Anne Wafula Strike

Anne Wafula Strike, MBE, is an inspirational and motivational speaker on overcoming adversity, diversity, inclusion and disability awareness.

Born in Mihu, Kenya, to Nekesa Ruth and Athumani Wafula, Anne was a fit and healthy child before polio struck when she was two years old. She was given the middle name of Olympia at birth, a title of prophetic significance for the future and prescient of hurdles she would face in forthcoming years.

Superstitious villages believed the family were cursed following Anne’s partial recovery from illness, which forced her family into decisions and acts that would change her life forever

After completing A-levels and graduating from Moi University with a Bachelor of Education degree, Anne taught at Machakos Technical College in Kenya before meeting the man she would marry – which lead her to Britain, motherhood, wheelchair racing, disability advocacy and charity work.

Olympic career and MBE

• 2004 – The beginning of an Olympic career when Anne was among the first female wheelchair racers from Africa to compete at the Paralympics in Athens.
• 2006 – Anne became a British citizen and joined Team GB.
• 2007 – Officially recognised by the Queen at a Buckingham Palace for her work as a disabled athlete and for involvement in charity work for people with disabilities.
• 2014 – awarded an MBE for her services to disability sport and charitable work.

Charity work is something she does tirelessly, and as well as giving her time to a wide variety of charitable organisations she set up the charity, The Olympia–Wafula Foundation, whose main aim is to empower the differently-abled (disabled) people in the developing world

In 2020, Anne was appointed as a Commonwealth special envoy Champion for Equality in Sports with a role to promote the Commonwealth’s values and principles around the world by connecting sporting initiatives and supporting the implementation of Sustainable Development Goals relating to sport, peace and development and improving equality in sport. She continues to advocate for an accessible and inclusive society.

Her book “In My Dreams I Dance” was published in paperback in 2010

SPEAKING TOPICS

Anne is an excellent keynote motivational speaker who draws on her life experiences and achievements to motivate and inspire her audiences.

From contracting polio as a very small child, you learn of the many struggles she had to overcome in Kenya to achieve her first goal of getting an education, and going to university to become a first class teacher herself.

• Disability
• Disruption
• Sport
• Overcoming Adversity & Barriers
• Diversity & Inclusion
• Change
• Leadership