Betty’s story

Meet Betty, a young woman from Nairobi, Kenya. In her community, girls with disabilities often lack access to education and face stigma and insufficient support when they do attend school.

The Action Foundation (Opens in a new tab), a community-driven organization supported by the Girls Opportunity Alliance, works to remove barriers to education for girls with disabilities in Kenya by providing access to science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education and mentorships.

Betty reflected, “In school, I had to hide my disability to take STEM classes. After graduation, I was still denied jobs even though I was qualified. The Action Foundation changed everything for me.” 

Betty is now a mentor at the Action Foundation, helping to empower girls with disabilities by teaching them about STEM—including how to build robots. 

“The Action Foundation sees me for who I am. They see that I am exceptional and so are the young women I work with every day,” she shared.“Together, we are working to change the narrative around girls with disabilities because we all deserve the opportunity to reach our full potential.”