Musimbi Kanyoro (born 30 November 1953) is renowned for her advocacy and leadership in global human rights, philanthropy and academia. She is the chairperson of the International Board of the

United World Colleges The United World Colleges (UWC) is an international network of schools and educational programmes with the shared aim of "making education a force to unite people, nations and cultures for peace and a sustainable future." The organisation was fo ...

and independent member at

London School of Economics and Political Science The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), established in 1895, is a public university, public research university in London, England, and a member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the University ...

. She is also the founding member of the

Circle of Concerned African Women Theologians The Circle of Concerned African Women Theologians is a pan-African ecumenical organization that supports scholarly research of African women theologians. The Circle mentors the next generation of African women theologians throughout their academi ...

("the Circle") and its first coordinator (1996-2002).

Biography

She was born in

Migori County Migori County is a counties of Kenya, county in the former Nyanza Province of southwestern Kenya. It borders Homa Bay County to the north, Kisii County to the northeast, Narok County to the southeast, Tanzania to the west and south, and Lake Vic ...

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

where she attended primary school before joinin
Alliance Girls School
in

Nairobi Nairobi is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Kenya. The city lies in the south-central part of Kenya, at an elevation of . The name is derived from the Maasai language, Maasai phrase , which translates to 'place of cool waters', a ...

. As a student in the 1970s, she supported the movement against apartheid in South Africa. She earned an undergraduate degree from the

University of Nairobi The University of Nairobi (uonbi or UoN; ) is a college, collegiate research university based in Nairobi and is the largest List of universities and colleges in Kenya, university in Kenya. Although its history as an educational institution dat ...

and a PhD in Linguistics from the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public university, public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 stud ...

. Kanyoro later earned a doctorate in feminist theology at the

San Francisco Theological Seminary The San Francisco Theological Seminary (SFTS) is a seminary in San Anselmo, California with historic ties to the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). SFTS became embedded in a new Graduate School of Theology of the Universi ...

, and has received three honorary doctorate degrees. She was also a visiting scholar of

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

and the

Old Testament The Old Testament (OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible, or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew and occasionally Aramaic writings by the Isr ...

at Harvard University. Musimbi Kanyoro and Hillary Rodham Clinton

Career

Kanyoro was the Executive Secretary, Desk for Women in Church and Society at the

Lutheran World Federation The Lutheran World Federation (LWF; ) is a global Communion (religion), communion of national and regional Lutheran denominations headquartered in the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva, Switzerland. The federation was founded in the Swedish city of L ...

from 1982 to 1997. She also edited the book ''In Search of a Round Table: Gender, Theology and Church Leadership'', in 1998. She worked as a translation consultant for the

United Bible Societies The United Bible Societies (UBS) is a global fellowship of around 150 Bible societies operating in more than 240 countries and territories. It has working hubs in England, Singapore and Nairobi. The headquarters are located in Swindon, England. ...

. From 1998 to 2007, Kanyoro became the first non-white General Secretary of the World

YWCA The Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) is a nonprofit organization with a focus on empowerment, leadership, and rights of women, young women, and girls in more than 100 countries. The World office is currently based in Geneva, Swit ...

. Kanyoro was director of the Population and Reproductive Health Program of the

David and Lucile Packard Foundation The David and Lucile Packard Foundation is a private foundation that provides grants to not-for-profit organizations. It was created in 1964 by David Packard (co-founder of HP) and his wife Lucile Salter Packard. Following David Packard's dea ...

from 2007 to 2011. She was a member of the International Steering Committee for the Beijing World Conference and led delegations to five UN World Conferences in the 1990s. From 2018 until 2019, she served on an Independent Commission on Sexual Misconduct, Accountability and Culture Change at

Oxfam Oxfam is a British-founded confederation of 21 independent non-governmental organizations (NGOs), focusing on the alleviation of global poverty, founded in 1942 and led by Oxfam International. It began as the Oxford Committee for Famine Relief ...

