Mshai Mwangola

Mshai Mwangola (also written Mshaï Mwangola) is a Kenyan oraturist, performance scholar, actor, director, and activist who works at the intersection of storytelling, pedagogy, research, and advocacy for social transformation. In 2023, she was recognised as a Kenyan Hero on Mashujaa Day for her contribution to society by blending creativity with advocacy and research for social change.

Education Mwangola earned a Bachelor of Education from Kenyatta University, a Master of Creative Arts from the University of Melbourne, and a PhD in Performance Studies from Northwestern University. Her PhD thesis is titled Performing Our Stories, Performing OurSelves.

Career Mwangola is part of the Tutors & Trainers Team at the African Leadership Centre in Nairobi and serves on the Executive Committee of the Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA). She is a Research and Communication Officer for the African Peacebuilding Hub.

Mwangola is a founding member of the performance-based artivist group The Orature Collective and The Elephant intellectual platform . She is a volunteer with Kenya's National Civic Education Programme (URAIA). In 2012, Mwangola gave a talk at TEDxNairobi titled Reconnecting our past with the future.

Personal life Mshai Mwangola is married to John Githongo.

Selected publications

Mwangola, Mshai S. (2017). "Bury My Bones but Keep My Words: The Legacy of the Dirge Singer". In Unlocking Sound and Image Heritage. ICCROM and KIK-IRPA.

Mwangola, Mshai S. (2008). "Nurturing the Fourth Generation: Defining the Historical Mission for Our Generation". Africa Development, 33(1).

Mwangola, Mshai S. (2007). "Leaders of Tomorrow? The Youth and Democratisation in Kenya". In Godwin R. Murunga and Shadrack Wanjala Nasong'o (eds.), Kenya: The Struggle for Democracy. Zed Books/CODESRIA.

Alexander Craft, Renée; Mcneal, Meida; Mwangola, Mshai S.; and Zabriskie, Queen Meccasia E. (2007). "The Quilt: Towards a Twenty-First-Century Black Feminist Ethnography". Performance Research, 12(3): 55–73.

Mwangola, Mshai S. (2007). "'Justice Be Our Shield and Defender': An Intellectual Property Rights Regime for Africa". Africa Development, 32(1).