Jamila Mayanja has 8 years of experience working with businesses and social ventures.  In 2012 she started Smart Girls Uganda, a social enterprise that empowers and supports girls and women, including offering them training to enter male-dominated non-traditional STEM fields like electrical and mechanical engineering.  To date, more than 300 girls have completed training and launched 10 businesses.  Jamila also designed a solar-powered, recycled Smart Bag that is a comprehensive menstrual hygiene kit and backpack with educational programming.  Jamila has distributed more than 30,000 Smart Bags to young girls in rural Uganda. With a team of women, she is scaling the smart bags to South Africa.  Jamila is a 2015 Mandela Washington Fellow alumna, a Human-Centered Design Coach with Aga Khan Foundation Schools 2030 program, an Open Challenge winner, a 2021 Duke /UNICEF Social Innovation Fellow, a 2022 Western Union Fellow, a 2022 One Young World Ambassador, a 2022 The International Alliance of Women World of Difference Education Award winner, and most recently, the 2023 Mandela Washington Fellowship Leadership Impact Award winner.