London, England, United Kingdom, February 2026 — Educate! has appointed Marica Rizzo as Global Director of People, marking a significant step in strengthening its global people strategy as the organization scales its youth employment mission across Africa.
Marica transitions into the global role after serving as Director of People at Educate!, where she led the organization’s people agenda across international teams. In that capacity, she supported the growth of a mission-driven workforce aligned to Educate!’s vision of preparing youth in Africa to learn, earn, and thrive in today’s economy. Her elevation reflects both her leadership impact and the organization’s commitment to investing in people systems that enable sustainable growth.
Prior to joining Educate!, Marica spent over eight years at Acumen, where she held progressive leadership roles within Acumen Academy. As Associate Director, she oversaw central operations of the flagship Fellows Programs and led the development of The Foundry, a global alumni community. Earlier, as Global Community Lead, she designed and implemented engagement strategies to strengthen networks of fellows, accelerator alumni, and course participants committed to building inclusive and sustainable solutions worldwide.
Her earlier roles at Acumen included launching innovative blended learning models, designing global leadership boot camps, and building digital communities for social change leaders. She also served as a Fellow with The Coaching Fellowship, reinforcing her dedication to cultivating women leaders in social impact spaces.
With a career spanning education, community-building, leadership development, and organizational design, Marica brings a global perspective to her new mandate. As Global Director of People, she will focus on strengthening talent systems, nurturing organizational culture, and enabling teams across regions to deliver meaningful, measurable impact for youth across East Africa.
About Educate!
Educate! is a leading youth employment organization in East Africa, preparing young people to learn, earn, and thrive in today’s economy. Operating across Uganda, Rwanda, Kenya, and Tanzania, Educate! introduces employment-focused curricula in secondary schools and delivers livelihood bootcamps for out-of-school youth, with a strong focus on girls and young women. To date, the organization has impacted more than 600,000 youth and aims to scale solutions that measurably improve millions of lives annually.
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