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Musimbi Kanyoro | |
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Born | 30 November 1953 70) | (age
Nationality | Kenya |
Known for | President/CEO, Global Fund for Women |
Musimbi Kanyoro (born 30 November 1953) is a Kenyan human rights advocate who served as the CEO and President of the Global Fund for Women from 2011 until 2019, [1] and currently serves as Chair of the International Board of the United World Colleges. [2] She is a founding member of the Circle of Concerned African Women Theologians, [3] and was elected as the first coordinator of the Circle of Concerned African Women Theologians at the continental gathering in 1996, a post she held until 2002. [4] [5]
Musimbi Kanyoro also serves with former President of Ireland Mary Robinson on several projects, including the Board of Directors of Realizing Rights: the Ethical Globalization Initiative. [6]
Kanyoro was born in Migori County, Kenya. Born in a rural area, Kanyoro moved into suburban Nairobi where she attended the Alliance girls school. She attributes being in a girls-only space as having a powerful way of building and shaping confidence in her early life.
Growing up in the 1970s, her focus along with the African Continent was the liberation of South Africa. "She was a student when she joined the movement against apartheid which led her to fight for women and girls". [7] [8]
She earned an undergraduate degree from the University of Nairobi and a PhD in linguistics from the University of Texas at Austin. Kanyoro later earned a doctorate in feminist theology at the San Francisco Theological Seminary, [9] and has received three honorary doctorate degrees. She was also a visiting scholar of Hebrew and the Old Testament at Harvard.
From 1982 to 1997, Kanyoro served in the Lutheran World Federation as its executive secretary for Women in Church and Society. She was the Executive Secretary for the Desk for Women in Church and Society for the Lutheran World Federation, joining them in 1987. [10] Kanyoro also edited the book In Search of a Round Table: Gender, Theology and Church Leadership, in 1998. [11] She also worked as a translation consultant for the United Bible Societies. From 1998 to 2007, Kanyoro became the first woman from the continent of Africa to serve as the YWCA's World Secretary General. [8]
Kanyoro was director of the Population and Reproductive Health Program of the David and Lucile Packard Foundation from 2007 to 2011. [1] From 2018 until 2019, she served on an Independent Commission on Sexual Misconduct, Accountability and Culture Change at Oxfam, co-chaired by Zainab Bangura and Katherine Sierra. [12] Musimbi Kanyoro was president and CEO of Global Fund for Women from 2011 to 2019. [13]
Kanyoro served as a Member of the Board of Directors of the African Population and Health Research Centre, and was for seven years the chair of the board of ISIS Work. She also serves on the boards of CARE, [18] Intra Health, [19] CHANGE and Legacy Memory Bank, [20] and is a member of the World Health Organization.
United World Colleges (UWC) is an international network of schools and educational programmes with the shared aim of "making education a force to unite people, nations and cultures for peace and a sustainable future." The organization was founded on the principles of German educator Kurt Hahn in 1962 to promote intercultural understanding.
The Lutheran World Federation is a global communion of national and regional Lutheran denominations headquartered in the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva, Switzerland. The federation was founded in the Swedish city of Lund in the aftermath of the Second World War in 1947 to coordinate the activities of the many differing Lutheran churches. Since 1984, the member churches are in pulpit and altar fellowship, with common doctrine as the basis of membership and mission activity.
African theology is Christian theology from the perspective of the African cultural context. It should be distinguished from black theology, which originated from the American and South African context and is more closely aligned with liberation theology. Although there are ancient Christian traditions on the African continent, during the modern period Christianity in Africa was significantly influenced by western forms of Christianity brought about by European colonization.
The Global Fund for Women is a non-profit foundation funding women's human rights initiatives. It was founded in 1987 by New Zealander Anne Firth Murray, and co-founded by Frances Kissling and Laura Lederer to fund women's initiatives around the world. It is headquartered in San Francisco, California. Since 1988, the foundation has awarded over $100 million in grants to over 4,000 organizations supporting progressive women's rights in over 170 countries. Ms. Magazine has called the Global Fund for Women "one of the leading global feminist funds."
Mercy Amba Ewudziwa Oduyoye is a Ghanaian Methodist theologian known for her work in African women's theologies and theological anthropology. She is currently the Director of the Institute of African Women in Religion and Culture at Trinity Theological Seminary, Ghana. She founded the Circle of Concerned African Theologians in Ghana in 1987 to promote the visibility and publishing agenda of African women Theologians.
Paola Gianturco is an American photojournalist and former business executive. Her photojournalistic work has focused on women around the world who have overcome difficult issues.
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.
Gayle Elizabeth Smith is the former CEO of the One Campaign. Smith was formerly Coordinator for Global COVID Response and Health Security at the U.S. Department of State. and was the former Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
The International Network of Women's Funds (INWF) is a membership organisation bringing together women's funds from around the world, in order to promote "philanthropy with a feminist perspective". INWF was founded in 2000 with nine members, including the oldest international women's funds Mama Cash and the Global Fund for Women, and in 2014, had 42 members globally. From 2010, the Executive Director has been Emilienne de León.
The Circle of Concerned African Women Theologians is a pan-African ecumenical organization supporting scholarly research of African women theologians. The Circle serves to mentor the next generation of African women theologians throughout their academic careers in order to counter the dearth of academic theological literature by African women. The Circle has chapters in more than a dozen countries across the African continent, as well as diaspora chapters in Europe and North America.
Sister Anne Nasimiyu Wasike, LSOSF was a Ugandan Catholic theologian, religious sister, and author of books and articles on education, ethics and the empowerment of the poor. She was also editor of several publications. She was a member of a Franciscan African Order of nuns called "The Little Sisters of St Francis."
Esther Mombo is a Kenyan Anglican theologian who teaches church history and theologies from women's perspectives.
Emily Awino Onyango is a Kenyan priest who became the first female bishop in the Anglican Church of Kenya in January 2021. Prior to becoming a bishop, she taught theology at St. Paul's University in Limaru, Kenya. She attended the founding conference for the Circle of Concerned African Women Theologians in Ghana in 1989, and is a member of the Kenyan chapter of the Circle.
Dr. Nyambura J. Njoroge is a Kenyan ecumenical leader and ordained Presbyterian minister and feminist Theologian. She was the first Kenyan woman to be ordained in the Presbyterian Church of East Africa.
Isabel Apawo Phiri is a Malawian theologian known for her work in gender justice, HIV/AIDS, and African theology. She has been a Deputy Secretary for the World Council of Churches since 2012.
Philomena Njeri Mwaura is a Kenyan theologian who is an Associate Professor of Philosophy and Religious Studies at Kenyatta University. She has written in the areas of African theology and mission.
Sarojini Nadar is a South African theologian and biblical scholar who is the Desmond Tutu Research Chair in Religion and Social Justice at the University of the Western Cape.
Teresia Mbari Hinga was a Kenyan Christian feminist theologian and a professor of religious studies at Santa Clara University in California. She was a founding member of the Circle of Concerned African Women Theologians.
Fulata Lusungu Mbano Moyo is a Malawian systematic and feminist theologian who is an advocate for gender justice.
Mary Getui is a Kenyan theologian and professor of religious studies at the Catholic University of Eastern Africa. She is a founding member of the Circle of Concerned African Women Theologians. In 2009, Getui was named a Moran of the Burning Spear. She was appointed as chair of the National Aids Control Council of Kenya that same year.