Dr. Catherine Nagadya, Uganda
Catherine is a medical doctor by profession, practicing as a general surgeon at Kiruddu National Referral Hospital. She completed her bachelor’s degree in Medicine and Surgery at Mbarara University of Science and Technology in Uganda with the support of a WMI scholarship from 2012-2015 and completed a Masters of Medicine in General Surgery at Makerere University in 2021. She also completed a Fellowship in Minimal Access Surgery awarded by the Association of Laparoscopic Surgeons of Uganda in conjunction with Henrob Hospital in May 2022. She is the CEO and Founder of Girls Unstoppable Uganda which supports the education of marginalized adolescent girls by investing in their education, skills, health, and opportunities. She is also a host of the DocTalk show which airs nationally on the Uganda Broadcasting Corporation.
Catherine was awarded a WMI Community Development Seed Grant in 2020 and Growth Grant in 2021 to create SaniKits, a business aimed at locally manufacturing and selling a value-added 2-in-1 hand hygiene product that contained alcohol-based hand sanitizer and liquid soap to support critical safe hand hygiene practices. Catherine uses 40% of the proceeds from this business to support Girls Unstoppable scholarships.
Catherine is currently pursuing a Fellowship in Upper Gastrointestinal Surgery and Endoscopy at the College of Surgeons of East Central and Southern Africa.
Dr. Ephransia (Ephy) Chao Malindi, Kenya
Ephy currently works at a governmental hospital in Kenya as a Diagnostic Radiologist and runs her own radiology office, Kwetu Imaging Services, which provides prenatal services for women in the low-income neighborhood of Mathare. Now she is in the planning phase to expand Kwetu Imaging. In 2021, Ephy completed a self-sponsored master’s studies in diagnostic radiology at the University of Nairobi.
Ephy has been an active WMI Scholar since 2010, a WMI Global Advisory Board member and leads the WMI Kenya Fellowship’s mentorship program. She has received a WMI Community Development Seed Grant to expand her radiology business and a WMI Community Response Grant to help fight COVID-19 in her region. In 2020 she received the Kenyatta National Hospital Research Grant for her work with ultrasound imaging.
Currently she is pursuing a research building capacity program for 6 months under “Supporting Women in Science” under Oxford University and Aga Khan University. After successful completion she will get a full sponsored scholarship for research.
Grace Tiwari, Nepal
Grace graduated in 2020 from the Agriculture and Forestry University in Bharatpur, Nepal with a degree in agriculture. Prior to beginning her fully sponsored masters degree within the department of crop and soil science at Oregon State University she was a Sustainable Mechanization Intern with the plant production and protection division at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Once completing her master in crop science, Grace plans to potentially pursue a PhD in agriculture development or environmental policy. Her career goal is to work for non-profit organizations or research institutes that promote sustainable agriculture development, biodiversity and environmental protection.
Grace received a WMI Community Development Seed Grant in 2020, to uplift women in her family’s rural village by creating an income-generating beekeeping enterprise to support vulnerable female subsistence farmers. Through this project, beneficiaries learned the basics of beekeeping, marketing and pricing, and money management.
Sujan Gautam, Nepal
Sujan comes from a remote, agricultural region of Nepal. At university he focused on research related to agriculture and climate change with his professors in India and agricultural scientists in Nepal. With a passion for local crop varieties and their regeneration he interned at the National Agriculture Genetic Resource Center in Kathmandu. Sujan is a leader of the Nepal Fellowship, which works to create powerful networks, provide one another with professional opportunities, and utilize their collective talents and skills to serve their communities better. He is also a recipient of the WMI Founder’s AwardIn response to the real hardship caused by COVID-19 Sujan applied for a WMI Community Response Grant to distribute relief packages to 40 families in Kathmandu, who were without means to stock up on supplies or generate income during the lockdown. Sujan served as a WMI Global Advisory Board and the WMI Asia & Oceania Regional Coordinator.
In 2021, he received a full scholarship to pursue a master’s degree in plant breeding and genetics jointly at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences and the University of Milan. Once he has completed his masters degree, Sujan wants to continue with PhD studies in plant breeding and genetics or work as a biotechnologist in the seed industry.
Phoeby Musonda, Zambia
Phoeby is Regional Coordinator for Central & Southern Africa and lives in Zambia. Her professional background is in the nonprofit sector, with experience in international development. She worked as the operations and development manager in the Zambia office of Freely in Hope from 2019-2022, a nonprofit organization that focuses on advocacy through education and leadership development for survivors of sexual violence.
Prior to that she worked with Women and Law in Southern Africa, an organization that focuses on women’s and children’s socio-economic rights. She is a 2017 WMI Graduate Scholar with a bachelor of law degree from the Zambian Open University.