Leah Nakaima
BS Public Health, Public Service & Policy (Minor), Public Administration and Public Management (certificate)
Uganda
Phase
ICohort
4Being a Mastercard Foundation Scholar is a privilege that has given me a chance to learn more about myself and others, and my abilities as a change agent. It has enabled me to see people's problems as growth and career opportunities, and It has motivated me to always take the lead and not only speak but actually do.
Leah Nakaima is a Mastercard Foundation Scholar at Arizona State University (ASU) majoring in Public Health, minoring in Public Service and Public Policy and having two certificates, one in Public Management and Public Administration, and the other in Cross sector Leadership. She is a college senator under the Undergraduate Students Government, Scholar representative in the Mastercard Foundation Program, and President of the International Inclusion Organization. She is a mission team leader in the Next Generation Service Corp, Subject area tutor at Arizona State University, Research Assistant with the National Institute of Health supported Salad Bar Research ASU, and a Baobab Platform community manager. She is also the secretary of the African Student Association and the founder of the Pennet enterprises, which employs about 20 pregnancy related school dropouts, and pays tuition for five underprivileged primary school students
During the summer 2017, Leah Interned with Makerere School of Public Health, where she worked with her team on projects like the Preterm Birth Initiative (PTBi) and Quality Improvement (QI), all with a goal of improving the quality of healthcare delivery in Uganda. She is a Public Servant who has dedicated 40 hours of volunteer every year to working with the homeless people at St. Vincent De Paul, with a mission of helping them overcome homelessness.
After attaining her bachelors degree, Leah wants to get her Master of Public Health and PhD in Health Policy at Harvard, so that she can positively impact the nature of Ugandan healthcare through policy making. She would like to become the Minister of Health of Uganda in partnership with the World Health Organization and the United Nations, so as to directly improve the quality of health care delivery among Ugandans.
“Whatever we focus our minds on will always come to pass,” is her slogan!