Eileen Flannigan, Founder and Executive Director
Eileen Flannigan is a global entrepreneur and investor, a creator and collaborator of solutions for poverty, education, leadership gaps, and gender equality. She challenges conventional ideas about leadership, making the case that great leaders come in many different shapes, ages and sizes, and everyone has the potential to be one. Eileen is the Founder and the Managing Director for Girls On Fire Leaders, which started from her curiosity about the disconnect between the rhetoric of leadership in girls and the lack of exposure to diverse people, skills development and opportunity to build confidence and actually participate in leadership through service solutions in the world around them.
Prior to Girls on Fire Leaders, she was a fellow for Kiva and Kiva Zip in Manipur, India and Nairobi, Kenya where she worked with hundreds of entrepreneurs and nonprofits to provide financial access to the poor through micro-loans and market innovation. She’s also a business, impact and digital brand consultant leading projects for global social enterprises and impact investment firms. Prior to this, Eileen had a long career (18+ years) leading digital marketing strategy for technology start-ups and Fortune 500 companies in Silicon Valley and New York City and has demonstrated how to leverage private sector skills for greater impact in the social sector. Eileen is an advisor to many social startups, such as Nonprofit Share and sits on the boards of a nonprofit in Kenya called Rona Foundation and another in New York called Art of the Pride.
ROSE AKINYI OLUM, TEACHER-LEADER KENYA is the matron of SHOFCO's Margaret Safe House since 2010. She is the primary caregiver for the girls and takes care of all their basic, medical and spiritual needs. She attained a certificate in Early Childhood Studies and is an accomplished ECD teacher, having worked in several Early Childhood Institutions, from 2005 -2009. She was also an educator at the Centre for Disease and Control (CDC).
Why are you passionate about GOF?
Rose says, "Working with the Girls On Fire Leaders Camp has made me develop a very positive attitude towards leadership. I now know how to develop leadership in children as I delegate and organize duties for each girl everyday and integrate responsibility skills into their daily lives. Since the GOF Camp, our home has completely changed; the girls have developed teamwork skills and integrity in doing daily tasks like cleaning, cooking and helping each other out. The girls who previously had nighttime traumas (nightmares and bedwetting) are doing great and able to sleep happily throughout the night. Our home has more harmony." She also adds that her hobbies include "making friends, cooking, listening to music, reading, traveling, and the love of nature."
Roselyn Knight , Teacher Leader
I believe in girl power, so when I heard about Girls on Fire I was thrilled. The Girls on Fire Leadership Camp has provided a platform for young girls to gain the skills they need to be leaders in their communities and build confidence. I am here today because I was inspired by a woman and Girls on Fire Leaders gives me the opportunity to pay it forward.