Deeply committed to the philosophy that all children, women and girls with disabilities should have equal opportunities to succeed, our latest episode of Philanthropod features Maria Omare. Maria is a distinguished disability inclusion advocate from Kenya and Executive Director of The Action Foundation.

Since her university days, Maria has devoted her career to building inclusive and resilient communities where those with disabilities can access adequate health and education services. Nearly thirteen years ago, Maria set up her first centre in the Kibera slums, serving just a handful of local community members. Today, The Action Foundation focuses on wider systems change, challenging stigmas against disabilities and working with the Kenyan government to ensure that all children with disabilities have access to education and health care at school.

Maria has also played a crucial role in various initiatives focused on inclusive education, early childhood care and education, and the sexual and reproductive health rights of women and girls with disabilities. For her exceptional work, Maria has earned numerous prestigious awards, including the Ford Motor Company International Fellowship, Cordes Fellowship, and Michelle Obama’s “Red Magazine UK’s 25 Visionaries to Watch”.

To learn more, tune into this episode to hear Philanthropod host, Anubha Rawat, in conversation with Maria. Anubha and Maria take the listeners through the highs and lows of The Action Foundation’s journey, reflect on the importance of finding your “people” in the development sector, and discuss how to ensure service delivery is maximised for all who need it. To end, they also discuss The Action Foundation’s pan-African strategy moving forward. Afterall, as Maria notes, impact will be maximised when it is “Africans creating African solutions".

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