Monica Nyiraguhabwa

Uganda

Monica is the co-founder and executive director of Girl Up Initiative Uganda (GUIU), which aims to provide young women and girls with opportunities to succeed and thrive as leaders in their slum communities through holistic education and economic empowerment. She drew inspiration for this work through her personal experiences of constantly fighting for her right to an education as a girl and knowing the power of having a mentor who believes in you. She is also an innovative social entrepreneur, and in 2015, established Mazuri Designs as a social enterprise arm of GUIU to produce and sell African-style fashion clothing and accessories. In the past three years, GUIU has directly reached over 78,000 adolescent girls, young women, and youth through the Adolescent Girls Program, Ni-Yetu Youth Program, and the Young Women Economic Empowerment Program.