Areas of Focus
Yiya is developing the next generation of African innovators who will contribute to solving problems in their local communities and globally. They do this by reimagining learning to make high-quality education accessible to all youth. Original curriculum is designed specifically to help youth create independent and dignified futures for themselves.
Co-founder and Chief Innovation Officer
Cohort Year
Samson Wambuzi is the co-founder and chief innovations officer of Yiya Solutions, an organization that uses innovative educational technology to create equitable access to skills-based education across Uganda. With only 30 percent of Ugandan youth enrolled in secondary school, Samson’s organization seeks to overcome the steep educational barriers under-resourced youth in rural areas face. After surveying the needs of hundreds of out-of-school girls, Yiya Solutions launched an innovative, offline, virtual classroom designed for remote learning using only radio and keypad phones. Since 2016, Yiya has engaged more than 34,000 students, and its offline application has garnered more than 2.7 million interactions. Samson grew up in a rural area with limited resources, and his childhood experiences have shaped Yiya's mission. Through the Scholars program, he aims to refine his approach to increasing the accessibility of Yiya’s experiential curriculum and develop a strategy for expansion to new regions.
Co-Founder
Cohort Year
2021
Erin has a Bachelor of Science from MIT and a Master of Education from Marquette University. Her career started as a Teach for America fellow, teaching high school math in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She has over a decade of experience in secondary STEM education, teacher training, and curriculum development, working in the U.S., Ethiopia, Uganda, and Sudan. Erin loves showing young people the power of designing local engineering.
