Awake All Night with Joy: The 2025 Segal Awards

Championing our grantee partners’ work is one thing, recognizing it is another: every year, Segal Family Foundation celebrates exemplary partner organizations with awards given at one of our gatherings. Congratulations to our 2025 awardees! We look forward to honoring them at our Celebration of African Visionaries this month in New York City. 

Jackie Odhiambo, Nyanam International
Fighting for Fairness: Uses their platform to give voice and power to historically marginalized groups, in honor of our founder Barry Segal

For the past seven years, Nyanam has been working to secure restorative justice for widows in Kenya who are often stigmatized by their communities. Through Nyanam – which means “woman of the lake” in Luo, a nod to the organization’s Kisumu roots – they are trained to lead positive community transformation through holistic personal development programs. “This award reminds me to keep forging ahead, knowing that fighting for fairness is a lifelong endeavour, just like Barry did with his life,” founder Jackie Odhiambo says.

James Gondwe, Ulalo
Angel for Africa: A leader who builds partnerships and continually serves as a resource for others

James Gondwe said of the e-mail notifying him about the award: “That moment of joy kept me awake the whole night.” For him, it signals that the hard work of the Ulalo team and the communities they serve is not only seen but also valued. Ulalo provides rural communities in Malawi with access to technology to enable innovation and development. James described the award as both humbling and energizing, validating the belief that locally-led solutions matter and that they have the power to inspire change far beyond the immediate communities. “I want the award to shine a light on what is possible when communities are trusted to lead their own development journeys,” he said.

Juliana Busasi, TAHMEF
Rising Star: An exceptionally dedicated leader with steep trajectory in growing their impact

A medical doctor, Dr. Juliana Busasi is an advocate for breaking the silence around mental health. Her organization, TAHMEF, promotes equitable access to healthcare by building and providing digital healthcare services, with a focus on youth mental health. “True growth begins when every young person, regardless of where they are, has the support they need to be resilient and lead a healthier life,” Juliana believes. 

Naum Butoto, UGEAFI
Grassroots Champion: An individual with deep connections within their communities

To Naum Butoto, this award represents acknowledgment of the tireless efforts of a community committed to social justice and human dignity. It is also a powerful message of hope to all those served by his organization, UGEAFI, that their voices matter and their struggles are being seen and heard both within and beyond the borders of the Democratic Republic of Congo. UGEAFI runs holistic programming in the Itombwe and Fizi agro-pastoralist communities, with a unique village secondary school model where students study while gaining work experience as community health workers and mobilizers. “I hope this award will open new pathways toward quality education, healthcare, and food security. It is also an opportunity to shine light on often-overlooked realities and inspire a new generation of African youth leaders in crisis-affected communities,” Naum says.  

Tracy Ahumuza, ATTA Breastmilk Community
Systems Innovator: Leaders and organizations that have developed an innovative model

ATTA Breastmilk Community connects babies in need of breastmilk with donor mothers and facilitates all the processes in between, from medical testing to the milk delivery process. It is an organization that was born of personal loss and built by community, right down to the person who contributed UGX 5,000 (about USD 1.50) in its first week. “I feel encouraged,” founder Tracy Ahumuza expresses. “This is heavy heart work, but the award says our efforts are seen. I hope it helps draw partners and resources to expand access to safe donor milk, train more health workers, peer mothers/parents, and support maternal mental health so that more fragile babies survive and families are held with dignity.”