Vivian Onano is an award-winning social entrepreneur and the Founder/Director at Leading Light Initiative. Known for her humanitarian work, she has also been recognized as an emerging woman leader with the courage to lead change on the African continent. With a strong commitment to education, women economic empowerment, and leadership, Vivian continues to play a leading role in re-defining Africa’s growth and development through the direct engagement and inclusion of women and youth.

She played a key role in the mobilization of young peoples’ input for the consultative process leading to the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals in 2015. Vivian is a graduate of Carthage College (USA) and holds a Master of Public Affairs from Sciences Po, Paris (France).
Vivian continues to serve as a strategic advisor to government leaders, philanthropists, and the private sector. She is a respected speaker who often speaks on global education, gender equality, youth empowerment, and international development. She has written and published numerous articles on various development issues with prominent media houses globally.

In 2022 she was honored as one of the global 100 Most Influential People of African Descent under 40, in 2016 New African Woman Magazine featured her as one of the “30 under 30: Faces Changing Africa Now” and Forbes Woman Africa profiled her as “One to Watch”. Vivian is a recipient of the 2017 New African Woman on the Rise Award and 2016 MTV “Africa Re-Imagined” Youth Award. In 2015 she was honored with Mrs. Michelle Obama’s “Let Girls Learn” Award by MORE Magazine for her advocacy work on girls’ education.