Two Kenyans Among 26 To Receive Ksh3.3M Each In Global Fellowship Project
The fellowship is a program which aims to connect and support the next generation of leaders from around the world who are advancing innovative solutions to end inequality.
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Two Kenyans, Ashura Michael and Willie Oeba are among 26 individuals selected across the globe by the Ford Foundation which announced its 2024 cohort of the Ford Global Fellowship.
The fellowship is a program which aims to connect and support the next generation of leaders from around the world who are advancing innovative solutions to end inequality.
The 26 leaders announced in a press release dated March 28 join an existing network of 72 fellows working across Africa, Asia, the Americas, and the Middle East.
The foundation was launched in 2020 with an investment of Ksh6.6 billion ($50 million) over 10 years, and its flagship fellowship program provides emerging leaders with the tools, networks, and solidarity they need to effectively advance social justice.
Free a Girl’s World Network CEO Ashura Michael. /ASHURA MICHAEL
"The Ford Global Fellowship focuses on shared learning across issue areas, building and strengthening connections across borders, and developing a supportive, interconnected cohort from across a wide variety of sectors and regions. It aims to build a powerful network of 240 fellows over the course of the program and serve as a catalyst for the fellows to accelerate the impact of their work, individually and collectively," read the press release in part.
Michael was picked owing to her role as the Founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Free a Girl’s World Network while Oeba was selected in his capacity as the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of ISM Academy.
Ashura is a deaf human rights, gender, inclusion, and public policy advocate dedicated to empowering girls and creating a more equal society for people with disabilities.
She has also championed gender equality as a force for positive social change and spearheaded initiatives to ensure accessibility and inclusion for people with disabilities.
Ashura has also worked on youth empowerment and mentorship projects and also served as speaker of the East African Youth Legislative Assembly, and co-chaired the Youth Council of UNICEF’s Global Partnership on Children with Disabilities.
She is currently a member of the advisory board for Kenya’s National Youth Council and has chaired the Kenya chapter of the African Charter on Democracy, Election, and Governance.
On his part, Oeba is known for his stunts as a spoken word activist and has risen to become one of Kenya’s top poets, with popular hit songs like ‘Wajinga Nyingi’ that featured King Kaka.
The 29-year-old founded ISM Academy, which empowers young people to fight inequality and foster social justice through the spoken word.
In 2021, he clinched the Upcoming Human Rights Defender award from the Defenders Coalition, a national human rights organization in Kenya and also won the East Africa Spoken Word Battle in 2018.
According to the foundation, each new fellow receives a no-strings-attached Ksh3.31 million ($25,000) stipend, alongside individualized coaching, to help grow leadership skills and reach new audiences.
“We are thrilled to welcome these 26 inspiring individuals into the Ford Global Fellowship community,” said Hilary Pennington, executive vice president of programs for the Ford Foundation.
“The Ford Global Fellowship is a hallmark of our commitment to invest in the ideas, individuals, and institutions creating lasting, systemic change. The newest Fellows are courageous leaders in their own right who are both imagining and actively building a more just future. Their lived experiences and insights will be a powerful addition to our global community.”
The network of Ford Global Fellows represents a broad range of backgrounds, fields, and approaches to addressing inequality, with areas of focus that include promoting equal rights and opportunities for women and girls, securing rights for Indigenous and traditional communities, increasing political and economic power of people with disabilities, and more.
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