From overlooked to unstoppable, and building that bridge for others.
Meet The Founder
AKAYA began with a simple but powerful belief: that when African girls are seen, supported, and given space to lead, they change everything. Rooted in lived experience and a deep commitment to equity, AKAYA was built to bridge the gap between potential and opportunity. Behind it all is a founder who knows what it means to rise and has made it her mission to lift others as she climbs.
Founder.
Leader.
Visionary.
Every girl has a story to tell. But every girl deserves to tell her best story.
One where she's had the chance to overcome the odds, to excel and to serve.
The Founder's Story
Dr. Khadija Owusu is a British-Ghanaian medical doctor, international speaker, and award-winning social entrepreneur. She is the Founder and Executive Director of the AKAYA Foundation.
A champion for equity in health, education, and leadership, Dr. Owusu founded AKAYA to create what she wished existed for herself growing up: a platform that believes in African girls, invests in their futures, and equips them to lead with power, purpose, and pride.
With extensive experience working with thousands of young people from ethnic minority backgrounds in the UK and a deeply rooted philanthropic spirit inspired by her own mother, her very own Yaa Asantewaa, Dr. Owusu felt a calling to give back to girls ‘back home’ in Ghana.
In June 2021, just after completing medical school, she launched The Like Her Project ; our flagship school outreach initiative tackling period poverty and encouraging girls to “Dream, Think, and Work Like Her,” with “Her” being any phenomenal woman they look up to.
The success of The Like Her Project sparked the vision for something much greater. In August 2022, Dr. Owusu officially launched the AKAYA Foundation: a non-profit organisation dedicated to supporting the personal and professional growth of the next generation of African female leaders by building their confidence, centering their voices, and ensuring they reach their full potential.
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Through her own lived experiences navigating identity, racism, and underrepresentation, she has turned her story into a force for systemic change; not just locally, but globally.
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