Our Founder

I come from the wind, the sky, the stars and the sun
With no limiting beliefs of who I am
Where I will go and
What I will do in this world.

I come like the ocean…unassuming but still bold

I am middle child…
Born with no want for boxes to define who my people are
Or how far the boundaries of my village will ever go.

I am Lusaka, Nairobi, Monrovia, Banjul
I am Limuru green tea
I am New Delhi, London, New York, Boston
I am Washington D.C.

I am private boarding schools and brilliant public schools.
I am matutu buses and backseat car rides with the family driver

I am Westchester County and Waterside market

I am thinker, a finder, a builder of teams…
I am everything validated in dreams

I am the daughter of an airline executive…
A company man, a planner, a philosopher, a free man
I am Alick’s daughter

I am the daughter of a nurse…
A healer, a fixer, a nurturer, a people person, a lover of life
I am Dorothy’s daughter

I am barefoot on the ground
I am high in my own heels
I am possibility
I am hustle
I am pause
I am job well done

I am Nyuma Harrison
I am you and
You are me

Founder’s Gallery

FOUNDER’S STORY

Nyuma Harrison was born in Lusaka, Zambia at the University Teaching Hospital (UTH). She left Zambia at age six when her father was assigned to work abroad as an airline executive. To her advantage, her parents allowed Nyuma and her siblings to fully enjoy their expat benefits, while still keeping them proximal to the harsh realities that many others around them had to live with.

Nyuma was raised with an acute awareness and sensitivity to the fragility of privilege and the value of humility and service to other. And thus, the endless urge to always “go back and give back” blissfully followed her into every country and chapter of her life.

For years, Nyuma jetted her way back to Zambia with suitcases full of random toys, clothes, books and medical supplies in tow. Her mother/favorite accomplice would always be at the airport waiting for her with the master plan for when, where and how they could locate an orphanage, clinic or school in need of whatever was in the bags. While the donation drop offs were always fun and heart-warming, over time, it started to become increasingly clear that this process was not sustainable. And the impact, while wide, was temporary at best.

This revelation challenged Nyuma and her mom to start deeply thinking about how she could leverage her education, professional experiences, passion for leadership and penchant for networking to build something more structured, sustainable and scalable.

In late 2019, the first yellow Nyuma Harrison Foundation tee-shirts were printed and worn by the first set of NHF volunteer leaders and kids. The official legacy work began a few months later just as the COVID-19 pandemic was spreading and peaking. But the building continued… The rest is history still evolving.