Freely In Hope
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ABOUT US

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Equipping survivors and advocates to lead in ending the cycle of sexual violence.

We are survivors, advocates, scholars, and leaders who live freely because we are no longer victimized by the pain of the past. Together, we are getting closer and closer to the day sexual violence is history—believing that hope is always present.

Freely In Hope

MISSION

Equipping survivors and advocates to lead in ending sexual violence.

Vision

A WORLD FREE OF sexual violence.

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founders note

OUR VALUES

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Dignity

We believe that dignity is inherent to humanity and it cannot be taken away by poverty, violence or oppression.

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Authenticity

We believe that authenticity builds bridges of hope between our scholars, staff and communities worldwide, allowing up to find collective healing through our shared stories.

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Transparency

We believe that financial, relational and programmatic transparency is essential to promoting social responsibility and ending systemic injustice.

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RESTORATION

We believe that restoration from unspeakable trauma is possible through a supportive community that provides quality care, compassionate action, and advocacy for justice.

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TRANSFORMATION

We believe that transformation is a result of long-term, survivor-centered solutions that uplift survivors as community leaders who have the power to change systems toward justice.

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LIBERATION

We believe that liberation is a holistic experience of mind, body and soul that invites survivors and advocates, students and professionals, men and women, to work together in ending sexual violence.

Our Team

global leaders

Nikole Lim

Founder + International Director, US

Lydia Matioli

Program & Partnerships Director, Kenya

US

jean nangwala

Lead Storyteller, US

Kenya

Joan Ngaruiya

Program Impact Manager

Kithia musee

Operations & Finance Manager

Sarafina Njoki

Malkia Program Coordinator

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Pauline Wanja

Social Worker
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Maryanne koki

Child Protection Coordinator

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Beryl Injeni

Accountant

Zambia

Esther Mwale

Operations Manager

Magdalene Chikanya

Child Protection Coordinator

Mwape Chiwele

Social Worker

Bupe Mwaba

Community Educator

Salomy Siachumbu

Community Educator

Our BOARD MEMBERS

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Suzanne Semenye

KENYA

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Akinyi W. Ooko-Ombaka 

KENYA

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Bigad Shaban

US

Angelica Towne Amporo

NAMIBIA

Christina Fang

US

viola mwangi

KENYA

Our BOARD OF ADVISORS

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master chimbala

ZAMBIA

jessica chisampola

ZAMBIA

Freely In Hope

JESSICA PHAM

US
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Kirsten Winters

US
Freely In Hope

LULU HAANGALA

ZAMBIA

Freely In Hope

jessica ayana davis

DUBAI

PRESS

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Our Financials

We know it’s important that your donation is used effectively. That’s why we work hard to receive the highest grades available for accountability and transparency.

See our Guidestar Profile.

2024

2024 Annual Report
990 Report

2023

2023 Annual Report
990 Report

2022

2022 Annual Report
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2021

2021 Annual Report
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2020

2020 Annual Report
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2019

2019 Annual Report
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2018

2018 Annual Report
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2017

2017 Annual Report
990 Report
Freely In Hope
Freely In Hope

FREELY IN HOPE TEACHES ON BEST PRACTICES TO ENDING SEXUAL VIOLENCE AND HAS FACILITATED WORKSHOPS ALL AROUND THE WORLD.

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Download a FREE Chapter from Liberation is Here

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Nikole Lim

Founder + International Director

Nikole Lim is a speaker, educator, and author of the book, Liberation is Here. She is the founder and international director of Freely in Hope, empowering survivors to lead in ending sexual violence. Through trauma-informed contemplative practices, Nikole equips organizational leaders and community activists with resources to foster healing, compassion, and sustainability. Through writing, teaching, and consulting globally, Nikole challenges organizations to implement true collaboration by integrating community-driven and survivor-centered solutions for communal liberation. Nikole studied Film Production at Loyola Marymount University, Global Leadership at Fuller Theological Seminary, and Embodied Contemplative Psychotherapy at Nalanda Institute for Contemplative Science. 

She is a native of the Bay Area and can often be found buying African fabric on the streets of Nairobi. Her mission is to uplift the leadership of trauma survivors—believing that they will be the ones to bring us all into liberation. In it, her hope is that the world may be transformed by them—just as she has.

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Lydia Matioli

Program Manager

Lydia is passionate about building platforms for survivors and advocates to be leaders in their communities. Born and raised in Kibera, East Africa’s largest slum, Lydia has experienced the effects of sexual violence, lack of education, and poverty first hand. Now, as Freely in Hope’s Program Manager, she coordinates, designs, and implements programs that exemplify best practices on ending the cycle of sexual violence. Lydia graduated with first class honors in Bachelor of Arts in Gender, Women and Development studies and has 6 years experience in program design, implementation, and community outreach. She loves seeing survivors unlock and fully live out their potential.

