KGSA Foundation: Building Capacity of Girls’ Schools

Featured Grantee Fact Sheet

About the Together Women Rise Grants Program

In Kibera, Kenya, something remarkable is happening – and you are part of the reason why.

The KGSA Foundation partners with the Kibera Girls Soccer Academy (KGSA) to provide a free, holistic high school education and boarding to 150 girls in Kibera, Kenya – one of Africa’s largest informal settlements.

Trivia’s Story

In Kibera, Trivia, her twin sister Wendy, and a younger sister were raised by their single mother after their father passed away. They lived in a humble home filled with love, about a 10-minute walk from school. Though she missed them, their mother was so grateful when Trivia and Wendy moved into the KGSA dormitory. It helped her to know they were getting an excellent education and were well cared for, and it eased the cost of providing for all three children at home.

Trivia has a beautiful voice and performed at all the school ceremonies while she was a student. She participated in the Catering Club and enjoyed acting and dancing. Her favorite subject was religion. Trivia and Wendy both graduated from KGSA in 2024, and they are now pursuing higher education degrees – a future that KGSA made possible.

“KGSA gives girls the opportunity to learn and be in different clubs and attain new skills that will ensure we are equipped after graduating high school. My dream is to build homes for orphans in the future.” – Trivia

Understanding the Issue in Context

Kibera is one of Africa’s largest urban communities and one of the most densely populated informal settlements in the world – located on the outskirts of Nairobi, Kenya, where hundreds of thousands of people (possibly as many as a million) call home in an area roughly the size of Central Park. Families here face significant economic hardship, with most living on less than $2 per day and over half of adults without steady income. Like many under-resourced communities, access to adequate nutrition remains a daily challenge. Research consistently shows that investing in girls’ education is one of the highest-return investments a community can make – every dollar spent generates an estimated $2.80 in economic growth, and closing the education gap for girls could add up to $30 trillion to the global economy (World Bank; Plan International, 2025).

Though Kibera is a diverse and vibrant community full of caring and hardworking individuals and families, its residents navigate significant and interconnected challenges every day:

Overcrowding is widespread – many families share a 10 x 10-foot shelter with six to eight or more people.
High unemployment, poverty, and limited public safety resources affect daily life.
Health, education, and sanitation services are severely underserved, and many homes lack reliable access to water and electricity.
Three out of four residents are under the age of 18, and 150,000 children have lost one or both parents.

Most schools in Kibera are non-governmental, which means they do not receive any funding from the Kenyan government and must rely on charitable and private donations. Of the more than 500,000 school age children, nearly 40 percent – mostly girls – are not in school. Kibera’s schools face overcrowding, undereducated teachers, and high teacher attrition. The schools lack the resources to provide necessities including school lunch, water, and sanitary pads. School fees are high and few families can afford to send their children to school – and when they can, young boys and men take priority over girls and women.

In addition to limited access to education, girls in Kibera face deeply rooted gender-based barriers, including pressure toward early marriage and experiences of gender-based violence.

In Kenya:

44% of girls do not complete high school.
25% of girls are married before age 18.

In Kibera:

75% of women ages 15-49 have experienced gender-based violence.
90% of households are food insecure.

These challenges are compounded by overcrowding, limited sanitation, and constrained access to healthcare – all of which fall most heavily on adolescent girls.

Community-Based Solutions in Action

To meet the urgent and deeply felt needs of girls in Kibera, the Kibera Girls Soccer Academy (KGSA) provides free education and boarding for 150 girls each year. KGSA focuses on the whole girl, integrating academics with life skills, leadership, and trauma-informed care. Students thrive in this safe, supportive, all-girls environment, and are given opportunities that otherwise would be unfathomable. KGSA’s program eliminates the financial burden of school fees and ensures girls have consistent access to nutritious meals, clean water, safe housing, and healthcare. Boarding is especially transformative – reducing gender-based violence risks when traveling back and forth to school, improving health outcomes, and increasing school attendance and performance. Nationally, this kind of investment is bearing fruit: for the second consecutive year in 2025, girls outnumbered boys in Kenya’s national secondary examinations – a sign of growing momentum that community-led schools like KGSA are helping to drive.

Together Women Rise’s capacity building grant of $50,000 will allow KGSA to strengthen institutional capacity in three priority areas: academic performance, monitoring and evaluation, and financial sustainability. Capacity building funding strengthens an organization’s systems and increases its effectiveness. When you support Together Women Rise, this is the kind of deep, lasting investment your generosity makes possible – not just a program, but the infrastructure that keeps a school strong for years to come.

Academic performance: The school will implement teacher training and a recognition program to improve STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics).instruction and student outcomes. Information gathered will include student test scores, especially in STEM subjects, collected each term from teachers and school records in addition to annual national test scores.
Monitoring & Evaluation (M&E): KGSA will design and launch its first M&E system with clear student and alumnae Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to track learning, graduation, transitions, and post-school pathways. Entry surveys in Grade 10 and exit surveys in Grade 12 will measure academic confidence, well-being, and aspirations. Alumni surveys and interviews will track post-graduation education, employment, and leadership milestones.
Financial sustainability: To expand impact and resilience and to diversify revenue, KGSA will build local fundraising capacity by training staff and board members in donor engagement and grant writing. Local fundraising skills will empower the school to reduce reliance on U.S. donors and expand community support. Data will be tracked every quarter by the school’s finance and development teams.

These efforts directly align with KGSA’s 2025–2030 Strategic Plan and will position the school to serve more girls, demonstrate impact, and reduce dependency on U.S.-based funding.

