TEDxNairobi 2026 Speakers

Meet our Outstanding speakers for this year 2026.

Caroline Teti

VP- Human Centred Design and Advocacy

Caroline has a clear, moral voice on the path to end extreme poverty, stemming from her own experience growing up in poverty in rural Kenya. In her 10 years at GiveDirectly, Teti has been at the forefront of the world’s most innovative cash programs, including the world’s largest and longest UBI study. She has been published in the Washington Post and featured on BBC World Service and BBC Radio. She shares her personal story as a picture of the failure of traditional development models to center people in poverty.

Sample appearances | TV: BBC | Radio: BBC (at 17:30), WNPR (at 36:22) | Podcasts: Musings, The Value in Giving, Important, Not Important

Cedric Nzomo

Founder - Verge Group

Cedric Nzomo has spent almost 20 years in the creative economy, working with hundreds of storytellers across a dozen African countries. His work rests on a simple conviction: everyone has a story that holds value, yet today’s most valuable storytellers remain underpaid because nothing in the market measures the value they actually bring. He builds the infrastructure to change that, believing that transparency in how value gets measured creates opportunity for every storyteller to thrive.

Dr. Zinia Afrin Doza

Medical doctor, Public health professional

Doctor and Public Health Professional with over 10 years of experience advancing gender equality and protecting women and girls from harmful practices. Her work focuses on preventing Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting (FGM/C), child marriage, and gender-based violence through health systems strengthening, policy engagement, and community action. As an FGM Consultant with UNICEF Ethiopia, she supported health sector responses in Afar and Somali regions, expanding survivor-centered care and prevention. She previously worked with the Inter-African Committee on Traditional Practices Affecting the Health of Women and Children. She is Chairperson of UNKLESA and a volunteer with Sahiyo, championing evidence-based solutions, inclusive leadership, and girls’ rights.

Mara Menzies

Storyteller and Founder of Msitu wa Ndoto (Forest of Dreams)

Mara is a multi-award-winning storyteller, author, and speaker working at ‘Panga ya Saidi’, Africa’s oldest known human burial site, dating back 78,000 years. Blending Kenyan and Scottish heritage, she explores what makes us irreplaceably human through myth, ritual, and ancestral memory. As Founder of Msitu wa Ndoto (Forest of Dreams), she uses storytelling to reconnect people with the earth, each other, and our shared past. Her work bridges archaeology and narrative to reveal timeless answers to today’s most urgent questions.

Maria Cristina Torrado

Value Creation Specialist, International Finance Corporation

Maria Cristina Torrado is an investor and value creation specialist with over 15 years of global experience helping companies and fund managers grow and create value. She holds three master’s degrees and specializes in private equity, strategy, commercial due diligence, market analysis, and access to finance. A lifelong athlete, she has competed in golf and trained Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, now teaching women’s fundamentals. Through Winning at Value Creation, her thought leadership passion project, she connects lessons from investing, sports, research, and growth.

Michael John Moneypenny

Regional Director (East Africa), Centre for Innovation in Medical Education, Aga Khan University

Michael leads simulation-based education across East Africa for the Aga Khan University. An anaesthetist with an MD in medical education, he is passionate about patient safety and the wellbeing of healthcare workers. He co-founded SIMPACT, the regional healthcare simulation conference, and developed CIME’s makerspace producing low-cost simulators for African health training institutions. His work spans human factors ergonomics, non-technical skills, and frugal innovation.

Michelle Ndebele

Director, Accelerator and Learning Platform (AccLP)

Michelle Ndebele explores what it means to belong: to family, to heritage, and to the living world. Raised in the UK and shaped by a childhood spent “assimilating,” she has spent recent years reconnecting with her roots, her grandparents’ wisdom, and the natural world around her. She brings this belief into her work as board member of Good Natured Learning, growing an equitable, nature-based learning movement, and Director of the Accelerator and Learning Platform (AccLP). Her 14+ years span Deloitte, Clinton Health Access Initiative, and the LEGO Foundation. In her free time, Michelle practices meditation, breathwork, and loom-woven beadwork inspired by East and Southern African art.

Pooja Samani

Health & Longevity Coach

Wellness Entrepreneur • Cancer Thriver • Health & Longevity Advocate • Podcast Host

After a cancer diagnosis completely shifted the way I saw my body, health and life, I became deeply passionate about understanding what it truly means to heal and thrive.

Today, I am the co-founder of Beyond Body, host of The Search for Wellness podcast, a certified Health & Cancer Coach, movement instructor and sound healing practitioner.

My work brings together movement, mindset, biohacking, holistic wellness and the power of daily rituals to help people reconnect with their bodies and become active participants in their own health.

I don’t believe wellness is about perfection. I believe it’s about curiosity, consistency and learning to listen to the body.

My mission is simple: to keep searching, keep learning, and help others believe in their ability to create a healthier, more intentional life.

Pren-Tsilya Boa-Guehe

AI Thought Leader & Author

Pren-Tsilya Boa-Guehe is an AI thought leader, author, and former diplomat with two decades of experience in tech, policy, and international affairs. Currently leading Pan-African policy at Google, she previously served as a U.S. Foreign Service Officer driving foreign policies across Africa. An advocate for inclusive growth, Pren-Tsilya speaks on leveraging intentional systems, human agency, and technology to foster authentic connection, love, and progress in a fast-paced world.

Viviane Odoh Mike-Eze

Leadership Consultant

Viviane is a leadership consultant, facilitator and entrepreneur with 18 years of international experience across Africa, Europe and beyond. As the founder of Eloge Consulting, she helps organizations strengthen their brands, leaders and teams. A certified DISC consultant and management coach, Viviane works with leaders and organizations to strengthen leadership capabilities, improve team dynamics and navigate the complex human side of management. Her work combines practical leadership development with a strong focus on communication, self-awareness and building high-performing teams.

Mufasa

Kenyan Award Winning Poet

Mufasa is a Kenyan award winning poet, known for weaving together poetry, acting, and writing to bring to life the rich narratives of everyday experiences across the African continent.
His seminal work continues to push the boundaries of artistic social commentary as well as political theatre employing the use of a cross-genre amalgam of poetry, theatre and live music.