Mary Helda Akongo is the Fundi Girls Program Lead, at Fundi Bots, an ed-tech organisation that is accelerating science learning in Africa. Formerly, she worked with Zimba Women; an organisation that finds innovative technological solutions to create sustainable futures for African women as an Operations and Programs Manager. For almost 3 years, she volunteered with One Young World (OYW) as the East Africa Coordinating Ambassador, leading OYW’s community-building efforts in 14 East African countries. She is also a Design Fellow with Design without Borders and is passionate about using human-centered design to address complex challenges faced by communities in low and middle-income countries.

Mary Helda has been awarded the Facebook Social Entrepreneurship Award and the 25 under 25 award by the Internet Society. Mary Helda believes that technology and design have the power to positively influence the social, political, and economic development of women in Africa.