founder | mental health advocate | researcher

Sitawa Wafula is a Kenyan mental health advocate, blogger, and award-winning social entrepreneur who set up and ran Kenya’s first free mental health support line.

Her public facing work began in 2010 with a blog that shared her personal experience living with a mental health diagnosis. That blog, recognized with a Google Africa Connected Award in 2014, used storytelling to break the silence on mental health and became a trusted source of information for thousands across the continent.

In 2013, Sitawa officially launched my mind my funk (MMMF) as a mental health resource hub offering support, information, and training to communities across Africa. Under her leadership, MMMF:

• Reached over 11,000 people in its first year through the 22214 SMS support line.

• Hosted mental health awareness events in schools, religious spaces, and workplaces.

• Ran the “Akili ni Mali” (Mind is Wealth) storytelling tour, which travelled across 6 Kenyan counties and 6 Nigerian states.

• Launched a seasonal podcast to normalize everyday conversations around mental health.

• Piloted a mental health academy, mentoring 30 champions from 8 African countries.

Her multifaceted approach earned her recognition as a Non-Communicable Disease (NCD) Champion by the Kenya Ministry of Health, and invitations to shape national policy, most notably as a member of the Kenya Mental Health Policy (2015–2030) committee, the national mental healthcare audit forum (read report), and the National Epilepsy Coordination Committee. 

After more than a decade on the frontlines,  and years of leading with her personal story, Sitawa chose rest. She took a Sabbatical and stepped away from the urgency of public advocacy to reclaim her own rhythm.  She also restarted her academic journey which she had to pause due to illness.

Today, she works in the background, sharing resources with the next generation of mental health champions, doing research, and writing opinion pieces.

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