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Professional Fellows - Fall 2022 Cohort

Meet our Fall 2022 Cohort of Professional Fellows! This group of six accomplished disability rights leaders from Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, and Ethiopia will travel to the United States in October 2022 to participate in an intensive 5-week Fellowship Program where they will exchange and discuss best practices for inclusive civic engagement with their US colleagues.

Learn more about our Fellows and their current civic engagement work in their home countries and communities! Our Fellows also share how they plan to use this Fellowship opportunity to advance and multiply their work and impact.

  • (Tiba) Priscilla Kisakye

    Photo of Fellow (Tiba) Priscilla Kisakye

    Lobbying and Advocacy Officer Uganda Society for Disabled Children (USDC)

    Priscilla works as a lobbying and advocacy officer for the Uganda Society for Disabled Children (USDC), one of the leading organizations for children with disabilities in Uganda. She has eight years of experience leading the development and pursuit of an inclusive education policy in Uganda. Priscilla’s follow-on project aims to improve learning outcomes for children and promote active citizen engagement. Priscilla will complete a 4-week Fellowship placement training with Minot State University’s North Dakota Center for Persons with Disabilities in Minot, North Dakota.

  • Alan H Onyango

    Photo of Fellow Alan H Onyango

    TV Host and Producer,
    Signs Media TV Kenya
    Founder and CEO, Black Albinism

    Alan hosts a show called Inclusion One-on-One on which he engages policymakers, disability rights leaders, and advocates in discussions about civic engagement for persons with disabilities. Alan is also the Founder and CEO of Black Albinism, an organization that fights stigma and discrimination faced by people with Albinism.

    Alan completed his Fellowship at the University of Arizona Disability Resource Center. His inclusive civic engagement project is focused on using new media forms and trends as advocacy tools to influence civic engagement by helping people with disabilities and their advocacy organizations enhance their media literacy skills & capacity. Read about Alan’s experience!

  • Emebet G Lema

    Photo of Fellow Emebet G Lema

    Disability Inclusion Officer
    Light for the World–Ethiopia Office

    Emebet works as a disability inclusion officer for Light for the World–Ethiopia Office. In this role, she facilitates a Disability Inclusion Academy where youth with disabilities receive training and technical support around disability inclusion and civic engagement.

    Emebet completed her Fellowship at the University of Southern Mississippi’s Institute for Disability Studies. Her inclusive civic engagement project is focused on equipping youth with disabilities with the required skills to become gainfully employed and actively engage in civic life and society in Ethiopia after college graduation. Read about Emebet’s experience!

  • Fides P Uiso

    Photo of Fellow Fides P Uiso

    Founder and CEO
    Tanzania Epilepsy Foundation



    Fides is the Founder and CEO of the Tanzania Epilepsy Foundation and a mother of a child with epilepsy. She advocates for ending epilepsy-related discrimination, protecting the rights of people with disabilities, and access to quality, affordable, person-centered health care.

    Fides completed her Fellowship at the University of Oklahoma’s Health Sciences Center. Her inclusive civic engagement project is focused on raising awareness of epilepsy, decreasing stigma, and improving seizure-related safety protocols in schools by training parents and teachers and engaging students in Tanzania. Read about Fides’s experience!

  • Harunah Damba

    Photo of Fellow Harunah Damba

    Scientist, Uganda Virus Research Institute Chairperson,
    United Persons with Disabilities (UPWD)

    Harunah is the chairperson of the United Persons with Disabilities (UPWD), an organization that provides social entrepreneurship opportunities for persons with disabilities. Harunah’s organization has helped more than 50 people with disabilities build confidence and resilience and raise their aspirations to achieve a better and brighter future.

    Harunah completed his Fellowship at the University of Arizona Sonoran Center for Excellence in Disabilities. His inclusive civic engagement project is focused on eradicating poverty among working-age people with disabilities in Kampala and Wakiso districts in Uganda. Read about Harunah’s experience!

  • Salome N Gitau

    Photo of Fellow Salome N Gitau

    Accountant,
    Kenya Education Management Institute
    Motivation Peer Trainer

    Salome works as an accountant for the Kenyan Education Management Institute. She also serves as Vice Chairperson of the Africa Spinal Cord Injury Network and as motivation peer supporter for persons who recently acquired spinal cord injuries. Salome’s follow-on project aims to engage persons with spinal cord injuries to overcome their feelings of stigma and shame toward their disability through education. Salome will complete a 4-week Fellowship placement training with the University of Massachusetts Boston’s Institute for Community Inclusion in Boston, Massachusetts. Read about her experience as a 2022 Fellow.