BIO

Hello, 

I am Wevyn Muganda, a Global Advocate and Consultant on Youth, Peace and Security, Social Justice Educator and Organizer. I am constantly thinking and trying to work on how to make the world safer, more just and inclusive. I focus on translating complex policies and concepts into actionable practice for stakeholders in order to educate and motivate them into taking inspired action to address emerging social issues.

I am a firm believer in the people’s power and active citizenship, rooted in my experience organizing youth and women in my country, Kenya for over 5 years. Till October 2022, I worked in New York as a Peacebuilding Fellow advocating for youth inclusion in decision-making and peace processes as well as implementing peacebuilding, gender equality, and humanitarian action programs globally but especially in Africa and South East Asia.  

During this time, I briefed the UN Secretary-General Mr. Antonio Guterres, and other Under Secretary Generals during the UN Executive Retreat on Africa and had a dialogue with the Deputy Secretary-General, Ms. Amina Mohamed on Youth, Peace, and Security. I have delivered high-level speeches at the UN in New York including at the UN Security Council (2019), High-Level Political Forum (2019 and 2022), UN General Assembly (2022) including at the Transforming Education Summit.

My experience working in New York inspired me to initiate the Kenya Coalition on Youth, Peace and Security as a platform for collective organizing and advocacy on youth, peace, security and development in Kenya. The coalition has over 100 members and continues to grow under the leadership of the Steering Committee drawn from youth led organizations, civil society and national government representatives.

Prior to that, I co-led Mutual Aid Kenya, a Covid-19 response initiative that built its national volunteer network through education and solidarity action. Together with our partners, we supported over 3,000 families in informal settlements in Mombasa and Nairobi and implemented a social media campaign on Covid-19 response. This work was recognized by the UN Envoy on Youth in 2020 and has been featured by different media in Kenya and internationally.

Although,I started volunteering in my community as a teenager in highschool, my formal years in non profit and development began in 2017, as a Personal Assistant(Intern) at a national human rights organization in Mombasa, Kenya. I designed and implemented human rights programs targeting women and youth, particularly in increasing their access to justice, preventing and countering violent extremism. I worked with tens of youth and women social justice movements and networks at the Coast of Kenya and contributed to localization of global policies such as the Mombasa County Action Plan for Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism

In 2021, I initiated ISIRIKA, a youth-led social enterprise that leverages digital platforms to build community, educate and connect young people to opportunities for social action.

I serve as a Youth Advisor at UNICEF’s Generation Unlimited; the world’s biggest public private partnership for young people. I am an alumna of the Young Africa Leaders Initiative Nairobi and the Mandela Washington Fellowship programs by the US Embassy. I have been nominated for several awards including Pulse Pan African Community Influencer Awards 2021 and 2022, Global Woman of Choice Awards 2021 and won the ‘She Can’ award in 2019.

I have an undergraduate degree in Actuarial Science and graduated from the Leadership, Organizing, and Action program at the Harvard Kennedy School. I am a 2023 GRO GEST Fellow in International Gender Studies at the University of Iceland.

Community Engagement and Movement Building

The following are some of the projects implemented at the grassroots and national levels in Kenya.