Jennifer Riria of Kenya will receive the YAWC's Model African Woman of the Year award in 2022.
Dr. Jennifer Riria has been nominated to receive an award at the 6th Annual Continental Convocation of the Young African Women Congress (YAWC), which will be held in Accra, Ghana from October 2–6, 2022, with the theme “Network for Empowerment: Eliminating Barriers to Women's Development.” ENA, formerly known as Kenya Women Holding, is a woman-led, women-serving development institution.
As a member of the EY Global Hall of Fame, she will receive recognition for her contributions to enhancing the socioeconomic standing of women and girls in Kenya.
On Tuesday, October 4, during the congress, an unique event called "Jennifer Riria Day" will be organized in her honor.
As a banker and practitioner of microfinance, researcher, and gender expert, Dr. Riria is renowned. She has been the head of Kenya Women Finance Trust Microfinance (KWFT) Bank for more than three decades, transforming it from an unprofitable NGO to a medium-sized Bank that provides financial assistance to low-income women and their families across the country of Kenya. Over the course of 30 years, KWFT has assisted over 3 million women and given out over US$ 3 billion. As CEO, she oversaw KWFT's conversion from a microfinance organization to a regulated middle-sized bank (2004-2009).
She has held a variety of different leadership positions across the financial, public, and healthcare sectors, for which she has received both national and international recognition. The Democracy Trust Fund (DTF), a loosely autonomous organization that aids and places women to engage in democratic processes, has Dr. Riria as its patron.
Dr. Riria also serves as the chair of the Kenyan chapter of the Africa Women Leaders Network. The "Jennifer Riria Foundation," whose goal is to improve young women's leadership through innovations and connections with the commercial sector, was recently relaunched by her. Her passion is working with and influencing people. Dr. Riria served on numerous boards, including the Women's World Bank Board, an international network of banks and microfinance organizations, where she served as Chairperson for 21 years.
The "Jennifer Riria Day" will be the second in a series of celebrations honoring smart African women for their contributions to the empowerment of women and their positive effects on society at large. The first was given to Hon. Akosua Frema Osei Opare in 2019, who became the country of Ghana's first female chief of staff. The day is specially named after the lady who was recommended to be honored at the particular congress in order to leave a lasting impression on the delegates' thoughts on the honoree's accomplishments.
A Pan-African gathering for young women of African heritage, the Young African Women Congress. It is a platform that encourages cross-cultural and intergenerational knowledge sharing. Keynote speeches, panel discussions, career workshops, group brainstorming sessions, and project story presentations by delegates are a few of the congress's main events. In order to promote Africa's tourism and heritage, there is also a full-day excursion to noteworthy locations.
Its tagline, Empowering Women for Continental Development and Integration for a Better World, sums up its major goal.
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