Empower African Girls and Women as Global Leaders

We are excited to share an update from the Africa Matters She Is Empowered program. After months of training and leadership development, our incredible 2024–2025 cohort—young women from Ghana, South Africa, Tanzania, Kenya, Malawi, and Uganda—is stepping into action. With seed funding secured, they are launching their Community Engagement Projects (CEPs), addressing key issues such as mental health, menstrual health education, digital literacy, and youth entrepreneurship. These innovative, youth-led initiatives are transforming bold ideas into meaningful change, from empowering schoolgirls with STEM resources in rural Kenya to creating safe spaces for young mothers in Tanzania.

The ShE program will officially conclude on 29 July 2025, when participants will graduate and be celebrated for their growth, resilience, and impact. This final phase is focused on implementation—where learning becomes leadership and vision becomes action.

World Refugee Day Spotlight – ShE Alumni Taking Action

On World Refugee Day, we proudly spotlight two exceptional ShE leaders who are using their CEPs to create meaningful change for refugees.

Samantha (Zimbabwe – ShE 2021–2022)
Originally from Zimbabwe and now based in South Africa, Samantha used her legal expertise and platform to support refugee women who were denied access to healthcare, despite their rights under the Refugee Act. She also led advocacy efforts to ensure that undocumented learners could attend school and sit for examinations, dismantling the legal and financial barriers that often hinder educational access.

Margaret (Uganda – ShE 2024–2025)
As a passionate teacher, Margaret witnessed many refugee and Ugandan girls dropping out of school due to a lack of menstrual hygiene products. While dignity kits from organisations such as the United Nations Population Fund offer temporary relief, Margaret’s Hope Alive Project goes a step further—seeking to equip over 1,000 students, including refugees from South Sudan, Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Burundi, and Kenya, with the skills to make reusable sanitary towels. Her project is not only restoring dignity but also keeping girls in school and building a sustainable, student-led solution.

These two powerful ShE alumni from Uganda and Zimbabwe are leading with purpose, demonstrating how local action can uphold rights, expand education, and build futures in which no one is left behind.

Alumni Spotlight: Thandie (Malawi) – Championing Sustainable Fashion and Women’s Empowerment

We are incredibly proud of Thandie, a ShE alumna from Malawi, whose initiative, SustainableFashion90 (SFWE), continues to empower women through skills and sisterhood. In June, SFWE celebrated a major milestone as the first 2025 cohort of the Empower Her Now Tailoring and Design Program graduated with a 100% success rate. Over six months, twenty-five women gained not only tailoring and design skills but also confidence, purpose, and a strong sense of community. What began as a training Program became a space for healing, entrepreneurship, and bold new beginnings.

We celebrate Thandie for her unwavering commitment to sustainable fashion and women's empowerment, and we celebrate every graduate who dared to dream.

The Power of Your Donation

We are raising $10 000 to support powerful young women like Thandie, a ShE alumna from Malawi, whose tailoring Program has already transformed the lives of twenty-five women through skills, sisterhood, and sustainable empowerment. If her story and the impact of the ShE program have inspired you, we invite you to donate and help us grow this work and others like this. Your contribution will support more projects led by African women, creating lasting change in communities across the continent.

Let us invest in their work, because when ShE leads, Africa rises.