Women-led MSMEs
At least 30,000 targeted across all counties.
HCF Our Programs
Our Programs
Programs built on evidence.
Three delivery pillars, one flagship evidence platform, and a dedicated sustainability vehicle — the Harriette Chiggai Fund.
Program Architecture
The pillars and the flagship.
Economic Empowerment & Investment
Objective
Move women from participation to ownership: building enterprises, assets and long-term wealth, with ventures that feed directly into the Harriette Chiggai Fund.
Target beneficiaries
Women farmers & agri-entrepreneursInvestment clubsWomen-led MSMEsLong-term savers & investors
Success stories
Foundational precedent: the Women's Economic Empowerment and Investment Curriculum — launched with Absa Bank Kenya and the Africa Guarantee Fund, targeting 30,000 women-led MSMEs. Beneficiary stories will follow from Year 1 cohorts.
Read the track recordActivities
Women in Agriculture
Training, inputs, cooperative organising, value addition and market access for women farmers and agri-entrepreneurs; feeds directly into the Fund's own agribusiness ventures.
Financial Literacy & Investing
Savings and credit discipline, investment club formation, and structured pathways into capital markets, pensions and long-term wealth building for women.
Photos and videos
Cooperative and agribusiness field coverage. Programme photography and films will be published once Year 1 activity begins.
Bridging the Digital Divide & Women in AI
Objective
Close basic access and digital skills gaps, then build practical AI fluency — tool use, monetising AI-enabled skills, and understanding risks such as data privacy, misinformation and deepfakes.
Target beneficiaries
First-time digital usersWomen monetising AI-enabled skillsYouth at risk of digital exclusion
Success stories
Digital-skilling and AI-fluency stories will follow from Year 1 cohorts; in the interim, the Founder's track record stands in as evidence of the platform these programmes build on.
Read the track recordActivities
Digital foundations
Basic access, devices, connectivity and core digital skills — the prerequisites for participation in the digital economy.
Practical AI fluency
Hands-on AI tool use and the monetisation of AI-enabled skills, paired with risk literacy covering data privacy, misinformation and deepfakes.
Photos and videos
Digital-skilling cohorts and AI labs. Programme photography and films will be published once Year 1 activity begins.
Education: Bursaries & Women in Leadership
Objective
Keep students in school and accomplished women on leadership trajectories — from primary-school fees to doctoral sponsorship and executive placement.
Target beneficiaries
Girls and boys, primary through universityDoctoral candidatesExecutive education participants
Success stories
Bursary-continuity and leadership-placement stories will follow from Year 1 cohorts; in the interim, the Founder's track record stands in as evidence of the platform these programmes build on.
Read the track recordActivities
Bursary Programme
Need-based bursaries from primary school through university, prioritising continuity so no beneficiary drops out for lack of a single year's fees.
Women in Leadership
Sponsorship of doctoral study, executive education, and structured placements for accomplished women, feeding into pipelines such as the Mo Ibrahim Foundation's Ibrahim Leadership Fellowships and Scholarships.
Photos and videos
Bursary recipients and leadership placements. Programme photography and films will be published once Year 1 activity begins.
Women, Peace & Security — Evidence Platform
Objective
Generate original, rigorously sourced data on women's participation in peace processes, security governance and post-conflict recovery across Africa — used to advocate for implementation of commitments such as UN Security Council Resolution 1325.
Target beneficiaries
Policymakers & institutionsPeace process researchersUNSCR 1325 advocates
Success stories
Foundational precedent: a year of embedding gender-data practice at the highest levels of the Kenyan government, with Data2X and academic partners — the evidence culture the platform now scales across Africa.
Read the track recordActivities
Methodological alignment
The platform is methodologically aligned with the Ibrahim Index of African Governance, so its findings plug directly into established governance benchmarks.
Evidence-based advocacy
Original data translated into advocacy for the implementation of continental and global Women, Peace & Security commitments.
Photos and videos
Research convenings and evidence launches. Programme photography and films will be published once Year 1 activity begins.
Beneficiaries
Who we serve.
Girls and boys
From primary school through university under the Bursary Programme.
Accomplished women
Pursuing doctoral and executive leadership pathways.
Policymakers & institutions
Engaging the Women, Peace & Security evidence base.
Projects
Project status and scope.
None yet — founding stage
The Foundation is at founding stage, launching formally in the year 2026 at the Nairobi gala. Programme delivery begins once the Board is seated.
Not applicable at this stage
The Founder's prior work — the Women's Economic Empowerment and Investment Curriculum, gender-data practice in government, and #KomeshaFGM — demonstrates the platform these programmes build on.
Upcoming initiatives
All three pillars operating with a defined cohort of beneficiaries in agriculture, financial literacy, digital/AI skilling, bursaries and PhD/executive placements, under a seated Board with its full committee structure.
Locations
From Western Kenya to the whole of Africa.
CountyKakamega
CountyBungoma
CountyVihiga
ThereafterContinental Africa mandate
Impact Statistics
Targets from Year 1 to Year 3.
0
Women-led MSMEs reached
Targeted across all counties.
Year 2
Fund ventures operational
Agribusiness, investment club platform, and paid-tier AI skilling.
Year 3
Core costs covered
The Harriette Chiggai Fund covering core operating costs.
Before-and-after photography
Transformation photography for each project site will be published once Year 1 programme delivery begins — starting with the Kakamega, Bungoma and Vihiga cohorts.
Give in a way that outlives the programme cycle.
Of every donation, at least 20% is ring-fenced into the Harriette Chiggai Fund — building long-term financial independence, not just a single programme cycle.