Challenges we address
- Menstrual shame and period poverty
- Maternal mortality and reproductive health gaps
- Water insecurity and sanitation exclusion
- Food insecurity and agricultural exclusion
- Policy gaps and marginalisation of girls
About Us
A Catalyst for Women's Aspirations
A Kenyan organisation clearing barriers so women and girls across East Africa can pursue the futures they choose.
Who is HERSPIRE AFRIKA?
Every girl is born with a dream.
That dream can become stifled along the way, sometimes to the point where reaching it feels impossible.
In Kenya, this is not just a story. It is the daily reality for millions of women and girls who face abject poverty, discriminatory practices and cultures, poor reproductive health services and deeply entrenched inequality.
Many of these dreams are lost not for lack of will, but because the environments around them make it difficult to hold onto them.
Even where these challenges receive attention, the solutions that follow are often shaped by what other people imagine the lives of women and girls should look like, rather than by what women and girls actually want for themselves.
Interventions designed this way tend to replicate the very structures that strip away the agency of the women they claim to protect, nurture and uplift.
Herspire Afrika exists to change that.
Herspire Afrika holds the belief that the aspirations of women and girls matter and deserve the support needed to realise them.
Every woman should have the chance to pursue the dream she set for herself, supported by an environment that makes that achievement possible.
Herspire Afrika works toward this by removing the structural, legal and policy barriers that stand in the way.
It does not replace a woman's dream with its own interpretation of the systems she lives within. It acts as a catalyst for that dream.
Women already understand what holds them back, and Herspire Afrika trusts them to shape the solutions that work best for their own lives.
The organisation's role is to build the environment that makes that possible.
Herspire Afrika is a non-governmental organisation registered as a company limited by guarantee in Kenya.
It works across four pillars: Reproductive Health and Rights, Healthy Environments, Climate Justice and Youth Advocacy.
The organisation operates through community-led approaches, policy advocacy, research and strategic partnerships with like-minded organisations.
Mission
Turning every woman's aspiration into reality
This is both our mission and our daily measure: every intervention must clear the path between a woman and the future she has named for herself.
Vision
A world of dignity, potential and self-sustaining communities
A world where every woman and girl can realise her full potential, live in dignity and contribute to thriving communities free from discrimination, poverty and systemic exclusion.
Do we HAVE TO do what we're doing?
Absolutely! Picture this:
-
1 in 4
girls in Kenya miss school during menstruation due to a lack of sanitary products and the stigma surrounding it.
-
60%
of smallholder farmers in East Africa are women, yet most lack land rights, credit or market access.
-
355
maternal deaths occur per 100,000 live births in Kenya, despite most being preventable.
-
3 hrs
is the average time women spend each day collecting water in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Our Core Value: Ubuntu
"I am because we are."
This belief shapes how we work with every community. Progress for one woman is tied to the progress of those around her, and lasting change grows from connection rather than isolation.
How do we Clear the Path?
HERSPIRE AFRIKA combines the following so women and girls can lead the change in their own lives.
-
Legal & Policy Advocacy
We challenge discriminatory laws and policies and push for reforms that protect reproductive rights, environmental justice and youth inclusion.
-
Community-Led Programmes
Women and girls shape programme design and delivery, ensuring interventions respond to lived realities rather than outside assumptions.
-
Research & Accountability
We gather evidence, document gaps and hold institutions accountable for commitments made to women and girls.
-
Capacity Building
Training, mentorship and practical tools help communities advocate for themselves and sustain change beyond individual projects.
-
Strategic Partnerships
We collaborate with grassroots groups, institutions and allies to amplify impact and share resources across East Africa.
-
Human Rights Approach
Every woman and girl is treated as a rights holder. Our work centres dignity, agency and meaningful participation in decisions that affect their lives.
Where Did It All Begin?
From the village of Uyoma to an organisation working across East Africa.
Herspire Afrika began with its founder's vision that women and girls could achieve their goals if given the right support.
That vision took shape from the realities of women in the village of Uyoma, Siaya County, where hundreds of women lived in deep poverty, struggled to farm subsistence crops through recurring droughts, lacked access to proper maternal and health care, and walked long distances to fetch water unfit for consumption.
These women had grown up wanting more for themselves and their families, yet adverse climate conditions, structural and systemic inequalities, poor reproductive health services and limited economic empowerment stood in their way.
The founder observed that existing interventions treated these challenges as problems to be quickly fixed, rather than asking the woman or the young girl what her aspiration was and what her vision looked like for herself and her community.
Herspire Afrika was established to amplify these visions and dreams, and to advocate for the policy changes, resources and interventions needed to help women and girls achieve them.
The organisation places the woman at the centre of every solution to the challenges she faces, building locally grown, community centred responses that foster dignity, mutual respect and shared prosperity.
When one woman or girl realises her aspiration, others gain a reason to aspire as well.
Today, Herspire Afrika works to address the issues facing many women and girls in rural and peri-urban areas.
