Dr Margaret Kemigisha, a publishing entrepreneur passionate about childrens’ literacy

July 19, 2025 Melanie Hawken

Lioness Weekender Cover Story

Igaaza Creations, a Uganda-based social enterprise promoting literacy through children’s storybook publishing and capacity building

Dr Margaret Kemigisha is the founder and CEO of Igaaza Creations, a Uganda-based social enterprise that promotes literacy through the publishing of children’s storybooks, offers social research consulting, and builds capacity among fresh graduates. Her work bridges development and applied research, supporting governments, development organizations, and the private sector with evidence-based solutions and creative tools for impact.

Anne K Rweyora, an inspirational entrepreneur enabling women to own climate-smart homes in Uganda

February 9, 2025 Melanie Hawken

Anne K Rweyora, founder, Smart Havens Africa (Uganda)

Startup Story

Anne K Rweyora is the founder of Smart Havens Africa, an impact-driven business launched in 2018 aimed at contributing to Uganda’s housing sector by helping low-income women to become home-owners. As a female civil engineer driven to positively change lives, Anne’s business stands out by offering an innovative, eco-friendly, and empowering pathway to homeownership for women-headed families.

Sharon Seanice Lojede, a tech-savvy pan-African marketing leader

June 9, 2024 Melanie Hawken

Lioness Weekender Cover Story

A tech-enabled integrated marketing communications company headquartered in South Africa with branches in Nigeria, Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda

Seanice Lojede is the founder of BLU Flamingo Africa, a pan-African tech-enabled integrated marketing communications company founded in 2010 and headquartered in South Africa, with branches in Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda, and Rwanda. The business has a workforce of 55 people. With a master’s degree in digital marketing, and as an alumna of the prestigious Stanford Seed program, Seanice is a tech-savvy marketing leader whose data-driven strategies and cutting-edge marketing technologies have helped global companies crack the Sub-Saharan African market.

Isabella Epiu, an entrepreneur advancing healthcare in Uganda

March 31, 2024 Melanie Hawken

Lioness Weekender Cover Story

Health Solutions International, a social impact organization dedicated to advancing healthcare standards to save lives in East Africa

Isabella Epiu is the founder of Health Solutions International, an organisation founded in 2015 in Uganda and dedicated to Advancing Health Care Standards To Save Lives by sourcing new approaches to emerging global health challenges through research and implementation science. She is an Anaesthesiologist with a PhD from the University of New South Wales - UNSW School of Medicine in Sydney, Australia, which is among the top 50 medical schools in the world. Isabella’s recent research focused on neural-respiratory physiology, to design targeted cost-effective management plans and improve the quality of life in people with pulmonary diseases. Previously she performed multi-national research across the East African Community aimed at improving maternal and neonatal outcomes through safe anaesthesia. Isabella is passionate about quality improvement in healthcare, and particularly safety in medicine with experience in research, leadership and management, global health, economic modelling, policy analysis. She currently has 20+ publications with up to 220+ citations already.

Lioness Launch / Dr. Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka, Uganda’s first wildlife veterinarian and social entrepreneur, visits South Africa to launch her new book

August 5, 2023 Melanie Hawken

Lioness Launch

On the latest stop of her global book tour, Dr. Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka, Uganda’s first wildlife veterinarian and also the co-founder of impact-driven social enterprise Gorilla Conservation Coffee, launches her new book Walking with Gorillas to South African audiences. Dr Gladys will be visiting the Exclusive Books bookstore in Rosebank Mall, Johannesburg on Monday 7 August, and it promises to be an inspirational evening of story and experience sharing.

