Angeline Murimirwa ( Mugwendere) is a Zimbabwean feminist, who is currently the chief executive officer for

Camfed CAMFED (also known as the Campaign for Female Education) is an international non-governmental, non-profit organization founded in 1993 whose mission is to eradicate poverty in Africa through the education of girls and the empowerment of young wo ...

in Africa. Murimirwa was included in the 2017 BBC 100 Women list of the most influential women.

Career

Born in 1980, Murimirwa grew up in Denhere in rural Zimbabwe. In the 1990s, she was one of the first girls to be given a scholarship by

for her

secondary school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., b ...

education, which included monetary support, her school uniform, shoes and schooling equipment. Before her appointment as executive director – Africa, Murimirwa worked as the regional executive director for

in Southern & Eastern Africa. In 1998, Murimirwa was helped set up the Camfed Alumnae Network (CAMA), which began with a few hundred women. By 2012, CAMA had 17,000 members in five African countries. The network celebrated 100,000 members in 2017. In 2005, Murimirwa presented at a

Global Exchange Global Exchange was founded in 1988 and is an advocacy group, human rights organization, and a 501(c)(3) organization, based in San Francisco, California, United States. The group defines its mission as, "to promote human rights and social, econom ...

forum, and in 2006, she was awarded the prize for Women's Creativity in Rural Life by the Women's World Summit Foundation. Murimirwa was featured in the 2009 book ''

Half the Sky ''Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide'' is a nonfiction book by husband and wife team Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn, published by Knopf in September 2009. It is also a 2012 PBS documentary based on the b ...

'' by

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prizes () are 23 annual awards given by Columbia University in New York City for achievements in the United States in "journalism, arts and letters". They were established in 1917 by the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made his fo ...

winning novelists

Sheryl WuDunn Sheryl WuDunn (born November 16, 1959) is an American business executive, writer, lecturer, and Pulitzer Prize winner. A senior banker focusing on growth companies in technology, new media and the emerging markets, WuDunn also works with double ...

and

Nicholas Kristof Nicholas Donabet Kristof (born April 27, 1959) is an American journalist and political commentator. A winner of two Pulitzer Prizes, he is a regular CNN contributor and an op-ed columnist for ''The New York Times''. Born in Chicago, Kristof wa ...

. In 2014, she spoke at an event with

Michelle Obama Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama ( Robinson; born January 17, 1964) is an American attorney and author who served as the first lady of the United States from 2009 to 2017, being married to Barack Obama, the 44th president of the United Stat ...

. In 2016, Murimirwa attended a Camfed event where

Julia Gillard Julia Eileen Gillard (born 29 September 1961) is an Australian former politician who served as the 27th prime minister of Australia from 2010 to 2013. She held office as the leader of the Labor Party (ALP), having previously served as the ...

, former

Prime Minister of Australia The prime minister of Australia is the head of government of the Commonwealth of Australia. The prime minister is the chair of the Cabinet of Australia and thus the head of the Australian Government, federal executive government. Under the pr ...

, became a patron of the organisation. During the event, Murimirwa stated that "Locally tailored solutions, respectful of context and building on local resources, are key to our success." In 2017, she was awarded the 2017 Diamond Ball Honors Award by the

Clara Lionel Foundation The Clara Lionel Foundation (also known as CLF) is a nonprofit organization founded in 2012 by singer Rihanna, that funds groundbreaking education and emergency preparedness and response programs around the world. In March 2020, the fund donat ...

. At the event, Murimirwa spoke about her personal journey from poverty to her current role at Camfed, and Murimirwa dedicated the award to the "100,000 Camfed Alumnae members". The event was attended by celebrities including

Dave Chappelle David Khari Webber Chappelle ( ; born August 24, 1973) is an American stand-up comedy, stand-up comedian and actor. He starred in and co-created the satirical comedy sketch series ''Chappelle's Show'' (2003–2006) before quitting in the middle ...

Rihanna Robyn Rihanna Fenty ( ; born February 20, 1988) is a Barbadian singer, businesswoman, and actress. One of the List of music artists by net worth, wealthiest musicians in the world, List of awards and nominations received by Rihanna, her vario ...

Kendrick Lamar Kendrick Lamar Duckworth (born June 17, 1987) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter and record producer. Regarded as one of the greatest rappers of all time, he was awarded the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Music, becoming the first music ...

, and

Calvin Harris Adam Richard Wiles (born 17 January 1984), known professionally as Calvin Harris (and sometimes under the stage name Love Regenerator), is a Scottish DJ, record producer, singer, and songwriter. His debut studio album, ''I Created Disco'' (2007 ...

. In 2018, during a Royal Visit to Zambia,

Prince Harry Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, (Henry Charles Albert David; born 15 September 1984) is a member of the British royal family. As the younger son of King Charles III and Diana, Princess of Wales, he is fifth in the line of succession to ...

met with Murimirwa. In 2020, Murimirwa was awarded the Yidan Prize for Education Development for promoting development of education.

Personal life

Murimirwa is married with four children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Murimirwa, Angeline Zimbabwean feminists Zimbabwean women in business 1980s births Living people Yidan Prize laureates