Why Dr. Jennifer Riria Is Thankful for 2025: A Year of Legacy, Leadership and Lifting Women

As 2025 comes to a close, Dr. Jennifer Riria, President and CEO of Echo Network Africa Foundation (ENAF), reflects on a year that powerfully affirmed her life’s work—opening doors for women, building institutions, and creating safe spaces for leadership without fear.

For Dr. Riria, gratitude in 2025 is rooted in purpose fulfilled and impact recognised.

A Lifetime of Service Honoured

The year was crowned by a defining moment when Dr. Riria received the Lifetime Achievement in Leadership Award at the Strategic Business & Leadership Awards 2025. The honour celebrated more than four decades of unwavering commitment to women’s economic empowerment, inclusive leadership, and institutional development across Kenya and Africa.

In her acceptance speech, she underscored a philosophy that has guided her journey:

“This recognition is not just for me. It belongs to every woman who has dared to dream.”

The award, she said, symbolised the courage of generations of women who rose despite exclusion, violence, and structural barriers.

Championing Equity and Safe Spaces

Dr. Riria is thankful that 2025 amplified conversations around equity, safety, and real activism, especially as the world marked the #16DaysOfActivism Against Gender-Based Violence. Her message resonated deeply: true leadership is about creating environments where women can rise without fear, and where violence does not silence ambition.

She has consistently challenged systems that excluded women from decision-making, famously noting:

“Leadership spaces were not designed with women in mind, but we learned to create our own tables when we were not invited.”

Building Institutions That Outlive Individuals

Another reason for gratitude is the sustained growth and impact of Echo Network Africa Foundation, which continues to empower women and communities through access to finance, mentorship, leadership development, and sustainable livelihoods.

Dr. Riria remains thankful that her work has gone beyond personalities to build institutions and values that endure, mentoring a new generation of leaders equipped with courage, integrity, and vision.

“The next generation should not inherit our challenges, but our courage,” she told delegates at the awards ceremony.

A Legacy Still in Motion

As 2025 ends, Dr. Jennifer Riria gives thanks for a journey marked by resilience, faith, and collective progress. Her legacy is visible in empowered women, stronger institutions, and a growing movement that insists leadership must be inclusive, intentional, and humane.

Her gratitude is also her charge to society:

Keep opening doors. Keep creating equity. Keep ensuring that when a woman dares to dream, violence does not stand in her way.