Berkley Center

Sister Josephine Apiagyei, SSL, is a member of the Sisters of St. Louis in Kumasi. She holds a M.S. in olericulture, an M. Ed. in educational management, and a B.S. in agriculture. She currently serves as the principal at the St. Louis Jubilee School and has experience as a science teacher in both secondary schools and teacher training colleges. Sr. Apiagyei has held numerous leadership roles, having served as the regional leader for the Institute of Sisters in Ghana for six years, the general treasurer on the Central Leadership Team of the Sisters of St. Louis in Ireland, an inspector of Catholic schools, and the vice president of the Conference of Major Superiors of Religious in Ghana. She previously worked in the Regional Catholic Educational Unit where she developed syllabi, curricula, and co-curricular activities. As a former teacher, she is passionate about empowering women to seek formal education and develop their voices to engage in society. Sr. Apiagyei is part of the inaugural cohort of the Women in Faith Leadership Fellowship.

Sister Professor Agnes Lucy Lando, SMK, is a member of the Missionary Institute of the Sisters of Mary of Kakamega in Nairobi. She currently serves as the director of Research and Graduate Studies, as a communication and media studies professor, and as a member of the university senate and Academic Division Board at Daystar University. Additionally, she serves as the communications consultant for the Network of Catholic Sisters Communicators, a project coordinated by the Hilton Foundation, where she seeks to improve the process of communications of sisters and their ministry to the public. Sr. Lando has an extensive research background, focusing on the research process and ethics, communication and media ethics, crisis communication, and interdisciplinary social issues. She uses her research and communication background to empower and document women’s voices, especially the voices of fellow sisters. She holds a Ph.D. in social communication, an M.A. in cross-cultural Christian communication, and a B.A. in communication. Sr. Lando is part of the inaugural cohort of the Women in Faith Leadership Fellowship.

Sister Hedwig Muse, LSMIG, is a member of the Little Sisters of Mary Immaculate of Gulu in Uganda but currently works in Nairobi, Kenya. She holds an LL.M. in human rights law, a bachelor of law degree, and a bachelor of education degree in English language and literature. She currently works as a legal and program officer for human rights in the Justice and Peace Department of the Association of Sisterhoods of Kenya. In this role, she works on cases related to child abuse, sexual assault, and gender-based violence as well as conducts training on human rights to raise awareness on legal issues. Before this position, she served as a secondary school teacher and continues to partner with schools to conduct student training. Sr. Muse is part of the inaugural cohort of the Women in Faith Leadership Fellowship.

Sister Dr. Rosemary Nyirumbe, SHS, is a member of the Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in Gulu. She holds a Ph.D. in education, an M.S. in leadership, and a B.A. in development studies and ethics. Sr. Nyirumbe currently serves as the director of St. Monica’s Girls’ Tailoring Center where she works with women and girls that have survived horrific acts of violence due to the civil war. The center focuses on the restoration of dignity and capacity building through advocacy, formal education, vocational training, and psychological services. While working at the center, Sr. Nyirumbe developed a program to help students generate income by creating purses from soda pop tabs. This influential work has been chronicled in the book and documentary film Sewing Hope. Sr. Nyirumbe is also a global humanitarian worker. She has traveled the world advocating on behalf of the school and bringing attention to the ongoing violence in Ghana as well as building two primary clinics to cater to the health of women. This past summer, she convened the Grassroots Women’s Peace Conference and brought together nine grassroots women’s organizations to develop solution-based initiatives for gender violence in the region. Sr. Nyirumbe is part of the inaugural cohort of the Women in Faith Leadership Fellowship and hopes to enhance her networking, advocacy, and resource mobilization skills.

Sister Francisca Ngozi Uti, HHCJ, is a member of the Handmaids of the Holy Child Jesus in Abuja. She holds a Ph.D. in gender and women's studies, an MBA, and a B.S. in institutional management. Sr. Uti is the founder and current executive director of the Centre for Women Studies and Intervention where she conducts initiatives, programs, and research centered around the holistic empowerment of women to promote gender equality and equity. Sr. Uti previously served as a lecturer and bursar at a seminary in Nigeria and has held various leadership positions within her congregation. An outspoken advocate for women’s rights, she has met with principal Church authorities to call attention to gender issues. Sr. Uti is part of the inaugural cohort of the Women in Faith Leadership Fellowship.

Sister Jane Wakahiu, LSOSF, Ph.D., is a member of the institute of the Little Sisters of Saint Francis, Kenya. Wakahiu provides leadership and direction of the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation’s Program Department and oversees the Catholic Sisters initiative. Prior to joining the Hilton Foundation, Wakahiu was the executive director of the African Sisters Education Collaborative.