Helen Keleta, a game-changing healthcare entrepreneur

July 16, 2023 Melanie Hawken

Lioness Weekender Cover Story

East Africa Hafeshawi Medical Centre, a high-impact business providing affordable healthcare to refugees in Uganda

Helen Habteslasie Keleta is the Founder and CEO of East Africa Hafeshawi Medical Center, a well-established health centre that was started in January 2018 in a convenient and highly accessible location in Kampala, Uganda. She is a mother of four, and an Eritrean Refugee living in Kampala since 2016. By profession she is an engineer and up until 2016 has been working with different family construction companies. After she came to Uganda she started living among the refugees in Kampala and noticed there is a language barrier amongst them and Ugandans. Especially when it came to health, this language barrier made it worse because 'right patient-right information-right care-at the right time' works well in life. This idea triggered Helen to invest in the medical care industry by getting different native professional doctors and nurses.

Dr Noeline Kirabo, a Ugandan social entrepreneur positively changing lives

March 26, 2023 Melanie Hawken

Lioness Weekender Cover Story

Kyusa, a purpose-driven organization that empowers marginalized youth and women through enterprise development in Uganda

Dr Noeline Kirabo is the founder of Kyusa, a purpose-driven organization that empowers marginalized youth and women through enterprise development in Uganda. She is a distinguished personal and business development coach/consultant, author, TED speaker, certified mentor, trainer, and life coach. With a doctorate in Entrepreneurship Management and over fifteen years of experience in the civil society sector, Noeline is a recognized authority in the fields of personal and professional growth. As a family therapist and social entrepreneur, Noeline has made a lasting impact on the lives of children, youth, women, and community initiatives. She has also served as a personal and business development consultant for numerous exceptional companies in the East African region and beyond. Noeline is the founder and executive director of Kyusa, a for-impact organization committed to improving the quality of life for marginalized youth through entrepreneurship development. Her dedication to this cause has earned her a reputation as a transformative leader in the field of social entrepreneurship.

Dr Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka wins 2022 Tällberg-SNF-Eliasson Global Leadership Prize

November 13, 2022 Melanie Hawken

Award Winner

In recognition of her courageous leadership and impact in the field of public health and gorilla conservation in Uganda, Dr. Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka, Founder and CEO of Conservation Through Public Health and Gorilla Conservation Coffee, is one of three winners of the 2022 Tällberg-SNF-Eliasson Global Leadership Prize!

Diana Mbabaali Miiro, a pioneering landscaping entrepreneur creating green spaces in Uganda

October 2, 2022 Melanie Hawken

Diana Mbabaali Miiro, managing director, KeyScapes Limited (Uganda)

Startup Story

Diana Mbabaali Miiro is the managing director of KeyScapes Limited, a pioneering company in Uganda specializing in landscaping, potted plants artistries and gardening supplies. She is an ardent gardener with a mission to encourage Ugandans to live a healthy natural lifestyle, growing their own food organically in the small spaces of their backyards as CSR (Community Social Responsibility) under the Backyard Gardeners Uganda, a forum she founded on social media platforms. Diana previously worked in the Information Technology & Change department with Barclays Bank, now ABSA Bank, as Head, Service Management before joining the world of entrepreneurship when she discovered that she could make a living from her passion. She is a Vital Voices Fellow, Vital Voices Leadership Journey, a female future program graduate and an Academy for Women Entrepreneurs Mentor.

Bright Asiimwe Wandera, a serial retail and hospitality entrepreneur in Uganda

December 5, 2021 Melanie Hawken

Bright Asiimwe Wandera, founder and CEO, Plum Cafe and Restaurant (Uganda)

Startup Story

Bright Asiimwe Wandera is the founder and CEO of Plum Cafe and Restaurant in Uganda. She’s a serial entrepreneur with interests in retail chain and hospitality. She’s an alumnus of Africa Women Entrepreneurs Cooperative and Stanbic Bank Uganda Business Incubator. Bright runs two supermarkets and most recently a high-end restaurant with two branches. Bright founded Plum Cafe and Restaurant this year in February 2021 after testing a restaurant model in 2020 that was attached to one of her supermarkets.

