Penelope Sanyu - CEO, Femme Forte Uganda. Photo Courtesy
As the 9th East Africa Philanthropy Conference unfolds in Kigali from June 11–13, 2025, Penelope Sanyu brings to the stage a distinct and timely voice.
Her work sits at the intersection of feminist organizing, public policy, and healing through creativity.
With a decade-long track record in civil society and community transformation, she leads a conversation that challenges traditional power structures while centering the voices of women and youth.
She is currently the Chief Executive Officer of Femme Forte Uganda, a feminist organization that builds the capacity of young people, especially women, to engage meaningfully with public policy.
In both her personal and professional journey, Sanyu has consistently amplified underrepresented voices and challenged the status quo.
A Life Rooted in Advocacy
Sanyu’s upbringing in a Ugandan slum shaped her deep sensitivity to injustice. Surrounded by poverty, violence, and everyday abuse, she witnessed how silence and fear robbed women of their dreams.
These early experiences planted a lifelong resolve: to amplify silenced voices and build safer spaces where women and girls could speak without fear.
She pursued a law degree from Makerere University between 2007 and 2010.
She later earned a certificate in Human Rights and Access to Medicines from the University of Pretoria, sharpening her ability to work across legal, health, and social justice domains.
Her early career included roles at the International HIV/AIDS Alliance, the Uhuru Institute, and Uganda Youth Network, where she managed youth-centered projects and developed expertise in negotiation, research, and strategic planning.
Leadership Across Feminist Spaces
In 2017, she founded Femme Forte Uganda. Under her leadership, the organization has grown into a vibrant platform for feminist leadership, civic engagement, and transformative learning.
Sanyu also mentors young women and is a certified financial growth coach.
Her current role is not limited to office-based activism.
She has worked closely with Uganda’s women’s movement and civil society to respond to the shrinking civic space and the exclusion of women from critical decision-making processes.
As she often says, her advocacy goes beyond making noise. It is about stopping, listening, and caring. This ethos informs both her team’s community engagements and her leadership style.
Using Play as a Tool for Healing and Innovation
In 2020, Sanyu launched Qweshunga, a social arts movement and YouTube channel that uses play as a medium for healing, innovation, and life reflection.
As Team Leader at Qweshunga, she leads with the conviction that play is not trivial. It is a deep and transformative force, essential for emotional, social, and physical development.
At Qweshunga, play is used as therapy. It is also used as a strategy for creativity and as a mirror to life’s complexities. Sanyu sees play as foundational to leadership, discipline, and resilience.
Her approach challenges societal attitudes that dismiss play as childish or unproductive. She invites people to ask themselves: Who controls your play? When was the last time you played? How do you speak about play?
In this, she offers a compelling framework for decolonising not only philanthropy, but also everyday life.
A Voice for Women, Peace, and Security
In January 2025, Sanyu was appointed Chairperson of the UN Women Civil Society National Reference Group (CS-RG) in Uganda.
This group advises on women’s rights, peace, and security, and plays a key role in promoting the Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) agenda.
Her role involves advocacy and strategy, but also elevating community-led solutions and ensuring that women’s lived realities are central to policymaking.
Her core competencies—negotiation, marketing strategy, and new business development—have allowed her to operate effectively across sectors.
Whether building grassroots movements or shaping national conversations, her focus remains the same: centering humanity and dignity.
A Timely Voice at EAPN Kigali
Sanyu’s presence at the East Africa Philanthropy Conference comes at a time when funders are being asked to rethink power, voice, and agency.
The theme of equity in giving aligns closely with her life’s work, particularly her belief that those closest to the problem must be central to the solution.
She brings not only professional expertise but a lived understanding of inequality and resistance.
Her journey from law and policy to healing through play offers a powerful reminder: true transformation often begins in overlooked places with stories, with communities, and with those willing to play differently.
