Wanja Muraya

Co-founder of Ushahidi, pioneer of crowdsourced crisis mapping for global humanitarian response

Wanja Muraya is a Kenyan technologist and co-founder of Ushahidi, an open-source platform that revolutionized crisis response through crowdsourced data collection. Born in Nairobi, Muraya developed Ushahidi in 2008 alongside Ory Okolloh and Erik Hersman during Kenya’s post-election violence. The platform allows users to submit reports via SMS, email, or web forms, which are then mapped in real-time to track emergencies like natural disasters, political unrest, or health outbreaks. Ushahidi’s impact is global: it was used during the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the 2015 Nepal earthquake, and the Ebola outbreak in West Africa. Muraya’s work earned her a MacArthur Foundation 'Genius Grant' in 2011 and recognition as a TED Fellow. She later co-founded Appropix, a firm creating tech solutions for marginalized communities. Her legacy lies in democratizing access to information during crises and proving the power of African innovation in global tech.