KGSA’s stability comes from an almost 20-year partnership between the KGSA Foundation and the school – a long-standing relationship grounded in trust, shared values, and community-driven leadership. A wide network of partners further strengthens this foundation:

Kenya Ministry of Education
Local community security and youth groups, and neighboring schools sharing sports and learning resources
A Parent Association and a growing alumni network of mentors and role models who give back to current students
A dedicated U.S.-based donor network, alongside growing Kenyan-based fundraising for long-term sustainability
Broader networks advancing girls’ education and gender equity, including the Girls Opportunity Alliance at the Obama Foundation and She’s the First, a past Together Women Rise grantee in 2024.

Enhanced capacity that is expected from RISE’s grant funding will lead to better academic outcomes, improved student well-being, and long-term school sustainability. Trained teachers will deliver higher-quality instruction, especially in STEM. A new M&E system will ensure the school adapts to student needs and tracks long-term impact. Local fundraising skills will empower the school to reduce reliance on U.S. donors and expand community support. These improvements will continue to directly benefit 150 girls annually and thousands in the wider Kibera community. Sustained through staff training, embedded systems, and a strengthened local board, this growth will position KGSA to serve more girls well into the future.

Impact and Transformation

KGSA began in 2002 as a grassroots girls’ soccer program, at a time when girls were discouraged from playing sports. In 2006, the organization evolved into the first free girls’ high school in Kenya. From 13 students in a single classroom, it has grown into a thriving school with 29 staff members, a boarding facility, a science lab, computer lab, and a robust extracurricular program. You can read the KGSA story in the book Play Like a Girl: How a Soccer School in Kenya’s Slums Started a Revolution by Ellie Roscher. This book was featured by Together Women Rise’s Book Club at an online event with the author, and you can watch the recording here.

To date, more than 600 women and girls have benefited directly from KGSA’s efforts and 2,500 women and girls have benefited indirectly. Since 2009, 480 students have graduated, with more than 175 pursuing higher education like vocational training, a diploma degree, or a four-year university program.

Remarkably, KGSA graduates defy national trends:

Every girl – 100% of the student body – completes high school.
No girls are married before 18.
Most girls delay childbirth until their mid-20s.

By tackling the systemic barriers that keep girls vulnerable and out of school, KGSA not only advances education, but it also improves health and safety and empowers young women to lead change in their communities. This is not just about education – it is about shifting gender norms and creating lasting gender equity. KGSA is proof that with the right support, girls can lead change in their communities and shape a more equitable world.

KGSA has received recognition for excellence in sports, including winning regional tournaments in soccer and athletics. The school’s robotics and coding teams have won competitions, with one student traveling to China to showcase her work. By combining community roots with a vision for growth, KGSA has been able to evolve while remaining grounded in the needs and strengths of the girls they serve.

“The pandemic occurred during my senior year at KGSA. It was difficult, but my classmates and I persevered. I graduated first in my class and won a full scholarship from Global Give Back Circle to pursue a Bachelor of Education from Maseno University. My favorite thing about KGSA is that it feels like home. We are one big family that supports each other. I enjoy coming back to KGSA to mentor the younger girls. My dream is to teach at KGSA one day like my role model, Madame Dalifa, who graduated from KGSA and now teaches math and science at the school.” – Zahara, 2025 graduate of Maseno University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Education

KGSA’s commitment to gender equality is not just internal – it is modeled for students, families, and the community. Both the KGSA Foundation and KGSA are led by women, and the school staff is majority female with 18 women in teaching, administrative, and support roles. In addition, KGSA intentionally recruits, trains, and mentors women at all levels. The school’s newly formed parent committee – led by mothers – advises on governance and community engagement. Many graduates return as mentors and guest speakers, modeling leadership for current students.

Direct impact: 600+ girls; Indirect impact: 2,500 women and girls

Sylvia’s Story

Sylvia is the second youngest in a family of eight. Bright, curious, and determined, Sylvia dreamed of continuing her education – but the financial barriers her family faced made that dream feel out of reach. When she heard about KGSA, she embraced the opportunity wholeheartedly. Sylvia excelled at KGSA and was the top student in her class, obtaining a B- overall on her national exams. Her favorite KGSA subjects were math and physics. She participated in the Computer Club and wants to be an engineer. In 2024 Sylvia competed on the Kenyan National Robotics team at an international competition in China.

“Thank you to all the supporters in the USA who are making my education possible. I love studying. I love living in the dorm. KGSA is my family.” – Sylvia

Your Impact

When you give to Together Women Rise, your donation reaches far beyond a single classroom. In Kibera – one of the world’s most under-resourced communities – girls like Trivia, Sylvia, and Zahara have been able to finish high school, pursue university degrees, compete on international robotics teams, and return to mentor the next generation. That is your impact at work.

Your support of Together Women Rise is funding the $50,000 capacity building grant that is helping KGSA build the systems, teachers, and tools to serve 150 girls every year – and thousands more in the years ahead. Every dollar you contribute strengthens a school that has already graduated more than 480 students, maintained a 100% high school completion rate, and ensured that not one girl has been married before age 18. Economists estimate that closing the global education gap for girls could unlock up to $30 trillion in lifetime productivity – and it starts with investments exactly like yours. This is what your generosity makes possible.

Mission Alignment

Gender equity is central to the mission of both the Kibera Girls Soccer Academy (KGSA) and the KGSA Foundation. This capacity building grant invests in the backbone of KGSA’s mission: better teaching, better data, and better sustainability. The plan pairs practical STEM teacher development with a first-time M&E system, creating a clear line of sight from classroom practice to student and alumnae outcomes. By building local fundraising and grant-writing skills, KGSA reduces the risk of concentrating its funding sources and strengthens long-term independence. This is a high-leverage, locally owned path to serving more girls with demonstrably higher quality. The goal is to break the cycle of poverty and empower girls to become stronger, more independent, and resilient women through academic, athletic, health, and leadership programming.

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