Olga Marlin | |
---|---|
Born | Olga Emily Marlinn November 12, 1934 New York City, United States |
Died | 5th January 2025 Nairobi, Kenya |
Alma mater | Trinity College Dublin; University College Dublin |
Occupation(s) | Educator and author |
Known for | Founding member of Kianda School, Nairobi, Kenya |
Notable work | To Africa with a Dream |
Olga Marlin was an American-born educator based in Kenya. She is the author of To Africa with a Dream and a founding member of Kianda School, Nairobi, Kenya, which started in 1961 as Kianda Secretarial College, and was the first multi-racial girls' school in East Africa.[ citation needed ]
She is a member of the Strathmore University University Council.
Olga Emily Marlin was born in New York City on November 12, 1934, [1] [2] and studied modern languages at Trinity College Dublin, from which she received her MA degree in 1956. She also holds a H.Dip.Ed. from University College Dublin (1957). [3]
In 1960, she moved to Kenya, at a time when few African women had any access to a formal education, and in 1961 she began, together with other women, Kianda College, a secretarial college that was open to women of all races, [3] [4] which in 1993 became part of Strathmore University.
The second edition of her book To Africa with a Dream, which describes her 50 years of work in Kenya and other African countries, was published in 2011 by Boissevain Books. [4]
In June 2011, she received a Litt.D. degree, honoris causa, from Strathmore University, [3] the first woman to receive an honorary doctorate from the University.[ citation needed ]
Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o is a Kenyan author and academic, who has been described as "East Africa's leading novelist". He began writing in English, switching to write primarily in Gikuyu. His work includes novels, plays, short stories, and essays, ranging from literary and social criticism to children's literature. He is the founder and editor of the Gikuyu-language journal Mũtĩiri. His short story The Upright Revolution: Or Why Humans Walk Upright has been translated into 100 languages.
Wangarĩ Maathai was a Kenyan social, environmental, and political activist who founded the Green Belt Movement, an environmental non-governmental organization focused on the planting of trees, environmental conservation, and women's rights. In 2004 she became the first African woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize.
Education in Kenya refers to the institutionalised education system in Kenya, whereby pupils and students are taught in specific locations, following a particular curriculum. The institutionalised system differs from traditional education which had been in existence long before missionarisation and colonisation, and was administered according to the various indigenous groups' cultures and customs.
Strathmore University is a chartered university based in Nairobi, Kenya.
Kianda School is a private, all-girls day school with a Catholic ethos located in the Westlands area of Nairobi, Kenya. The school was opened in 1977 by The Kianda Foundation, a non-profit organisation that aims to better Kenyan women's lives through education and Christian values. The school began with 40 students but has now grown to a student body of about 830 in both its primary and secondary school sections.
June Knowles, better known by her pen name Elizabeth Watkins, was an English author, brought up in Kenya, where her parents - Oscar Ferris Watkins (1877–1943) and Olga Florence Watkins (1889–1947) - had started a coffee farm outside Nairobi, and later educated at St Anne's College, Oxford.
Laila Macharia is a Kenyan lawyer, businesswoman, entrepreneur and angel investor based in Nairobi, Kenya's capital city. She sits on the boards of a number of national, regional and international enterprises, including (a) Africa Digital Media Group (b) Absa Bank Kenya Plc and (c) Centum Investments.
