2016 Mandela Washington Fellow Sicily Mburu was recently featured in She Leads Africa, a popular online resource for women’s career and business advice. She writes about women in public health and believes “there is a potential public health specialist in every young woman.”
Mburu is from Kenya and recently spent six weeks at UW-Madison, completing the Mandela Washington Fellowship, a 2014 President Obama initiative which brings 1,000 young African leaders to U.S. institutions for academic and experiential leadership programming.
Mburu has over five years’ experience in public health in Kenya. She served as a medical doctor within the Ministry of Health, and participated in USAID-led capacity-building projects as part of health-systems strengthening in HIV/Aids and maternal-child care. At a global level, she worked at UNAIDS’ headquarters, assisting in completing scenario reports with a focus on sub-Saharan Africa. She currently serves as a public health consultant in the county government under the Ministry of Health, and is conducting research on the importance of community involvement in health interventions. She is co-founder of @AIDSnomore, where she increases visibility on HIV/Aids and latest disease trends. Sicily holds a master’s degree in Health Care Management, Economics, and Policy from SDA Bocconi School of Management, Italy, specializing in Global Health and Development. After completing the Fellowship, she seeks to use increased mobile technology to assess health needs in her organization, allowing for cost-effective, high-impact interventions.
Planner, Actor or Innovator? Which Public Health Role is For You?” She Leads Africa, 08/22/2016.