, co-chaired by

Zainab Bangura Haja Zainab Hawa Bangura (; born 18 December 1959) is a Sierra Leonean politician and social activist who has been serving as the Director-General of the United Nations Office at Nairobi (UNON) since 2018, appointed by United Nations Secretary-G ...

and Katherine Sierra. Musimbi Kanyoro was the president and CEO of Global Fund for Women from 2011 to 2019. She has also served in several boards including the Aspen Leaders Council, the CARE Board, the UN High Level Taskforce for Reproductive Health, UN Women Civil Society Advisory Board, the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR)’s Scientific Advisory Board and the International Board of the

. She also works with former President of Ireland

Mary Robinson Mary Therese Winifred Robinson (; ; born 21 May 1944) is an Irish politician who served as the president of Ireland from December 1990 to September 1997. She was the country's first female president. Robinson had previously served as a senato ...

on several projects, including the Board of Directors of Realizing Rights: the Ethical Globalization Initiative. She served as a member of the Family Planning 2020 (FP2020) Reference Group. She is also the member of Global Philanthropy Committee of the Council of Foundations Kanyoro also served as a Member of the Board of Directors of the African Population and Health Research Centre, and was for seven years the chair of the board of ISIS Work. She also serves on the boards of

CARE Care may refer to: Organizations and projects * CARE (New Zealand), Citizens Association for Racial Equality, a former New Zealand organisation * CARE (England) West Midlands, Central Accident Resuscitation Emergency team, a team of doctors & ...

, Intra Health, CHANGE and Legacy Memory Bank, and is a member of the

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a list of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations which coordinates responses to international public health issues and emergencies. It is headquartered in Gen ...

Awards

*1999 – Human Rights Award *1999 – Doctor of Divinity (honorary), Trinity Lutheran Seminary, (TLS) USA, for significant contribution to Christian Theology *2000 – The Wittenberg Award *2005 – designated a State Commendations of Kenya Moran of the Order of the Burning Spear (MBS). *2005 – Women of Substance Award *2005 – Global Leadership Award, World Vision and International AIDS Trust, USA *2005 – Nominee, 1000 Women for the Nobel Peace Prize, *2006 – Women, Leadership and Human Dignity Award *2008 – Inaugural Lecturer: Nelson Mandela Lecture Series *2011 – Changing the Face of Philanthropy *2012 – National Council for Research on Women 2012

Selected bibliography

* *Dube, Musa and Musimbi R.A. Kanyoro, eds. ''Grant me justice!: HIV/AIDS & gender readings of the Bible.'' Cluster Publications, 2004. *Kanyoro, Musimbi R.A. and Nyambura J. Njoroge, eds. ''Groaning in Faith: African women in the household of God.'' Nairobi: Acton Publishers. Papers From the Interfaith Circle of Concerned African Women Theologians, 1996. *Kanyoro, Musimbi R.A., ed. ''In search of a round table: gender, theology & church leadership.'' Geneva: WCC Publications, 1997. *Kanyoro, Musimbi R.A. and Nyambura J. Njoroge, eds. ''A decade of solidarity with the Bible : decade festival : visions beyond 1998.'' Geneva: WCC Publications, 1998. *Kanyoro, Musimbi R.A., ''Introducing Feminist Cultural Hermeneutics: An African Perspective.'' Cleveland: Pilgrim Press, 2002. *Kanyoro, Musimbi R.A., Forward to ''The alternative Luther : Lutheran theology from the subaltern,'' edited by Else Marie Wiberg Pedersen''.'' Minneapolis: Fortress Academic, 2019. *Oduyoye, Mercy Amba and Musimbi R.A. Kanyoro, eds. ''The Will to Arise: Women, Tradition, and the Church in Africa.'' Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2005. .

References

External links

Global Fund for WomenLegacy Memory Bank Advisory Board
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kanyoro, Musimbi Kenyan activists Kenyan women activists 1953 births Living people Harvard Divinity School faculty Kenyan Lutherans Morans of the Order of the Burning Spear Kenyan academics People from Migori County University of Nairobi alumni Alumni of Alliance Girls High School