Mona Mowafi comes to Kripalu with more than 20 years of experience in global development, with a focus on health equity and social entrepreneurship. Most recently, Mona founded RISE Egypt, a global nonprofit catalyzing social entrepreneurship for development in Egypt. Having worked through the pains and privileges of leading a nonprofit that must navigate complex human as well as administrative labyrinths, Mona has found deep comfort and grounding in the practice of meditation and inner reflection in the continuous journey of becoming a transformational leader.

Prior to her adventures in the social entrepreneurship and leadership development space, Mona was a researcher and program manager promoting health equity in the U.S. and abroad. She holds a doctorate in Social Epidemiology from Harvard University and has received numerous awards for her work including the Judith O’Connor Award for emerging nonprofit leaders from Boardsource and a national leadership award from AmeriCorps Alums for her ongoing commitment to global development and service learning. With all this, Mona finds the most useful credential in this world to be that of kind human. She tries to abide by the motto she teaches her children, to be “kind, caring, and sharing,” with all else following from there. In her spare time, Mona loves to travel, read, row, and build bridges. She lives in Brookline, MA with her husband and two children, who are vying for a cat.