Kenyan Woman Selected for Obama Foundation Fellowship

A 36-year-old Kenyan woman has been picked as a 2019 fellow for the Obama Foundation Fellowship.

Esther Mwaniki has been selected alongside 19 other fellows from 10 countries around the world.

She is also among the three Africans on the list, the other two being Mr. Ayman Sabae Shamseya from Egypt and Ms. Dedo Baranshamaje from Malawi.

Ms. Mwaniki is the founder of Lapid Leaders Africa, a leadership program that equips fresh graduates and final-year university students with skills such as self-awareness, creativity, and innovative thinking.

“I applied for the fellowship because Lapid had grown to a point where we are ready to scale up. I wanted to work under, and around, people who would take the program across the continent. Youth leadership is a global agenda," Ms. Mwaniki says.

Esther holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Kenyatta University and quit her job at PwC Kenya in 2011 to start Lapid Leaders Africa.

The Obama foundation offers hands-on training, resources, and leadership development.