Jean Nangwala

Lead Storyteller

Jean Nangwala is a singer, speaker, survivor-advocate, and creative content producer. She was born and raised in Lusaka, Zambia. Her passion for social justice stems from her personal experience of injustice and witnessing the same inequality across the globe. She has an undergraduate degree in Psychology and a minor in Media Studies. During her undergraduate studies, Jean volunteered with a juvenile facility in Cape Town, survivors of sexual violence in Nairobi, and creatives using art for community transformation in Barcelona. She has also worked with The Salvation Army International Social Justice Commission in New York City. Partnering to End Human Trafficking in Connecticut and is currently working as the Lead Storyteller for Freely in Hope located in the Bay Area. Through her experiences, she has witnessed the gravity that broken systems can have on the lives of the vulnerable. Her passion is empowering women to come together and alleviate systems that perpetuate social injustice. She loves using art to inspire others to find liberation. To learn more, check out her YouTube Channel, Tales of a Black Girl.

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Joan Ngaruiya

Counselor

Joan’s great passion is working with people who have been through traumatic experiences. She supports their journeys toward healing—ultimately helping them rediscover themselves as strong dignified individuals. As the Mental Health Specialist at Freely in Hope, she brings with her over 10 years of experience. She believes in empowering survivors through varied trauma-informed interventions, to help raise the next generation of survivor-leaders who will champion the end of violence. Joan graduated Magna Cum Laude from Daystar University (Kenya) with a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology. She is certified in various therapy modalities like TF-CBT, and recently became a certified TRE provider® Outside of work, she loves reading a good book and enjoying some quiet time.

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Kithia Musee

Operations & Finance Manager

Kithia is deeply passionate about ending gender-based violence by fostering collaboration, raising awareness, and advocating for policies that create a safer world for women and children. Her faith is at the heart of her work, driving her to serve her community, country, and God with purpose and dedication.

With over 18 years of experience in Finance, Operations, and Human Resources, Kithia brings a wealth of expertise to her role. She is a Certified Public Accountant with a Bachelor of Commerce degree, a Higher Diploma in Human Resource Management, and is currently finalizing her Master’s in Business Administration. Her strong foundation in these fields allows her to support teams effectively and make a meaningful impact.

Kithia finds deep fulfillment in empowering the Programs and Partnerships team, knowing that her work enables them to thrive in their mission. Beyond her professional life, she is committed to giving back—whether through mentoring, visiting children’s homes, or engaging in initiatives that uplift her community.

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Sarafina Njoki

Peer Educator

Sarafina is passionate about ending prostitution in Kenya’s slums. Having worked in the streets, she truly understands the risks and challenges of prostitution. She dreams of creating a safer world for women and girls who work in prostitution by helping them realize other options of work based on the different skills they possess.

As Freely in Hope’s Peer Educator, Sarafina visits Nairobi’s brothels and clubs to reach out to women in prostitution and encourages them to join the Malkia program where they can co-create a safe space to share their experiences with each other, drive the process of rehabilitation, and assume ownership over their lives. When not working, Sarafina enjoys baking and spending time with her son.

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Pauline Wanja

Social Worker

Pauline is passionate about seeing every woman respected and dignity restored. As the Freely in Hope Social Worker, she ensures our scholars are holistically supported to thrive. She also works under the Malkia Outreach Program—providing a safe space for women in prostitution. As a survivor and a mother, she is passionate about seeing every woman understand their purpose in life despite what they have gone through. Using her life experience, she loves mentoring women in prostitution and those that have been abused. Pauline is a mother to a handsome boy in his third year of high school. She loves cooking, playing card games with her son, meeting new people and giving hope to women in prostitution.

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Koki

Child Protection Coordinator
Koki is passionate about empowering communities to make informed choices on how to prevent and respond to sexual abuse by creating and sharing trauma-informed resources. She has four years of survivor leadership experience co-creating curricula and content that have been used to teach children and teenagers to prevent and respond to sexual abuse. As our Child Protection Coordinator, she uses her creativity, public speaking, and leadership skills to create and lead programs that help children understand body autonomy, sexuality, and how to recognize and report sexual abuse. She also equips parents, caregivers, practitioners, and the general public with relevant knowledge to help them prevent and respond to child sexual abuse.

