Lydia Wilbard

Lydia Wilbard’s life experience resonates strongly with that of the young marginalised women reached by Camfed's programmes. Completing secondary school against great personal odds, Ms Wilbard ran several successful businesses to fund her high school and university education, graduating with honors from Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences.

A founding member of the Camfed Association (CAMA) Tanzania in 2005, she became a business mentor and leader within the network. Awarded a competitive scholarship by the government of the United States, Ms Wilbard earned a Master’s in Public Health at Johns Hopkins University and returned to Tanzania to re-join Camfed.

Ms Wilbard is a leader in health awareness and economics skills training, and leads youth training programmes in reproductive health and HIV /AIDS awareness. Her role was expanded to Co-director of Camfed Tanzania in 2012, and National Director in 2017.

Ms Wilbard has played an instrumental part in launching and overseeing the development and scaling of Camfed’s Learner Guide Programme in Tanzania, which sees trained CAMA members return to their local schools as mentors, role models and para educators, delivering a study and life skills curriculum, and working with rural communities to support the most marginalised girls to stay in school, succeed, and lead.