How Amanda Mukwashi is Driving Uncommon Global Humanitarian Agenda

“I am ready for a role that combined my faith and my quest for social justice and work to change the power imbalances that cause poverty and vulnerabilities”, says Amanda Mukwashi, as she took up the role of Chief Executive Officer of Christian Aid, becoming the first black female CEO of the organization.

Amanda Mukwashi is a Zambian-European, born in Twickenham, Middlesex, United Kingdom. She is a committed Christian, a member of the Seventh Day Adventist Mission.

In an interview, describing her early childhood, Amanda resounds, “I was raised in a Catholic home; so God has always been a part of my life. My father used to lead us in prayer in the evenings, and we’d all go to church as a family, but perhaps it felt routine.

“My first in-depth engagement with what it means to be in a relationship with God fully emerged while I was at the university during my undergraduate classes. I’d visit my aunt in the holidays and go to her Seventh-Day Adventist church, reading and searching the scriptures for myself, and joining in their Bible studies, and group discussions. I was baptised into the Seventh-Day Adventist Church in 1989, and haven’t looked back.”

Her exploits as a leader started in her High school days, where she served as House Captain and sport Captain at St George’s English School. She has a law degree from the University of Zambia, majoring in International Trade and Investment Law. She became a beneficiary of the Chevening scholarship program where she got a masters scholarship to study International economic law from the University of Warwick…

Editor’s Note: Read the entire piece here. It’s on page 81 of our ’50 Most Influential Women in Business’ edition.