Charlotte Magayi’s journey began in the densely populated slums of Mukuru, Nairobi, where she lost her mother to a cooking-related fire at just 10 years old. Forced to fend for herself, she became a teenage mother and struggled to survive, selling charcoal to make ends meet.
Ironically, the very product she sold—charcoal—was part of the same system that had once taken her mother’s life. But in the middle of hardship, Charlotte discovered a calling that would change not just her life, but thousands of others’.
Motivated by the health and safety concerns of traditional cooking methods, especially for women and children in informal settlements, Charlotte decided to do something revolutionary. She founded Mukuru Clean Stoves, a social enterprise that builds affordable, energy-efficient cookstoves. Her aim was simple yet powerful: reduce household air pollution and make cooking safer for low-income families. Her stoves use processed biomass instead of charcoal or firewood, which significantly cuts harmful emissions and reduces the risk of burns.
But the journey was anything but easy. Charlotte had no formal engineering background, limited capital, and faced skepticism from a society that often overlooked young women entrepreneurs—especially from slum communities. Still, she persisted. She taught herself technical skills, gathered community feedback, and pitched her ideas relentlessly. Eventually, her innovative spirit and unwavering drive caught global attention. In 2022, she won the Earthshot Prize—one of the most prestigious environmental awards in the world.
That recognition propelled Mukuru Clean Stoves into the spotlight, allowing Charlotte to scale her business and reach more homes across Kenya and beyond. Today, the company has impacted over 200,000 lives, improving health outcomes, saving time and money for mothers, and cutting carbon emissions—all while creating jobs for women in the process. Charlotte continues to push the boundaries, advocating for clean energy access, gender equity, and climate justice from the perspective of the very communities most affected by environmental harm.
Charlotte Magayi’s story is one of resilience, vision, and purpose. She transformed personal tragedy into a mission that is reshaping how African households cook and live. From a slum survivor to a global sustainability leader, she is proof that where you start doesn’t determine how far you can go—it’s how fiercely you rise.