It tackles water, sanitation and pollution through its Healthy Environments pillar, and centres young people as key partners in addressing the challenges facing vulnerable and minority groups through its Youth Advocacy pillar.
The organisation also confronts the reproductive health and rights issues that continue to affect women and girls through policy and legal advocacy, litigation and community centred research.
Its Climate Justice pillar promotes sustainable agricultural practices, including agroecology and the revival of indigenous foods, to strengthen food security and respond to the effects of climate change.
-
Ubuntu
A woman's progress is tied to the progress of those around her.
-
Agency and Dignity
Women and girls define and lead the solutions that work for their lives.
-
Human Rights
Every woman and girl is a rights holder, not a passive beneficiary.
What Stands in the Way?
The barriers we work to clear — and the women and girls at the centre of that work.
Who we serve
Herspire Afrika prioritises women and girls facing compounded disadvantages across geography, economics, social standing and politics.
- Adolescent girls
- Young women
- Rural and peri-urban communities
- Smallholder women farmers
- Young advocates and changemakers
The Faces Behind the Work
Select a name to read their story.
Damians Olande
Founder and Executive Director
Damians Olande founded Herspire Afrika out of a deep commitment to the plight of women and girls in rural Kenya, driven by the belief that their aspirations deserve support and investment.
Under his leadership, Herspire Afrika has grown into a human rights centred organisation that pursues legal, policy and community action to remove the barriers standing between women and their aspirations.
He brings strategic leadership and a grounded understanding of grassroots communities to the Herspire team, along with an unwavering belief in the agency of every woman and girl and the importance of structural change that respects human dignity.
Evita Happiness Abok
Head of Partnerships and Regional Outreach
Evita Happiness Abok leads Herspire Afrika’s partnerships and regional outreach, shaping collaborations with civil society, government, development partners and community groups to expand the organisation’s impact across East Africa.
With a background in Computer Science and current studies toward a Master’s in Financial Engineering, she brings analytical thinking, digital fluency and strategic insight to her leadership. Her career in the foundation space has centred on empowering young people and women, ensuring access to opportunities in education, mentorship and community development.
Evita’s approach is guided by a commitment to dismantling barriers to dignity and opportunity. She works to strengthen community resilience, open pathways to equitable access to resources and amplify youth voices in shaping their own futures. By keeping community priorities at the centre of every partnership, she positions Herspire Afrika as a trusted ally in driving sustainable, inclusive change across the region.
Mary Muthoni
Advocacy and Community Engagement
Mary Muthoni leads advocacy and community engagement at Herspire Afrika, translating the organisation's policy and legal priorities into action that reaches women and children in marginalised communities directly.
Her work since 2020 as a youth coordinator and grassroots activist gives her a practised hand at mobilising communities around climate justice and socio economic rights, and that grounding shapes how she builds Herspire Afrika's presence on the ground.
Mary brings a strong legal and policy foundation to this advocacy work. She is currently completing her LLM specialising in Multidisciplinary Human Rights at the University of Pretoria as a 2026 Mastercard Foundation Scholar, and in March 2026 she contributed to an amicus curiae brief submitted to the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights in Arusha, Tanzania, as part of Advisory Opinion No. 001/2025 on state obligations in the climate crisis.
Her time at the Centre for Human Rights at the University of Pretoria, where she supported projects with the Global Campus for Human Rights and the Women's and Children's Rights Unit, sharpened the research and advocacy skills she now applies to Herspire Afrika's community work. Her contributions in this space earned her a nomination for the 2024 Global Citizen recognition.
At Herspire Afrika, Mary combines legal expertise, design thinking and community engagement to keep the organisation's advocacy rooted in the realities of the women and communities it serves, and to carry their voices into the gender justice and social justice work Herspire Afrika leads across Africa.
Mourice Onyango
Director of Programmes
Mourice Onyango is an Advocate of the High Court of Kenya specialising in human rights and sexual and reproductive rights law. He leads the Reproductive Health pillar at Herspire Afrika, driving the organisation’s legal strategy and policy research on reproductive health and rights.
He holds a Master of Laws in Sexual and Reproductive Rights from the University of Pretoria, South Africa, and an LLB from the University of Nairobi, Kenya. He previously served as a research fellow at Afya na Haki, where he contributed research and policy documents on sexual and reproductive health and rights issues across Africa.
He brings a multidisciplinary understanding of women’s rights, environmental justice and youth empowerment to the team.
Steven Otieno
Head of Finance and Administration
Steven Otieno heads finance at Herspire Afrika, ensuring that the organisation’s resources are managed with transparency, accountability and sustainability.
As a CIFA certified professional trained in finance, he brings fiscal discipline and institutional credibility that sustain the organisation’s operations and donor relationships. He holds a Master’s degree in Finance and a Bachelor of Science in Cooperative Business specialising in finance from the Cooperative University of Kenya.
Beyond the numbers, Steven builds the administrative infrastructure that allows Herspire Afrika to operate at scale, from compliance and reporting systems to financial planning and donor accountability.
