Mariama Barry

Mariama Barry holds a master’s degree in business management, obtained in 2019. Since 2018, she has been dedicated to the humanitarian sector. During her university years, she co-created a language club at her school to help students improve their speaking skills and confidence. In the same year, she co-founded an NGO called Second Chance, where she serves as Vice President. The organization's mission is to provide educational opportunities for children, especially girls, who face financial barriers or have dropped out of school. In 2018 and 2019, the NGO successfully improved the literacy rate by 30% in Tayaki, a farming village in Guinea.

After completing her master’s degree in December 2019, she joined FITIMA, an NGO focused on enhancing the quality of life for people with disabilities and promoting women's empowerment. Since 2021, she has led the Community Development section of FITIMA in Guinea. Her role involves developing programs that promote disability inclusion, women’s empowerment, gender equality, and child rights protection. Her mission is to advocate for the rights of disadvantaged individuals in Guinea and ensure their inclusion in all aspects of society.

In 2022, alongside two Mandela Washington Fellow alumni, she helped establish the FHP NGO, which aims to improve the quality of education in Guinea through the creation of libraries and access to books and reading spaces for children.

Today, Mariama has empowered more than 100 women, especially women with disability by training them on their rights and micro-management and funding the creation of their income-generating activities, trained over 500 teachers in inclusive education, and made nearly 50 schools more inclusive. She has also contributed to creating 10 mini-libraries in Coyah and trained almost 1,000 boys and girls in sexual and reproductive health.

As a woman, her greatest ambition has always been to be part of the decision-making and change-making sphere in a patriarchal society, to impact communities positively, and to support other women and marginalized people in achieving their dreams