Inspired by her desire to support others just as she was, she obtained a degree in Social Work. Koki is also a Freely in Hope alumni, class of 2021. In her spare time, she enjoys writing and is quite an accomplished poet. She is a doting aunt to her beautiful niece and enjoys fanning her dream of being a model.  
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Beryl Injeni

Accountant

Beryl is an experienced accounting and finance professional with 8 years in the industry. She has been involved in leading and managing financial operations of various organizations. Her degree is a Bachelor of Commerce in Finance and she is also a Certified Public Accountant registered with the Institute of Certified Public Accountants in Kenya.

Beryl is passionate about helping organizations with good accounting practices, financial management and compliance as a whole.

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Esther Mwale

Accountant

Esther Mwale is a ZICA Licentiate Accountant with seventeen years of expertise in Non-Governmental Organisations across Zambia. Esther generally oversees the financial health of Freely in Hope in Zambia and helps to ensure its continued viability. Esther has successfully managed funds for donor funding organisations such as United States AID for International Development, Swedish International Development AID, PEPFAR, Zambia Nation AIDS Council Network (Global Fund), HIVOs, Chemonics International and Viiv Healthcare Foundation of UK. Esther is a formidable force in the office, and she uses her upbeat attitude and boundless energy to motivate people to work hard and achieve success. Esther finds daily inspiration in her enthusiasm for assisting others and elevating others professionally. Esther enjoys visiting vulnerable people in the community, baking, and reading in her free time.

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Magdalene Chikanya

Child Protection Coordinator

Magdalene Chikanya is an expert in program management, child protection and community development, serving as the Child Protection Coordinator at Freely in Hope Zambia. With a Bachelor of Arts in Development Studies and over 8 years of experience, Magdalene has established herself as a leader in program management and child safeguarding. 

Passionate about creating safe spaces for girls, Magdalene has co-created transformative curricula, including the Butterfly Effect, Pendo’s Power Child Protection Training for Faith Leaders, and Super Girls Revolution Curriculum aimed at seeing a generation of young women build a world free of sexual violence through leadership development, life skills and building grounded identities. Her work has reached hundreds of girls, organizational leaders, and community members and extends to multiple countries, including Zambia, Kenya, South Africa, and the United States, where she shares her story as a survivor of sexual violence to inspire hope and liberation.

Through her unique blend of expertise and lived experience, Magdalene develops survivor-centered systems, structures, and solutions, changing the narrative and amplifying the voices of survivors worldwide. She enjoys horseback riding.

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Mwape Chiwele

Community Leader

Mwape is passionate about supporting the dignity of girls and women in her community. Her past experience includes volunteering as both a caregiver and community mobilizer with The Bible Society on their HIV/AIDS prevention programs. As the Freely in Hope Project Coordinator,  She ensures that all the girls in the  Super Girls Revolution (SGR) program are supported during the weekly meetings—providing a safe space for girls who are survivors and at-risk to sexual violence. She hopes that the mentorship she provides will help girls see their value and purpose in life. As someone who became a mother of two as a teenager, she hopes to be an example of a woman who has not given up on her dreams no matter how difficult life gets.

Bupe Mwaba

Peer Educator

Bupe is passionate about ending early marriages in her community because she has witnessed many girls being forced into marriage without consent. She has experience working with children as a caregiver in her community. She has been a longtime member of Freely in Hope’s Super Girls Revolution programs in Zambia, and knows first-hand what being a part of Super Girls Revolution means—a life-changing experience that gave her a platform to learn about empowerment. Being a Peer Educator at Freely in Hope gives her an opportunity to impact girls in her community and prevent child marriages so that girls can achieve their dreams at their own pace.

Salomy Siachumbu

Peer Educator

Salomy is passionate about preventing sexual violence and ending child marriages in her community. Her goal is to study Psychology and become a Psychotherapist so that she can continue working and impacting lives in her community. Salomy has been a member of Super Girls Revolution since 2019 and is now a Peer Educator.

Stacy Mwaura

Survivor Care Supervisor

Stacy is skilled, experienced, and passionate about working in spaces that give people opportunities to fully thrive knowing that they are loved, seen, and cared for. She is a versatile, goal-oriented Program Lead with experience supporting the strategic direction of people projects, setting and monitoring budgets, and managing teams while achieving overall organization goals and exceeding expectations. Stacy is a multi-talented team leader and player, excellent at building effective and productive working relationships across the divide. Stacy is currently taking a Master’s degree program in Counselling Psychology to apply psychological theories and principles to developing work systems, cultures, and programs for people to thrive from a place of health. She focused on increasing productivity in teams through sustainable work systems and culture to achieve overall organization goals.

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