Dr. Dorothy Nyambi
Chief Executive Officer, Mennonite Economic Development Associates (MEDA)
Dr. Dorothy Nyambi is a distinguished leader with over 25 years of experience in the international development, entrepreneurial, and humanitarian sectors. Her career is defined by a strong commitment to ensuring that women and girls are not left behind, particularly through her work in impact investing and blended finance. With lived experience across Africa and the Global South, Dorothy has become a champion of economic transformation, driving initiatives that create job opportunities for women and youth, particularly within agri-food systems.
As CEO of MEDA, Dorothy leads the organization’s impactful work across Latin America and the Caribbean, Southeast Asia and Africa, leveraging the Mastercard Foundation Africa Growth Fund to drive inclusive financial investments in SMEs. Prior to joining MEDA, she served as Executive Vice President of the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences (AIMS) and held significant roles at the U.S. Peace Corps, World Health Organization, the former USAID. Fluent in both English and French, Dorothy has held senior leadership positions in diverse organizational phases, including start-up, growth, crisis management, and turnaround, across Africa, North America, Eastern Europe, Asia and Latin America.
Dorothy is the Chair of CAMFED Canada, an organization dedicated to empowering girls and young women through education in sub-Saharan Africa. She serves as Chair of the board of governors at the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), is a Board Member of Waterloo EDC in Ontario, and is involved with Board Room Africa, where she mentors young African women aspiring to governance roles.
A passionate advocate for systems change, Dorothy believes in the power of entrepreneurship within market systems to build prosperity and promote sustainable, inclusive growth. Through her leadership, she is contributing to the transformation of systems that create jobs for youth within the agri-food sector. Dorothy is also a founding member of Gender Summit Africa and a life member of AWID.
