Speaking of her decision to step down, Anne said, “ As a founding member of an organisation that I love deeply and view as my life’s best work, perhaps the hardest and yet most important task is discerning when it is time to step back, both from a personal and organisational standpoint. I want to leave not too early and derail the great work we are doing nor too late and stall potential for great future progress. It will never be a perfect time, but I feel that now both AfOx and Anne are ready for this transition.”
Dr Makena played a key role in the development of numerous partnerships, including the Mastercard Foundation Scholars program which invested approximately 50 million dollars to support over 400 African masters’ students pursue their graduate studies at the University of Oxford over a seven-year period. Through the innovative Ubuntu programme, our outstanding scholars have been matched up with employer organisations in Africa effectively bridging the critical divide between academic excellence and impactful real-world application. From 2025 onward the Ubuntu programme is scaling up to offer hundreds of placements for all African graduates from Oxford.
Professor Kevin Marsh, Director at AfOx, paid tribute to the outstanding and transformative leadership achievements, ‘’Anne has been a remarkable leader at AfOx, spearheading strategy, fundraising and stakeholder engagement since we first launched AfOx nine years ago. Anne has made her incredibly dynamic presence felt in every part of the university and in institutions across Africa. She has been an inspiring colleague and wonderful friend to the entire AfOx team, and we are delighted that she will continue to support us in the role of Senior Adviser.”
During her tenure Dr Makena also played a pivotal role in shaping transformative programmes that champion equity and global inclusion in science in collaboration with over 30 partner colleges and departments at Oxford. Recently, Dr Makena was instrumental to the formulation and expansion of the Schmidt AI in Science Faculty Fellowship Programme. Through her visionary leadership, the programme deepened AfOx’s longstanding partnership with the Oxford India Centre for Sustainable Development and Somerville College advancing a shared commitment to sustainability, impact, and ensuring that scientists from the global majority are not only beneficiaries of Artificial Intelligence technologies but also leaders in their development.
Dr Makena’s recent appointment as an Honorary Fellow of Somerville College, University of Oxford adds to the list of exceptional achievements in her professional career at Oxford, including leading the AfOx team to receive the inaugural Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Outstanding Contribution in 2024. “The entire AfOx community, celebrates and congratulates Anne as she transitions. Dr Makena’s legacy is one of bold collaboration and meaningful change, grounded in the values of commitment, collegiality, empathy, inclusivity, and transparency. We warmly celebrate her achievements and look forward to the continued impact of her work in shaping a more just and innovative global research landscape,” added Professor Ernest Aryeetey, Chair of the Africa Oxford Initiative Steering Committee.
As she exits her Co-Director position, Dr Makena takes on a Senior Adviser role at AfOx and plans to spend her time on new and bolder pursuits including championing use of global science and innovation networks to unlock value for African investors and industry partners.