Welcome back to the Thank You Democracy Podcast! In the first episode of Season 2, we sat down with @mayvnne and Mumbiko King’ori in Nairobi, Kenya just prior to the GDC Africa Forum 2025. This episode covers how they first got involved in democracy work, the personal experiences that shaped them and the real pushback they face in shrinking civic spaces across Africa. Mary Yvonne Ododa serves as a Board Member of our Coalition Partner, The Youth Cafe, is the Founder of JarumiAfrica, the Executive Director at @NuruTrustKenya Network, a fellow from @economicspeace and a @OneYoungWorld Ambassador. Mary is also an published author and an active member of both the @UN_Women Regional Civil Society Advisory Group (RCSAG) for Eastern and Southern Africa and the @UN CSO Coalition on Human Rights and Counter Terrorism.
Mumbiko King’ori is a passionate youth serving as the partnerships associate at @TheYouthCafe, former youngest Presidential aspirant in Kenya, founding director of the Young Aspirants and Aspiring Leaders Network, a WYDE Youth Advisory board member with our Coalition Partner, where he initiated the commercialization of politics advocacy. He is also a Fellow with our Coalition Partner and a volunteer consultant at the Kenya Inclusive Political Parties Technical Working Group with our Coalition Partner,
To learn more about Mary and Mumbiko’s journeys and perspectives, listen in to this episode. Be sure to tune in to the second part of this conversation in Episode 2 next week!