Wikipedia

Adelle Onyango

Adelle Onyango (born 5 February 1989) is a Kenyan radio presenter, social activist and media personality. She was selected as one of 2017's BBC 100 Women and one of OkayAfrica's Top Women of 2018.

Adelle Onyango
Adelle Onyango on Hustle Yako in 2017
Born (1989-02-05) 5 February 1989 (age 35)
Kenya
Alma materUnited States International University
Known forSocial activism
Social media
AwardsBBC 100 Women
Okay Africa 100 Women
Websiteadelleonyango.com

Early life and education

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Onyango is from Kenya, but she attended high school in Botswana. In 2008, she was raped by a stranger in Westlands, Nairobi.[1][2] Onyango has since supported causes to support the victims of rape, such as founding the campaign No Means No.[3] She studied journalism and psychology at United States International University Africa, where she specialised in public relations. She has always been interested in poetry, but felt there was not enough space for her and her fellow artists. In her final year at university she started an open mic night, where poets and musicians shared their work.[4] While still at university Onyango was headhunted by Then One FM, a Kenyan radio station, and recruited to host their drive time radio programme.[4] She lost her mother to breast cancer in 2012, which has motivated Onyango to becoming involved with campaigns to promote awareness and treatments.

Career

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Onyango worked as a presenter for the Kenyan radio station Kiss FM Nairobi, where she presented the Saturday breakfast show for seven years.[5] At Kiss FM she started a Saturday evening programme on which she played African music. During her time at KISS she became a social media influencer, with her followers calling themselves #TeamAdelle.[6][7] She left Kiss FM in 2019.[5][8]

Intel announced that Onyango was one of their She Will Connect ambassadors in 2015. In this capacity she has trained women in Africa to be more confident online and use the internet as a tool for empowerment. She has spoken out against online trolls, saying: "...be better or grow up. Deal with your internal issues instead of projecting them on us."[9] In 2016 Onyango established a mentorship programme, the Sisterhood, which offers support for women in Africa.[10] Through No Means No and Sisterhood Onyango helps women access therapies and safe houses, as well as offering confidence classes for victims of rape.[11][12] She has worked to champion Kenyan women[13] and young people, and launched a new initiative, Unapologetically African, in 2018.[14] As part of this effort she developed a work-experience programme for high-school students.[15]

She started the podcast Legally Clueless in March 2019.[16][17] The podcast is syndicated by Trace 95.3 FM.[18][19][20] The show has both an audio and video format.[21] Meru University of Science and Technology hosted a live episode of Legally Clueless in November 2019.[22] Adelle released her 100th episode of Legally Clueless in February 2021.[23] The podcast was one of the top podcasts on Spotify in August 2021.[24]

She is co-author with Lanji Ouku of the book Our Broken Silence, documenting the voices of survivors of rape, family members, activists, and others,[25] published in March 2022.[26]

Awards and honours

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Onyango was selected as one of the BBC's top 100 Women in 2017.[27] In 2018 she was selected as one of OkayAfrica's top 100 women.[11] She was one of two Kenyans included in the Africa Youth Awards' 100 Most Influential Young Africans in 2019.[28]

