Shamsa Omar
Kenya
Mandela Washington Fellowship - Summer 2015
“Youth in most African countries ... need to be empowered economically, financially, and the need to be empowered in entrepreneurship.”
Shamsa Omar has over five years’ experience in various fields of the leadership and community service sector. She currently works for the Centre for Victims of Torture as a psycho-social counsellor at Dadaab Refugee Camp, where she provides comprehensive psychosocial counselling to war trauma and torture survivors. She was awarded the Equity Group Foundation Scholarship for her undergraduate studies and now mentors Wings to Fly scholars under that foundation. She completed the SIDA-funded Program for Young Politicians in Africa Academy, and vied for a county representative position in the 2013 Kenya elections. She is part of a women’s peace-building and leadership program, holds a BA in Sociology from Moi University in Kenya, and is currently pursuing a postgraduate certificate at the Eastern Mennonite University, Virginia. Upon completion of the Mandela Washington Fellowship, she plans to continue her work in peace-building and mentorship activities with a focus on women’s empowerment.
