Speakers

Fiona Mavhinga was one of the first young women who completed her education with CAMFED’s support. Today, Fiona is a lawyer and leads on the strategic development of the CAMFED Association – the peer support and leadership network of former CAMFED clients. Through the CAMFED Association, more than a quarter of a million women are taking action on the big challenges their countries face – from child marriage, and girls’ exclusion from education, to climate change.

Having experienced first-hand the vulnerability of those young women who manage to complete secondary school – with few resources and employment opportunities available in rural areas – Fiona became a key founder of the CAMFED Association. The CAMFED Association now provides the backbone of the programs through which CAMFED is bringing about systems transformation. As Executive Director – CAMFED Association Development, Fiona is leading on ways to grow and replicate this powerful model.

Fiona has spoken on numerous international platforms, including girls’ education policy roundtables with members of the UK Government and the former First Lady of the United States, Michelle Obama. She stood with Malala Yousafzai when world leaders committed to the Sustainable Development Goals at the United Nations in 2015, and spoke at the Obama Foundation Summit in 2017. In 2021, Fiona spoke alongside policymakers and researchers at an event with the Yidan Prize Foundation and the University of Cambridge on creating a better world through education; joined CAMFED’s CEO to accept the Princess of Asturias Award for International Cooperation; spoke at the UN Climate Change Conference, COP26; and addressed the link between girls’ education and climate resilience as part of a Devex conversation series in the wake of CAMFED being awarded the Hilton Humanitarian Prize.