Nairobi anniversary event spotlights mentorship, financial freedom and marketable skills as pathways to long-term economic independence.
NAIROBI, KENYA – October 12, 2026: Global Give Back Circle marked its 20th anniversary yesterday in Nairobi on International Day of the Girl, calling for greater investment in mentorship, financial freedom and marketable skills that expand choices for at-risk girls and young women. The event brought together global and African leaders, including Suze Orman, personal finance expert; Reeta Roy, former President and CEO of Mastercard Foundation; Julie Gichuru, CEO of the Africa Leadership and Dialogue Institute; Hope Murera, MD and Group CEO of ZEP-RE and Linda Latsko Lockhart, Founder and CEO of Global Give Back Circle.
The message from Nairobi was clear: investing in girls’ rights means giving women and girls the mentors, skills and financial tools to make real choices about their futures. For Global Give Back Circle, education, skills development and financial freedom form multiple pathways to opportunity, independence and confident decision-making.
Dr. Lillian Katherine, a Global Give Back Circle mentee, said, “Mentorship is about walking alongside a mentee as they discover who they are, what they are capable of, and the impact they can make. My mentor has walked with me from my high school years, through university and medical training, to my work today as a doctor and brain researcher. Through this journey, I have learned that success is never achieved alone and that the greatest gift of mentorship is not only the opportunities it creates but also the responsibility it inspires to open doors for others. The lesson I carry forward is to keep learning, to serve, and to invest in the next generation of young women and girls, just as others invested in me.”
Noela Chance Nabigondo, a participant in HER Lab Kajiado studying Electrical Engineering Course under a Global Give Back Circle scholarship, said, “I would like to have an understanding mentor who recognizes the trauma and challenges that refugees go through. She should be my cheerleader and someone who helps me believe that I can succeed. Life can change unexpectedly, but those challenges should not define our future.”
Global Give Back Circle began in 2006 as a mentoring programme for ten at-risk girls in Kenya. Twenty years on, it has supported 6,000+ young women through workforce-readiness programmes with 2,700+ completing university. It has three progamming areas, one of which is HER Lab – designed specifically for rural young women. The HER Lab pilot has seen 87 percent of graduates surveyed enter paid work, start a business or continue their education. HER Lab is now scaling up in West Pokot and Kajiado.
Another programming area, the HER Financial Freedom Programme supports more than 700 rural women in West Pokot to save, access credit and participate more actively in household financial decisions, with 72 percent starting or expanding a business. This model is also scaling up in Kajiado.
The day’s discussion tied directly to International Day of the Girl by showing how expanded choices can strengthen girls’ ability to stay in school, build livelihoods and make decisions about education, work and family life. In Kenya, 13% of girls are married before age 18, a rate that rises sharply in some communities where Global Give Back Circle works.
African leaders at the event stressed that marketable skills are central to girls’ rights and economic opportunity. With only 9 percent of young Africans completing higher education and 70% of African graduates lacking employer-ready skills, HER Lab and the Financial Freedom Programme help connect learning to livelihoods in line with Kenya’s Vision 2030 and the African Union’s Agenda 2063.
Voices from the event
Suze Orman, HER Financial Freedom Programme Partner, and author of ten consecutive New York Times bestsellers and one of the world’s most trusted voices on money said, “Financial Freedom is a woman’s birthright.”
Reeta Roy, former President and CEO of Mastercard Foundation and a longtime Global Give Back Circle mentor, said, “In eighteen years of funding development work across Africa, I learned to look for interventions that can show evidence. Global Give Back Circle can. Investment in a girl’s education, skills and financial independence returns something concrete: a young woman equipped to shape her own path.”
Linda Latsko Lockhart, Founder and CEO of Global Give Back Circle, said, “When I started this work twenty years ago, I had ten girls and a belief that their lives could look different if someone gave them options. Today, we see what happens when girls gain income, skills and savings. They decide their own futures with confidence and independence.”
Julie Gichuru, CEO of the Africa Leadership and Dialogue Institute and a Nation Media Group board member, said, “A girl rarely needs charity. She needs options. Kenya’s Vision 2030 and the African Union’s Agenda 2063 both understand this, and so does Global Give Back Circle. Give a girl real alternatives, and she rarely takes the first path put in front of her.”
Hope Murera, MD and Group CEO of ZEP-RE and a Global Give Back Circle mentor, said, “Mentorship gave me the confidence to imagine a life bigger than the one I was born into. But confidence alone does not pay school fees or build a business. Skills and financial resilience do.”
As powerful stories of mentorship and its transformative impact on young women in Kenya took center stage, Global Give Back Circle called on an influential gathering of women leaders, philanthropists, business executives, and partners to leverage their networks, influence, and resources to expand opportunities for the next generation.
The call to action invited individuals and organizations to expand the Circle of Giving Back through mentorship, scholarships, skills development, employment opportunities, seed capital, and support for women-led enterprises. It also encouraged direct partnerships with Global Give Back Circle to scale proven solutions, drive innovation, and create new pathways to economic empowerment for girls and young women across Africa. The message was clear: everyone has something to give back, and together, we can create lasting impact.
Celebrations continue on October 12 with the launch of the HER Financial Freedom Programme in Kajiado with representatives from Equity Bank.
About Global Give Back Circle
Global Give Back Circle is a nonprofit dedicated to mentoring, education, workforce readiness, financial inclusion and economic empowerment for at-risk girls and young women in Kenya and beyond. Founded in 2006 as a mentoring programme for ten at-risk girls in Kenya, Global Give Back Circle now combines scholarships, mentorship, skills-building, HER Lab and the HER Financial Freedom Programme to create pathways to work, entrepreneurship and long-term financial security. Its funders and partners include Mastercard Foundation, Suze Orman, Microsoft, SAP, Arizona State University, PokerPower, Drexel University’s Close School of Entrepreneurship, Perur Rays of Hope, HELGA and Circle Group Ltd. Learn more at globalgivebackcircle.org.
For media inquiries and requests for interviews, please reach out to:
Lillian Omariba, Strategic Communications and Media Relations Consultant (Kenya, Africa)
Email: lillyk30@gmail.com
Contact: + 254715552476
Hellen Githakwa, Head of Communications at Global Give Back Circle
Email: hellen.githakwa@globalgivebackcircle.org
Contact: + 254725671355