References

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  1. ^ Mukei, Cate. "I will never forgive the man who raped me - Radio presenter Adelle Onyango". Standard Digital News. Retrieved 21 October 2019.[permanent dead link‍]
  2. ^ "My rape ordeal - Adelle". Facebook. Retrieved 21 October 2019.
  3. ^ "'Silence is an Injustice to Ourselves...' Adelle Onyango's Word of Advice to Kenyan Women". Nairobi Wire. 27 October 2017. Archived from the original on 21 October 2019. Retrieved 21 October 2019.
  4. ^ a b "About Adelle". Adelle Onyango. Archived from the original on 20 October 2019. Retrieved 21 October 2019.
  5. ^ a b Musungu, Nahashon (9 June 2019). "Why radio presenter Adelle Onyango has quit Kiss 100". Nairobi News. Retrieved 21 October 2019.
  6. ^ Odero, Diana (7 December 2016). "Adelle Onyango: Live your best life". She Leads Africa. Retrieved 21 October 2019.
  7. ^ "Unapologetic Adelle Onyango || Unscripted With Grace". NTV Kenya. Retrieved 21 October 2019 – via YouTube.
  8. ^ Anyango, Diana. "Adelle Onyango quits Kiss FM after seven years". Standard Digital News. Archived from the original on 21 October 2019. Retrieved 21 October 2019.
  9. ^ "Adelle Onyango's message to online trolls". Daily Nation. Kenya. 17 December 2017. Archived from the original on 21 October 2019. Retrieved 21 October 2019.
  10. ^ Milimo, Dennis (18 November 2016). "Adelle Onyango Set To Launch A Mentorship Campaign - The Sisterhood Series". Potentash. Retrieved 21 October 2019.
  11. ^ a b "Adelle Onyango". OKAYAFRICA's 100 WOMEN. Archived from the original on 21 October 2019. Retrieved 21 October 2019.
  12. ^ Indeje, David. "'As for the future, I say Cheers' Adelle Onyango Embraces Her New Lifestyle after Kiss 100". Khusoko. Archived from the original on 21 October 2019. Retrieved 21 October 2019.
  13. ^ "Adelle Onyango - I'm passionate about women and girls". Switch TV. 9 April 2019. Retrieved 21 October 2019 – via YouTube.
  14. ^ Nzyoka, Mumbua Nzula (14 December 2018). "Unapologetically African by Adelle Onyango". KBC | Kenya's Watching. Retrieved 21 October 2019.
  15. ^ Sam Mr (18 September 2018). "Adelle Onyango launches job shadowing initiative for youth". NRG.RADIO. Archived from the original on 21 October 2019. Retrieved 21 October 2019.
  16. ^ "PHOTO - Check Out Adelle Onyango's New Office After Leaving Kiss FM". Nairobi Wire. 18 June 2019. Retrieved 21 October 2019.
  17. ^ Simiyu, John Paul (12 May 2020). "Adelle Onyango's Project Attracts International Acclaim". Kenyans.co.ke. Retrieved 20 February 2022.
  18. ^ "Adelle Onyango keeps winning as Trace Fm takes up her podcast 'Legally Clueless' - The Sauce". www.capitalfm.co.ke. 7 May 2020. Retrieved 20 February 2022.
  19. ^ Kimuyu, Hilary (5 May 2020). "Adelle Onyango's podcast 'Legally Clueless' now to be aired on Trace FM". nairobinews.nation.africa. Retrieved 20 February 2022.
  20. ^ Okubasu, Derrick (4 May 2020). "Adelle Onyango Makes Radio Comeback". Kenyans.co.ke. Retrieved 20 February 2022.
  21. ^ Opondo, Agnes (9 April 2021). "Adelle Onyango Launches Video Series For Her Podcast, Legally Clueless". kenyanvibe.com. Retrieved 20 February 2022.
  22. ^ "MUST HOSTS 'Legally Clueless'". Meru University of Science and Technology. 1 November 2019. Retrieved 20 February 2022.
  23. ^ Nzyoka, Mumbua Nzula (9 February 2021). "Legally Clueless premieres its 100th episode {!} The 100th episode featured a YouTube premiere and some special guests". kbc.co.ke. Retrieved 20 February 2022.
  24. ^ Matheka, Grace (14 August 2021). "'The Mics are Open' & Legally Clueless' among top Spotify podcasts in the Kenyan market". HapaKenya. Retrieved 20 February 2022.
  25. ^ Mwangi, Nick (25 November 2020). "Adelle On New Book: It's Been Hard But Very Therapeutic Writing". Nairobi Wire. Retrieved 2 July 2022.
  26. ^ Nzyoka, Mumbua Nzula (23 February 2022). "Adelle Onyango set to launch book in March". KBC. Retrieved 2 July 2022.
  27. ^ "BBC 100 Women: Who is on the list?". 1 November 2017. Retrieved 21 October 2019.
  28. ^ Gichovi, Murugi (3 October 2019). "Adelle Onyango, Teacher Tabichi, Governor Sang named among the 2019 100 most influential young Africans". The Sauce. Retrieved 21 October 2019.
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Official website

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