continue building on this work.
One project that reflects my passion and leadership took place in the third quarter of 2022, when the Girl Up Kenya Region organized and executed the first-ever STEAM Aviation Bootcamp for learners aged 6 to 17. In collaboration with local and regional organizations in the STEM advocacy space, the three-day bootcamp attracted more than 500 learners and immersed them in the world of aviation, engineering, mathematics, technology, and science. This inaugural bootcamp, along with the related programs in 2023 and 2024, has left a legacy that makes my heart truly happy.
Girl Up has shaped how I see the world and how I show up in it. At its core is the idea that every girl can be, and already is, a leader. Leadership begins with the self and extends outward to clubs, communities, and societies. Although equity and justice can feel elusive at times, they remain ideals worth pursuing because they create the foundation for more sustainable and compassionate communities.
My drive to lead and create space for others comes partly from my engineering background. I was one of only four women in my class, which represented less than 20 percent of the students in my cohort and those that followed. Experiencing underrepresentation firsthand awakened me to the need for greater diversity in STEM. The idea that “If I can see her, I can be her” became a true motivation. Receiving the 2021 STEM for Social Good Scholarship Award from Noble Panacea and Girl Up deepened my curiosity about the connection between science and social change. I believe wholeheartedly that every girl and every woman deserves to be involved in co-creating the products, technologies, policies, and applications that affect them.
My experience within Girl Up Clubs and the broader movement helped me appreciate the universality of agency, justice, and inclusion. It means moving forward with hope that we can do better, and actively showing what we are doing to make things better. I deeply value conscious feminism as a practice based on care, community, compassion, and love.
Today, leadership means something very different to me than it did when I was younger. As a teenager, I believed leadership was about ensuring everyone followed the rules and did things exactly as instructed. Over time, Girl Up expanded that definition and taught me that leadership also involves mentoring and supporting others as they pursue their own goals for positive change. Now, after experiencing the world from new perspectives, leadership to me is about enabling and inspiring myself and the teams I am part of to help create a more inclusive and compassionate society. It means creating more seats at the table and doing so in ways that make others want to join.
Looking ahead, my hope for the next 15 years of Girl Up is to see a broader and stronger reach, both locally and globally. There are still many girls to empower and many communities to uplift across Kenya and throughout the African continent. That work requires a powerful movement of dynamic change-makers, which is exactly what Girl Up continues to be. The seeds have already been planted during these past 15 years, and I am excited to see how they grow in the next 15.
If I could give advice to my younger self, I would say this: always remain aware, curious, and eager to truly experience and learn from every moment as it unfolds.
