In the last couple of days, I have witnessed something beautiful: a transition woven with care.
I have witnessed a founder who poured herself fully into preparing her team for a new chapter. For the past three years, Nikole Lim, Freely in Hope founder and outgoing International Director, and the team have intentionally planned this transition, ensuring that the people at the heart of the work, especially survivors of sexual violence, were not only considered but meaningfully included.
This transition was not designed around one person-the outgoing or incoming. It was designed around people, purpose, trust, and continuity. One question Nikole and I kept returning to was: What does it really mean to transfer trust? Her answer stayed with me.
Trust, she said, would have to be transferred through doing, not simply through talking about it. And in these past few days, I have seen that “doing” in action.
Some of my most powerful moments have been meeting past programme participants of Freely in Hope—from Arise Scholars to the Malkia women who are now building thriving businesses.
My first interaction with a programme participant was during a field visit to Malkia, our entrepreneurship training program for women in forced prostitution. What began as a conversation with ten women transitioning out of forced prostitution became one of the most profound experiences of this transition. Women openly shared how they found themselves in forced prostitution, and how, through their engagement with Freely in Hope, they began to see themselves differently. They spoke passionately about their dreams to build a different life—away from the streets. The dreams of their children and were confident that Freely in Hope would walk with them in making these dreams a reality.
Shortly after our conversation with the ten women, the Malkia Project Coordinator took us to meet a woman whose life had once been marked by substance abuse and constant abuse from the clients she served. With support from Freely in Hope, she now runs a beauty salon and uses the profits to provide for her son. But her dream goes further: she wants to start a wholesale beauty-products business serving other salons in her community. This is what transformation looks like—the confidence to imagine and build a different future.
I also had the privilege of sitting with alumni of the Arise scholarship programme. It was deeply fulfilling to see young women who were once Freely in Hope scholars now building thriving careers. Lawyers at the forefront of advocating for vulnerable women and girls. Survivors working in women’s rights organizations and using their education, experiences, and voices to create change. I looked at them and realized the investment was never just in education. It was an investment in leadership.
And then there is the Freely in Hope team. Frontline workers who carry heavy stories, but whose aspirations are bigger than themselves. Women who listen to stories of sexual violence day after day, yet continue to show up with the determination to transform the world that produces those stories. This is one of the things that drew me to Freely in Hope in the first place: its commitment to survivor leadership. I have seen survivors return to the organization to design and implement programmes for girls and women who, in many ways, mirror who they once were. Survivors are not simply beneficiaries of the work. They are shaping the work. They are leading it. For me, witnessing this has been a full-circle moment.
I am deeply inspired by what Nikole has built together with the team over the last fifteen years. She allowed the dream to grow beyond education support. She trusted survivors with opportunities to design, lead, and influence efforts to end sexual violence. Because of that, Freely in Hope has grown into a haven for survivors of sexual violence in Kenya and Zambia, and a place where survivors are increasingly shaping solutions for their communities.
As we sat together to craft the organization’s next five-year strategic plan, I could feel something very clearly: The team is ready for a new season. They have been holding, hoping, and praying for the resources to take the work deeper and wider. They have dreams. Dreams that are bigger than themselves. Dreams that carry their communities. And this is where my what-ifs began.
What if we had the resources to build a school where survivors of sexual violence can access quality high school education in a safe environment—where they can learn, heal, grow, and build a different life free from violence.
What if we built a hub where women could walk through the doors and access different skills, opportunities, and pathways to economic independence?
What if we had resources to provide holistic education support to many more survivors of sexual violence?
What if survivors’ lived experiences could shape policies and laws on sexual violence, not just as stories of what happened to them, but as expertise that informs the solutions?
What if we could reach many more women in forced prostitution and walk alongside them towards safety, dignity and economic independence?
What if? What if? What if? These questions have been keeping me up. Not because I am overwhelmed by the size of the dreams. But because, for the first time, I can see how possible they are.
I am stepping into something that already exists. As I step into this role, I do so with incredible clarity about where the institution is, where it wants to go, and what it will take to get there. I step in carrying my own story as a feminist and disability rights leader. I carry the stories of my communities. I carry the many stories of women I have had the privilege of listening to over the years.
But I also step in surrounded by a strong team rallying behind me in this new chapter, including a progressive and accessible Board that is committed to providing strong oversight in the best interest of the organization.
Most importantly, I am not stepping in to build something afresh. I am stepping into an organization that has already been doing great work over the last fifteen years. I am stepping into the work Nikole has so graciously carried, and the dreams of survivors, and the possibilities that lie ahead.
Now, the question is: How much more can we scale this work together?
On October 24, 2026 in San Francisco, we will celebrate this new season of Freely in Hope at our 15th Anniversary Gala. I would love you to be part of this, not only to celebrate a leadership transition, but to celebrate a movement, the survivors who continue to lead it, and the possibilities of what comes next.
Because perhaps the most important question is not “What if?” Perhaps it is: “What if we did it together?”
Fridah Wawira Nyaga
Incoming Executive Director
Join us for Freely in Hope’s 15th Anniversary Gala in San Francisco! Be a part of this historic transition as we shift to local and survivor leadership.
About Freely in Hope
Freely in Hope is a survivor-led organization equipping survivors to lead in ending the cycle of sexual violence. Through holistic education, girls and women’s empowerment programs, and child protection initiatives across Kenya and Zambia, Freely in Hope aims to unlock the potential of survivors to transform their communities and build a world free from sexual violence. To learn more, visit: freelyinhope.org and follow @freelyinhope on Instagram.
