Vivian Onano empowers African youth and women through education, advocacy, and global leadership for equality and inclusion.
Vivian Onano is a Kenyan social entrepreneur, activist, and global youth advocate whose work spans education, gender equality, and economic empowerment across Africa. She is the founder and director of the Leading Light Initiative, an organisation established in 2016 to alleviate poverty through opportunities tailored for youth, women, and disabled individuals.
Through the platform, she has created safe learning spaces for vulnerable girls, promoted mentorship programs, provided mental wellness support, and worked to end child marriage while driving women’s economic empowerment. The initiative reflects her personal experience of growing up in rural Kenya, where poverty and early marriage cut short the futures of many girls, and her determination to ensure that education becomes a tool for liberation.
Onano’s academic journey also shaped her global outlook. She graduated from Carthage College in Wisconsin in 2014 and went on to earn a Master of Public Affairs from Sciences Po in Paris, France. Shortly after, she emerged on the international stage. Between 2014 and 2016, she served as a youth advisor to the United Nations Women Global Civil Society Advisory Group.
In 2015, her advocacy for girls’ education was recognised by Michelle Obama, who honoured her with the “Let Girls Learn” award from MORE Magazine. That same year, she played a central role in mobilising youth contributions during the formulation of the Sustainable Development Goals, ensuring that young people’s perspectives were part of the global development agenda.
Her influence grew rapidly. In 2016, she founded the Leading Light Initiative, won the MTV “Africa Re-Imagined” Youth Award, and was profiled in New African Woman Magazine’s “30 under 30: Faces Changing Africa Now.” She was also profiled by Forbes Woman Africa as “One to Watch.” A year later, she received the New African Woman on the Rise Award, cementing her reputation as one of the continent’s emerging leaders. By 2019, she had been appointed as a youth advisor to UNESCO’s Global Education Monitoring Report and joined the board of Nutrition International.
Her work has also been marked by active participation in global forums. She has spoken at the United Nations General Assembly, the Clinton Global Initiative, the World Humanitarian Forum, the Concordia Summit, and the World Innovation Summit for Education.
In these settings, she has consistently addressed issues central to gender equality, education, and youth empowerment. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Onano was one of the strongest voices highlighting the digital divide. She stressed how school closures disproportionately affected children from low-income families who lacked internet access, while also amplifying youth-led initiatives that provided tutoring and community-based solutions to bridge the gap.
Today, Onano serves as Vice-Chair of the Board of Directors at Nutrition International, where she contributes to global efforts to end malnutrition, aligning with her long-term commitment to building inclusive systems for women and youth. She also sits on the boards of Flying Kites and the African Women Leadership Network, and remains engaged in multiple advisory roles.
In 2022, Vivian Onano was named one of the Global 100 Most Influential People of African Descent under 40, and in 2024, she was recognised as a Young Leader of the Nizami Ganjavi International Centre in Azerbaijan. By 2025, she had been appointed Vice-Chair of Nutrition International’s board, a position that reflects her growing leadership on the global stage.
