Mariam Florence Yusuf

Mariam is a 28-year-old Kenyan Anthropologist and gender enthusiast who has set for herself a mission to change the plight of young teenage mothers and their children in her community.

She is a graduate of Anthropology with IT from Maseno University Kenya and holds a master’s Distinction in Cultural Anthropology and Development Studies from KU Leuven University in Belgium. She was recently awarded a Ph.D. scholarship in Medical Anthropology by Oslo University Norway in collaboration with the University of Nairobi Kenya. Her Ph.D. focus area is gender issues surrounding the covid-19 vaccination rollout in the rural areas of Kenya.

Professionally, she has served in various sectors among them as researcher, coach, and activist around women in leadership, children in the juvenile justice system and youth employability. She is a co-founder of a community-based organisation, Sabon Africa Development Network Kenya, whose main aim is to economically empower teenage mothers from Kayole Nairobi informal settlement through income-generating activities, education, and vocational skills training. Took to the course due to her personal experience as a teenage mother and dwelling in the same slum of Kayole in Nairobi.