Joan Mugenzi, a Ugandan entrepreneur coaching people to be the best versions of themselves

November 7, 2021 Melanie Hawken

Joan Mugenzi, founder, Imagine Me Africa (Uganda)

Startup Story

Joan Mugenzi is the founder of Imagine Me Africa, based in Uganda. She is an International Coaching Federation Professional Certified Coach with 385 hours of coach training and over 750 hours of coaching, with a focus on employment transition. Whether a person is getting into a new job, moving into the next opportunity within the organization, grappling with management and leadership transition role, or planning on exiting, Joan enjoys facilitating the conversations. Joan has trained in coaching up to the highest level of coaching (Mastery), and wholly believes in the need for people to experience professional coaching. She is the founding and current president of the International Coaching Federation Uganda Chapter. Her focus is building Africa's coaching hub of choice.

Catherine Nakayemba, a Ugandan entrepreneur manufacturing menstrual kits for rural women and girls

October 30, 2021 Melanie Hawken

Catherine Nakayemba, co-founder, Safe Girl (Uganda)

Startup Story

Catherine Nakayemba is the co-founder and administrator of Safe Girl in Uganda, a business on a mission to lower the cost of menstruation by making safe and eco-friendly reusable menstrual kits. Each kits consists of two reusable sanitary pads, a knicker, storage bag and a piece of soap. This lasts for 12 months hence enabling a rural woman or girl to save from buying monthly pads. Since launching the business, it has produced over 1000 reusable menstrual kits and distributed them all around Uganda. The business employs 20 women working in both production and marketing of the pads.

Ruthida Kajumba, a transformation coach helping people live their best lives

October 24, 2021 Melanie Hawken

Lioness Weekender Cover Story

Ruthida Kajumba Consult, a Ugandan specialist coaching consultancy helping clients redefine their success

Achieving success, overcoming overwhelm, and finding happiness and fulfillment can be difficult for many people, particularly during these challenging times. Ruthida Kajumba, founder of the specialist Ugandan coaching consultancy that carries her name, is on a mission to help people live their best lives. Ruthida is a Fulfilment After Success Expert, a Keynote Speaker, Author and ICF credentialed Professional Transformation Coach. Other certifications are Success Goals, Happiness, Fulfilment, Life Purpose and Public Speaking. She focuses on helping busy individuals to redefine their success so they can overcome overwhelm and live their best everyday life with inner peace, joy, meaning, happiness and fulfillment. Backed with nearly 20 years of relevant life and entrepreneurial business experience, she founded her consulting business in 2018. Her areas of expertise are Authentic Success, Mindset, Overcoming Overwhelm, Happiness and Fulfilment.

Kintu Jovia, a Ugandan entrepreneur building a local organic hair care brand with big ambitions

October 10, 2021 Melanie Hawken

Kintu Jovia, founder, Kia Cosmetics (Uganda)

Startup Story

Most successful haircare brands start because they look to solve a problem for consumers, and in the case of Kintu Jovia, founder of Kia Cosmetics in Uganda, that was certainly true. Her inspiration was to give consumers the choice to use chemical free products that would be good for their hair and the environment.

Nunu Mugyenyi, Angel Nkwaya and Janet Mugume, three Ugandan entrepreneurs building an award-winning retail outlet

April 11, 2021 Melanie Hawken

Startup Story

In Uganda, if you are looking for the most exciting apparel and home decor brands, then you need go no further than the Bold in Africa retail outlet, launched back in 2012 by co-founders Nunu Mugyenyi, Angel Nkwaya and Janet Mugume. Today, the business is going from strength to strength, now showcasing over forty emerging apparel and home décor brands from countries across the African continent including Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania, Nigeria, Ghana, Senegal, Tunisia and South Africa.

Lioness Launch / Dr Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka launches new Team Gorilla Song to celebrate World Gorilla Day

September 27, 2020 Melanie Hawken

Screen Shot 2020-09-27 at 2.42.59 PM.jpg

Lioness Launch

Dr Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka, founder of CTPH (Conservation Through Public Health) and Gorilla Conservation Coffee launched the premiere of a great Team Gorilla song, performed by famous Ugandan music artist #Gasuza, on Spotify to celebrate World Gorilla Day on 24 September 2020.

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