Ashoka
Theme
One Africa is a call to dismantle silos – a vision of Fellows collaborating across regions, sharing solutions, adapting innovations, and advancing collective impact.
About The Summit
Building on the momentum of the inaugural summit in Nairobi, Ashoka convenes the Fellows Summit 2026 in Cairo, Egypt, under the unifying theme: One Africa. The Cairo Summit is envisioned as Africa's first continental Accountability Summit — moving beyond dialogue toward demonstrated collaboration, shared responsibility, and measurable progress across the continent.
Three Summit Objectives
Programme Overview
Why One Africa?
Africa's challenges: youth unemployment, education gaps, water scarcity, inequality, climate pressures, women's exclusion, are deeply interconnected and transcend borders. Yet solutions often remain fragmented by geography, language, and systems.
One Africa is a call to dismantle these silos. Through Ashoka's network of over 620 Fellows across Africa and Arab World, the vision seeks to accelerate systems change through South-South and cross-regional collaboration, reduce duplication, and position African-led solutions as scalable, credible, and globally relevant.
Where It Began - Nairobi
For the first time, Africa's Ashoka Fellows self-organised and self-funded a continental convening — placing their leadership, agency, and shared responsibility at the centre of Africa's transformation journey. Rather than being convened for by philanthropy, Fellows convened with and by themselves, demonstrating ownership, solidarity, and accountability.
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Fellows across Africa and Arab World
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Foundational outcomes
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Regions represented
Nairobi 2025 Outcomes
Methodology & Approach
Who Should Attend?
Expected Outcomes
A shared continental accountability framework adopted by Fellows across Africa and Arab World
Operational Fellow Engagement Fund with multi-stakeholder financial commitments
Clear Fellow-driven policy and systems contributions aligned to Agenda 2063 and the SDGs
Strengthened Communities of Practice across education, climate, health, gender, and livelihoods
Expanded partnerships resourcing African-led systems change and scaling proven innovations
Summit Brochure
THE PLANNING COMMITTEE
Wairimu Mukuria
Ashoka Fellows & Founder, The True North - Kenya
Carolyne Momanyi
Fellowship Associate and Founder Enua Kijana Afrika
Ifrah Arab
Venture & Fellowship lead - East Africa
Zahra (Ibrahim) Lethome
Partnerships & Fundraising lead – East Africa
Elvis Nshimba
Ashoka Fellow & Founder Umoja Sport Foundation
Elvis Nshimba
Ashoka Fellow & Founder Umoja Sport Foundation
Elvis’s goal is to eliminate restrictive attitudes towards girls' and women's roles, gender norms, and promote social acceptance. His approach cultivates empathy and teamwork in families by creating and playing new games with family members and their social circles. Elvis trained 10,000+ coaches, teachers, and leaders, impacting numerous youths and students across Africa, benefiting over 34,000 communities.
Peris Wakesho
Director Fellowship, Africa
Born and brought up in the Coastal town of Mombasa in Kenya, where not many young girls went past primary school. Peris knew from a young age that she had to change that, by being a role model to other girls and youth in her home town and create opportunities for others to also succeed. She informally taught neighborhood children while still in primary school and led many other ventures. Currently she runs a Public Benefit Organization, Asilia Africa focused on improving Reproductive Health Services for marginalized and vulnerable women as part of reducing maternal morbidity and mortality. Peris joined Ashoka in 2012 and is currently the Director, Fellowship, Africa
Confidence Awak
Youth Years Operations Associate
Confidence Awak is a Strategic Communications and Storytelling Strategist working at the intersection of social impact, media, and technology. Known for creating strategies that drive action, she has grown digital communities, delivered high-impact campaigns, and brought changemaking narratives to life through influencer partnerships, documentaries, podcasts, and user-generated content.
Her work across the nonprofit and tech sectors focuses on amplifying the voices of changemakers and connecting them to the audiences, opportunities, and partnerships that help scale their impact. At Ashoka Africa, she has led initiatives reaching millions organically, launched storytelling products including a Changemaking Education documentary, and positioned changemaking at the heart of education, policy, and community conversations across Africa.
Ikenna Anyadike
Venture and Fellowship Manager for Anglophone West Africa
Ikenna Anyadike is the Venture & Fellowship Manager for Ashoka in Anglophone West Africa, where he leads the search, selection, and support of the region’s most impactful systems changing social entrepreneurs. He drives the growth of a strong pipeline of Fellows by cultivating nominator networks, opening doors to new communities, and aligning with emerging trends and partner priorities. Ikenna oversees the entire Fellow selection process, from initial to deep-dive interviews and on-site visits to authoring compelling Fellow profiles, working closely with country, regional, and global teams to ensure a rigorous, values-driven approach.
As a key bridge between Anglophone West Africa, and Ashoka’s global network, Ikenna secures resources, relationships, and visibility to expand and diversify the Fellowship in Anglophone West Africa. Through his leadership, Ashoka's Fellowship in Anglophone West Africa continues to thrive as a community of changemakers driving systemc impact.