Noëlla Coursaris Musunka

Founder & CEO, Malaika


Democratic Republic of the Congo

Noëlla Coursaris Musunka, a Congolese/Cypriot philanthropist and international model, is the Founder & CEO of Malaika, a grassroots nonprofit that educates and empowers girls and communities in her home country of the Democratic Republic of the Congo through a school, a community center, and a comprehensive clean water program. A unique and fearless spokesperson, and the face of leading beauty and fashion campaigns across the globe, Noëlla is a voice for the power of girls’ education worldwide. Founded in 2007, Malaika’s education and health programs are today impacting thousands of lives and are all offered free of charge. Crucially, Malaika acts as a local model that can be replicated on a global level. Noëlla has shared her insight at a number of world-class forums spanning the World Economic Forum in Davos to the university halls of Cambridge, Oxford, Harvard, and MIT. In 2017, Noëlla was named one of the BBC’s 100 Most Influential & Inspirational Women of the Year, and in 2018, she received an award at the 100 Years of Mandela celebration. She is also an Advisor at Concordia and an Ambassador for the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.