The Mawazo Institute is a women-led African organisation based in Nairobi, Kenya supporting early-career women researchers as they work to find solutions to local and global development challenges.

In Kiswahili, “mawazo” means “ideas”.

Our Mission

Support early-career female scholars and thought leaders in Africa to strengthen their research, policy influence and public engagement.

Our Vision

A world in which the voices and ideas of early-career African women shape the future of the continent and the world.

Our Programmes

Guided by our strategic priorities, we are currently running two programmes.

The first programme is the Mawazo Fellowship Programme which provides training and professional development, mentorship, and financial support on our Mawazo Learning Exchange(MLEx) e-learning platform, to African women researchers pursuing their PhDs.

Our second programme is the Mawazo Voices Programme, which uses public and policy engagement as well as strategic communications and partnerships with both academic and non-academic partners (including industry, development organisations, investment firms, and policy makers) to create and facilitate opportunities for our beneficiaries to become thought-leaders and decision-makers in critical fields and sectors. Mawazo Voices is supported by research and learning activities that improve our understanding of the various ecosystems in which our beneficiaries operate.