Lucy Mary Athieno

2014 Fellowship Alumna, Uganda

Keeping Girls in School Longer — Before, During, and After the Pandemic

2014 Fellowship Alumna Lucy Athieno is a Ugandan entrepreneur working to empower East African women and girls. She founded Eco-pads, a company which makes reusable, washable sanitary pads and has helped over a million girls with their advocacy work for girls’ education.

When Lucy came to United States as a 2014 Mandela Washington Fellow, Eco-pads was in its early stages. With the support of a USADF entrepreneurship grant, the company has evolved and expanded its reach from producing 50 to 100 pads a day in 2014 to 1,000 a day in 2020.


 Fellowship Alumni who are interested in learning more about grants management or Lucy’s experience implementing a USADF grant can enroll in the course through the Fellowship Portal.  Learn more about the course.

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