Angeline Murimirwa

Angeline (Angie) Murimirwa, née Mugwendere, was one of the first girls to receive support from CAMFED to go to secondary school. She is now CAMFED’s Chief Executive Officer, uniquely positioned to bring the expertise of girls and women once excluded from education to inform policy and strategy at every level.

Angeline understands from experience both the desire for education and the enormous hurdles girls face in securing their right to education. In a spirit of solidarity with those facing the same struggles she has overcome, Angeline became a key founding member of the CAMFED Association (CAMA) a powerful pan-African network of women leaders educated with CAMFED support. CAMFED Association members are united by a background of rural poverty, and by one goal: to ensure that no girl is excluded – that every girl secures her right to go to school. Association members are stepping up as a new generation of leaders and entrepreneurs in their communities, as well as at national and international level. 

In 2009, Angeline’s story featured in ‘Half the Sky’, a book by award-winning writers Nick Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn. In 2017, Angeline was recognized as one of the 100 most influential women by the BBC, and the Clara Lionel Foundation presented Angeline with the 2017 Diamond Ball Honours Award, recognizing her past, present and future support of young leaders, entrepreneurship and civic engagement. In 2020, Angeline Murimirwa and Lucy Lake were awarded the Yidan Prize for Education Development as Co-Executives of CAMFED, for their contribution to female education, and joined the newly-established Council of Luminaries.  Angeline accepted the 2020 Kristof Holiday Impact Prize and the 2021 Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize on behalf of our movement. Her 2023 TED Talk, representing that year’s Audacious cohort, brought CAMFED’s unique leadership model to an audience of millions.  Angeline has shared platforms with Michelle Obama, the Hon Julia Gillard AC, and The Duchess of Sussex, underscoring the urgency of addressing girls’ education as the foundation for achieving all the Sustainable Development Goals.

Angeline has served as a member of the Zimbabwe Education Coordination Group; on the Board of the Zimbabwe National Youth Council; and represented CAMFED on the Education Coordination Group and the UNAIDS Gender Task Force.