Healthcare

Asmai Hamo

Chebet Birir Saina

Dr. Anisa Mburu

Lucy Murrey is a passionate public health practitioner and advocate for adolescent girls and young women in rural Kenya. She is the founder of The Ambitious Girl Initiative (TAG-I CBO), an organisation working to ensure that no girl’s future is limited by lack of information, access to menstrual products, or harmful cultural taboos.

Her journey began during the COVID-19 pandemic, when school closures left many girls vulnerable to teenage pregnancy, sexual exploitation, and early marriage. One experience touched her deeply: a neighbour’s 13-year-old daughter became pregnant. It was a painful reminder that many girls, especially in rural communities, lacked access to accurate information about their bodies, their health, and their rights.

Drawing from her background in public health, Lucy took action.

Through TAG-I CBO, she creates safe spaces where adolescent girls and young women can learn openly about sexual and reproductive health and rights, menstrual hygiene, and the choices that can help them stay in school and take control of their futures. Her work reaches both school-going and out-of-school girls, challenging myths and misconceptions around sexuality in communities where such conversations are often considered taboo.

Over the last four years, TAG-I CBO has reached more than 4,000 adolescent girls and young women, empowering them with knowledge, support, and practical tools to navigate adolescence with confidence and dignity.

Recognising that menstrual poverty continues to keep many girls out of school, Lucy also established TAGI Pads, a social enterprise producing affordable, reusable sanitary pads that can last for up to two years. The initiative creates a sustainable model where revenue from pad sales supports TAG-I’s community programmes, while a portion of the pads is donated to girls who cannot afford menstrual products.

For Lucy, a sanitary pad is more than a basic necessity. It can mean the difference between attending school and staying at home; between vulnerability and protection; between giving up and continuing to dream.

Looking ahead, she envisions expanding TAG-I’s work across Kenya and beyond, while growing TAGI Pads into a sustainable enterprise capable of reaching girls far beyond the communities where the journey began.

Lucy Murrey is helping girls stay informed, stay in school, and believe that their circumstances should never define the size of their dreams.

Margaret Nassim Health Care Nominee # ZuriAwards 2021 is the Founder of Connect to Retain based in Kilifi County. Due to the rising cases of teen pregnancies and the high H.I.V prevalence prompted her to start the organization.

Benda Kithaka Health Nominee # ZuriAwards 2021 is the Founder of Kilele Health which empowers cancer survivors to take charge of their health, improve quality of life and use their stories to inspire others and carry out physical fitness through hikes, mental wellness coaching, spiritual purposeful living through community awareness and financial wellness through income generating activities.

Rhodah Kariuki a psychologist with undergraduate degree from the Multimedia University. As we may know primary mental health care services play an important role in prevention and early intervention efforts to reduce the prevalence and impact of mental health problems amongst young people. Twa Assist Kenya was founded with an aim of providing a nurturing environment that supports emotional, psychological, physical, social, and spiritual growth. Twa Assist Kenya begun it work building relationship with small groups in the community, identify their mental health burden and offering therapy and education on mental health and referring others to a more specialized treatment.

Prof Catherine Gachutha and the Chairperson of the Community Anti Drugs Coalition of Kenya (CADCKe). She is a Counselling Psychologist/Researcher/Author and Educationist with twenty-five (25) years of practice in different institutions. She holds a Doctorate in Philosophy in Psychology from the University of South Africa (UNISA) and a Master’s in counseling studies from Durham University, UK. She was trained initially as an educationist and later a psychologist and researcher. She is a proprietor of Maranatha Restoration Homes, a rehabilitation center for Substance Use Disorders and Mental Disorders (https://maranatharh.co.ke). She is an accredited Counsellor Supervisor with Kenya Counselling and Psychological Association(KCPA) and a member of the International Association of Counselling (IAC), Internationally Certified Addiction Professional (ICAP Level II), Global Master Trainer with Colombo Plan, Sri Lanka. She has been a member of the Kenya Certification Council in NACADA and the Chairperson of the Community Anti-Drugs Coalition of Kenya (CADCKe).

Judy Akinyi is a journalist and content creator by profession. She founded Mamba Tufo in 2018 , an organisation that helps communities on matters mental health. They offer free counselling to people suffering from various mental illness disorders and visit schools to create awareness on mental health.

Talking Hands Listening Eyes on PPD was born out of a need in December 2020. This was to assist her and other deaf mum’s to inform the society and also the deaf people of the challenges the deaf mothers go through. When She gave birth in 2019 she went through a rough patch of postpartum depression and realised nobody reaches the deaf in this line. This is because having walked the journey she knows how lonely it can be.