Wanjiku Kabira is an associate professor of literature at the University of Nairobi, Kenya. She has specialized in the fields of Oral literature, African-American literature and Caribbean literature. She has been actively involved in women affairs and in gender issues. Wanjiku has served as in various capacities notably as a. Vice-Chair in the Kenya Constitutional Review Process (2000–2005) b. Chair Person Women Political Alliance (2002–2011) c. Director Collaborative Center for Gender and Development (1995–2009) d. Chair, Department of Literature, University of Nairobi
Susan Mboya is a corporate executive and philanthropist who is the Principal and International Advisor for Navigators Global, a Washington DC–based consulting firm. She has been a corporate executive for over 25 years and has held a number of senior executive positions at global multinational firms including being the Global Director for Oral B Oral Care at Procter, Gambled for five years and was the General Manager of Coca-Cola South Africa from 2008 to 2011. She is the immediate former President of the Coca-Cola Africa Foundation and the group director of the Eurasia Africa Group (EAG) for women’s economic empowerment at Coca-Cola. and is the daughter of the late Tom Mboya, a Kenyan nationalist leader, and one of the founding fathers of the Republic of Kenya and the late Pamela Mboya, a renowned diplomat who was Kenya’s representative to UN Habitat. Tom Mboya was a well-known trade unionist, educationist, Pan Africanist, author, and a Cabinet Minister in Kenyas first post-independence Government. She is also the former First Lady of Nairobi County, Kenya's largest county and the capital city and economic centre of Kenya. Susan holds a number of board positions including the Chair of Liberty Group, a publicly traded company in the nairobi stock exchange. Susan is the Founder of the Zawadi Africa Educational Fund, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that provides scholarships and leadership development training to academically gifted, marginalized African girls to enable them to attend top colleges and universities around the world with the objective of creating a pipeline of African female leaders. The Zawadi Africa program is based on the Africa Student Airlifts program launched by her father and President John F. Kennedy in 1959 that enabled several participants including Barack Obama Sr, father of President Barack Obama, and Professor Wangari Mathaai to study in the U.S.
Strathmore University Business School (SBS) is the business school of Strathmore University. Based in Nairobi, Kenya, it offers Doctoral, Masters and Undergraduate programmes, as well as executive education programmes. It was started in 2005 through a partnership between Strathmore University and IESE Business School. As part of Strathmore University, it is a private non-profit institution and a corporate work of Opus Dei, a Personal Prelature of the Catholic Church. It was the first green business school in Africa.
Esther Muthoni Passaris OGW is a Kenyan politician, social entrepreneur and philanthropist. She is the Nairobi County woman representative in the bicameral Kenyan parliament, and a member of the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) Political Party.
Eddah Wacheke Gachukia is a Kenyan educationist and entrepreneur. She is a co-founder of the Riara Group of Schools that includes Riara University.
Iddah Asin is a lawyer and corporate executive in Kenya. She is the Director of Government Affairs and Policy, for the pharmaceutical company Johnson & Johnson in the countries of the African Great Lakes. In 2017 she was named among the "Top 40 Women Under 40 in Kenya", by the Nation Media Group.
Carol Musyoka is a Kenyan lawyer, business executive and entrepreneur, who is the founder and chief executive officer of Carol Musyoka Consulting Limited, a Nairobi-based consultancy.
Naomi Rono, is a Kenyan public policy professional and development economist, who works as a Senior Adviser in the Office of the executive director at World Bank Group, based in Washington, DC.
Sheila Wairimu Mwarangu, is a consultant civil and structural engineer, who is a partner and managing director at Gathara & Partners Consulting Civil and Structural Engineers, a Kenyan consulting engineering company in Nairobi, Kenya's capital and largest city.
Cynthia Helena Shepard Perry was an American educator and diplomat. She served as U.S. Ambassador to Sierra Leone and Burundi and as American Executive Director of the African Development Bank. Throughout her career Perry promoted racial and gender equality, international cooperation, and African economic development.
Topyster Namasaka Muga, is a Kenyan telecommunication and fintech specialist, who is the chief executive and founder of Prosper App. Before launching her own venture in July 2020, she was senior director of Financial Inclusion Africa, at Visa Inc., based in Nairobi. Prior to that, she headed Airtel Money in Kenya.
Emily Waita Macharia is a Kenyan government affairs and sustainability officer who serves as the Senior Director of Public Affairs at The Coca-Cola Company, for Africa based in Nairobi, Kenya's capital city. In that capacity, she overseas public affairs matters for her employer, across 54 countries African countries.
Brigadier Rebecca Mpagi, is a Ugandan military officer and Aircraft Maintenance Engineer, who serves as the Director of Personnel and Administration in the UPDF Air Force. She is credited as the first female in Uganda to qualify as a military aircraft maintenance engineer.