from-L-RDr.-Vongai-Nyahunzvi-Founder-and-CEO-of-AFWAG-in-a-panel-discussion-with-Yukabeth-Kidenda-CEO-and-Co-Founder-of-teach-for-Kenya-photo courtestY AAWG
When Dr. Vongai Nyahunzvi, Founder and CEO of the Alliance for Women and Girls (AFWAG), speaks about her childhood, it is not with bitterness but with profound gratitude for the lessons her life has taught her. Raised in modest circumstances by religious parents in Zimbabwe, Vongai recalls a moment of harsh awakening at just eight years old — a moment that would shape her life’s purpose.
“I went to a wedding wearing a dress that had seen better days,” she shared. “My cousins laughed at me. Up until that moment, I didn’t realize I was poor. That moment made me feel so unbalanced.”
It was a teacher’s observant kindness the next day that offered young Vongai her first glimpse of hope. Her teacher, noticing her distress, used her as an example during a session with visiting NGO workers. That encounter became a turning point — a spark that ignited her lifelong passion for ensuring that no child should ever feel like she once did.
“They started telling me about mental health, about self-worth. They helped me believe that I was enough,” she recalled. “For the first time, I thought maybe, just maybe, I could be something.”
And “something” she became — one of the continent’s most influential voices for women and girls.
Her journey was never linear. She worked through school, selling home-cooked meals and tutoring classmates, all while holding fast to a single goal: a better life.
“I remember being the first one in the library and the last to leave,” Vongai said. “I had to coach myself because I knew where I came from, and I wanted a different story.”
Years later, her desire to thank the NGOs that had once inspired her led to a sobering discovery.
“The organizations were gone. Closed. Not because they weren’t needed, but because of isolation, leadership gaps, and lack of support,” she said.
That moment became the foundation for her life’s mission: creating a system that ensures grassroots organizations not only survive but thrive. This vision gave birth to the Alliance for Women and Girls — an organization dedicated to strengthening African women-led nonprofits through leadership, collaboration, and knowledge-sharing.
The Alliance’s work rests on three core pillars. The first is leadership development — equipping women leaders with the confidence, vision, and tools to steer their organizations toward sustainability. For Vongai, leadership is not just about skill-building but also about cultivating self-belief.
The second pillar is community and collaboration, captured in the Shona term Mushandirapamwe, meaning “working together.” The Alliance’s network now spans 87 Black-led organizations across 17 African countries, tackling everything from gender-based violence to climate justice and economic empowerment.
grassroots leaders, all united by the belief that investing in African women is not an act of
charity but a catalyst for global transformation. Photo courtesy of AFWAG.
The third pillar, knowledge-sharing, bridges the operational and information gaps that often hold grassroots initiatives back. Through an open-access portal, the Alliance offers resources, training, and peer networking, helping organizations overcome hurdles and scale their impact.
This work and philosophy were recently captured in a powerful documentary, Daughter of the Soil: Sowing Seeds of Hope, which premiered on April 11, 2025, in Nairobi. The film highlights not just Vongai’s journey but the strategic importance of investing in African women’s leadership to drive global progress on the Sustainable Development Goals.
That commitment to people over programs has inspired many, including Yukabeth Kidenda, CEO of Teach for Kenya and one of the organizations in the Alliance for Women and Girls network.
Teach for Kenya is a nonprofit committed to ending educational inequity by training driven young leaders to teach in under-resourced schools.
“Vongai’s story is evidence of what can happen when you invest in individuals,” Kidenda commented. “When you invest in people, you invest in system change because people make up the systems. This is at the heart of Vongai’s theory of change; it’s not about rescuing; it’s about recognizing potential, placing deep trust in local leaders, and surrounding them with the supports needed to lead boldly and sustainably.”
As Vongai often reminds her peers, “Farmers do not grow crops. They create conditions where crops can grow.” Through her Alliance, she is doing exactly that, creating the right environment for women and girls’ organizations to take root and flourish.
The documentary’s release comes at a crucial moment. Across East Africa, fewer than half of adolescent girls in countries like Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania complete secondary school. In Kenya alone, up to four in ten girls aged 15–19 have experienced pregnancy, while one in three women across the region face intimate partner violence. In South Sudan, more than half of all girls are married before the age of 18.
These sobering statistics only sharpen the relevance of Vongai’s work: investing in women-led organizations is not an act of charity — it’s a strategic imperative for lasting, transformational change.
The Nairobi premiere gathered policymakers, philanthropists, corporate allies, and grassroots leaders — all united by a shared belief: meaningful change begins when we invest in people, not just programs.
“My future goal,” Vongai said, “is to make sure that no organization working to support women and girls has to close its doors because of leadership or operational failure. Every girl deserves the chance to achieve her dreams — and the support systems around her must be strong enough to help her get there.”
Her story is more than a tale of personal triumph — it’s a powerful reminder that true change is cultivated by nurturing leaders, fostering collaboration, and building systems designed not just to survive but to thrive.
And that is the heartbeat of her life’s work.
