About Sitawa
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| Sitawa Wafula - Blogger, Researcher + Entrepreneur |
Blogger, Researcher + Entrepreneur
Sitawa Wafula is the voice behind Sitawa Ignited, an online journal where she documents her daily life, research interests and entrepreneurial adventures as she as she works toward becoming a professor and supporting the next generation of African changemakers.
She is a Senior Fellow with the Aspen Institute’s Global Innovators New Voices Fellowship, an advisory board member at McGill University’s Participatory Cultural Lab, and a Health Strategy Committee member at the Africa - Europe Foundation.
Her contributions to the African mental health space earned her global recognition, including being named a BET Global Good Honoree and one of the Top 42 Innovators to Watch. She has spoken at TED, the Aspen Ideas Festival, and the UN General Assembly.
Current Work: Freelance & Entrepreneurship
As she pursues her academic studies, Sitawa leverages her expertise in operations, event logistics, and community engagement to help teams can focus on their core mission while she handles the details. She has collaborated with teams across Lancaster, Philadelphia, and Washington D.C., supporting higher education institutions, wellness spaces, and religious organizations.
Alongside her freelance work, she runs an African gifts and cultural hub that connects global citizens with Africa’s rich heritage through handcrafted jewelry, books by African authors, and curated workshops.
Previous Work: Mental Health Advocacy & Thought Leadership
Before taking a Sabbatical and opting to restart her academic journey, Sitawa spent over a decade championing mental health awareness and access across Africa. Rooted in her lived experience with epilepsy and bipolar disorder, she pioneered initiatives that bridged mental health gaps through storytelling, innovation, and advocacy.
She founded a widely recognized mental health blog, which earned her the Google Africa Connected Award. Though now archived, the blog helped shape mental health conversations across the continent. As a follow-up to the blog, Sitawa launched Kenya’s first free mental health support line, which served 11,000 people in its first year, and piloted a mental health academy that trained 30 mental health champions from eight African countries and the diaspora.
Sitawa has designed and led youth mental health programs, including a partnership with BasicNeeds Kenya and a storytelling initiative in Kibera, one of Africa’s largest informal settlements, where she collaborated with Cisco Systems to train young people in storytelling and blogging for mental health awareness. She also led the Akili ni Mali storytelling tour across Kenya and Nigeria, working with universities and youth groups to reduce stigma and spark conversations around mental health.
Beyond advocacy, Sitawa played a role in shaping Kenya’s Mental Health Policy 2015-2030, has written extensively about youth mental health, gender, disability, stigma, and policy in publications such as The Star, Daily Nation, Mail & Guardian, NPR, and PennLive, and her mental health work has been cited widely for its impact.
Personal Interests
Sitawa enjoys experimenting with new recipes, watching Premier League football - COYG, caring for her 40+ houseplants, and sharing her thoughts on her blog, Sitawa Ignited.
