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Ustawi na Uwezo was born from Alexandra Ngaiza's experience working closely with rural communities. Through this work, she encountered remarkable women building livelihoods, managing households, supporting families, and contributing to their communities despite significant barriers.
What stood out was not a lack of potential, but how much potential already existed without access to resources, knowledge, exposure, opportunities, and supportive spaces where women could fully grow and thrive.
This inspired a simple belief: every woman deserves the opportunity to pursue a purposeful life and the dreams she was born with. Access to financial resources, practical skills, financial literacy, and sustainable income gives women the dignity and freedom to make choices for themselves and their families.
Ustawi na Uwezo was created to make that possible, a platform where women from marginalized communities can transform aspirations into sustainable livelihoods, access opportunities, build confidence, and create the futures they envision for themselves.
An Africa where every woman has the space to pursue her aspirations, build sustainable enterprises, and thrive in harmony with her family and community.
To create accessible physical and collective platforms where women can turn their aspirations into sustainable livelihoods and enterprises.
Our team's wide spectrum of interests, passions, and experience is centered on building and supporting the African women's movement.
Alexandra Ngaiza is the Founder of Ustawi na Uwezo, driven by a conviction that a woman's circumstances should never determine the size of her dreams.
A storyteller turned strategist, Alexandra has built her career across communications, business, agribusiness, strategic partnerships, and development. Her work has taken her beyond boardrooms and into rural communities, where conversations with women farmers, entrepreneurs, mothers, and community leaders revealed to her that women do not lack ambition, ideas, or ability. Too often, they lack the platforms and opportunities needed to turn them into sustainable realities.
This realization inspired Ustawi na Uwezo. Through the organization, Alexandra is creating spaces where women can be heard, access knowledge and opportunities, build sustainable enterprises, and pursue their aspirations with dignity while thriving within their families and communities.
Franklin J. Rutayungulwa is a software engineer and technology entrepreneur with experience building and commercially deploying digital products from the ground up. He is also the Founder of Kiota Games, AI and Technologies.
At Ustawi na Uwezo, Franklin leads the design, development, deployment, and management of the organization's digital infrastructure. His work spans platforms that showcase women led businesses as well as systems that connect women to markets, payments, and opportunities.
Through technology, he helps ensure that where a woman starts does not limit how far her business can grow.
Anitha Ngaiza is an accounting professional with a strong passion for community development and using her skills to create meaningful impact. Her belief in being of service to others made her especially excited to take on a role at Ustawi na Uwezo and contribute to its mission.
As Accountant, Anitha supports the organization's financial management, accountability, budgeting, and responsible use of resources.
Her work helps build a financially sustainable organization capable of creating lasting opportunities for women and their communities.
Princess Egieya brings years of experience managing development projects across NGOs in Nigeria, including Advocacy for Widows Empowerment Foundation (ADWEF), Agape Foundation for Literacy and Rural Development (AFLARD), and Educare Trust, among others.
As Programs Manager at Ustawi na Uwezo, Princess leads the design, coordination, and delivery of our programs, ensuring that ideas translate into measurable outcomes for the women we serve.
She brings a strong results driven mindset, setting ambitious targets, encouraging innovation, and constantly pushing beyond expected outcomes.
Furaha Kivoga is the creative eye behind the stories of Ustawi na Uwezo. He brings a rare ability to notice the details others might overlook, the expressions, moments, and human experiences that give our work its meaning.
As Creative Director, Furaha transforms these moments into powerful visual stories, ensuring that the women behind our impact are not reduced to numbers but are seen, heard, and remembered.
We are proud to have him on board, preserving the heart of our work one story at a time.
Amanda Namayi brings advocacy and communications expertise to Ustawi na Uwezo, ensuring that the voices and lived experiences of women remain at the heart of how we communicate and advocate for change.
She leads advocacy campaigns, stakeholder engagement, strategic communications, and public awareness initiatives, turning insights from the communities we serve into compelling messages and meaningful conversations.
Through her work, Amanda helps Ustawi na Uwezo build visibility, influence dialogue, and ensure women's voices reach the people, institutions, and platforms that can help create lasting change.
Dr. Hajia Salamatu Garba brings more than three decades of experience turning grassroots development into lasting opportunities for women and rural communities.
As the Founder of Women Farmers Advancement Network (WOFAN) and Country Project Director of the WOFAN ICON2 Project in Nigeria, she brings to Ustawi na Uwezo the wisdom of someone who has spent years building, leading, and sustaining development initiatives.
As our Advisor, Dr. Salamatu challenges us to think beyond immediate impact and build systems that can endure, scale, and remain rooted in the realities of the women we serve.
Villah Okolla is a seasoned business developer and Founder of Ephod, bringing a strong market and enterprise perspective to Ustawi na Uwezo.
She guides our market assessment, business model development, revenue planning, and sustainability strategies, helping us identify what communities need while understanding what the market can support.
Villah helps ensure that every enterprise we co create with women has a clear customer, a viable route to market, and the potential to generate sustainable income so that projects are built to last beyond initial support.