Myriam Sidibe

Myriam Assa Sidibe is a Malian public health specialist known for her work on handwashing promotion and on the use of commercial brands to drive health behaviour change. While at Unilever, where she led the social mission of the Lifebuoy soap brand, she conceived and helped establish Global Handwashing Day, observed annually on 15 October in more than 100 countries. She is the founder of Brands on a Mission, a Nairobi-based social impact consultancy, and the author of Brands on a Mission: How to Achieve Social Impact and Business Growth Through Purpose (Routledge, 2020).

Early life and education Sidibe was born in Mali to parents who worked in international development. At the age of 12 she moved with her family to the Congo when her father took a position with the United Nations, and at 15 the family relocated to New York City following his promotion.

Career Early career Sidibe began her career as an engineer, working on infrastructure in refugee camps in Burundi and East Timor with the International Rescue Committee, and later coordinated a national school health programme in Mali with UNICEF and the Malian Ministry of Health.

Unilever and Global Handwashing Day Sidibe joined Unilever in 2006 as Global Social Mission Director for the Lifebuoy soap brand, and from 2015 to 2020 served as the company's Hygiene and Nutrition Social Mission Director for Africa. She led a handwashing behaviour-change programme that Unilever states reached one billion people, described as the largest hygiene behaviour-change programme in the world.

Brands on a Mission In 2020 Sidibe founded Brands on a Mission, a Nairobi-based consultancy and certified B Corp that advises companies on using brands for health and behaviour-change outcomes.

Academic appointments Sidibe was a senior fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School's Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government, where her research examined brands as a contribution to public health. She is an Honorary Professor of the Practice at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine.

Board memberships Sidibe joined the board of trustees of MSI Reproductive Choices in 2021. She previously served as a trustee of WaterAid (2015–2022) and a board member of the Kilimanjaro Blind Trust (2014–2021), and serves on the board of the AB InBev Foundation.

Awards and recognition Axiom Business Book Award for Brands on a Mission (2021)

Selected publications

Sidibe, M. "Marketing Meets Mission", Harvard Business Review, May–June 2020.