Meet Elizabeth Marami – Kenya’s first female Marine Pilot And Motivational Figure
Born Elizabeth W. Marami and raised in Kenya, Elizabeth made history in 2014 by becoming the first female Marine Pilot in Kenya after passing her International Unlimited 2nd Mate License examination.
Elizabeth, 33, is now a Second officer in command on board the merchant navy foreign going ships at the Kenya Ports Authority, First Officer at Celebrity Cruises Inc, and the founder of an online platform called “Against the Tide.”
The media platform is a “colorful, pen-your-story style of blog” that aims to inspire other women and advocate for SDG 5 in the seafaring sector by sharing stories of female seafarers across the globe.
According to her: “Working in a male-dominated industry has had its challenges, including earning the respect of senior management as a female professional. I have had those who have accepted me, helped me become better, and there have been some rejections that stung so hard I almost gave up, but overall I’d say I have certainly grown a thick skin.”
In 2013, Elizabeth obtained her BSc. Nautical Technology, at the Arab Academy for Science Technology and Maritime Transport in Alexandria, Egypt. In 2014, she aced the International Unlimited 2nd Mate license examination, making her the first female marine pilot in Kenya at age 25, and is now pursuing an MBA in Operations Management at the University of Nairobi. She also holds a certificate in Maritime Studies from Hochschule Bremen in Germany.
Elizabeth is very passionate about mentorship, and she has several platforms and initiatives in Kenya, Africa, where she reaches out to her target communities. These include the Girl Education Challenge (GEC), Kenya, which aims to help the world’s poorest girls improve their lives through education. The organization also seeks to create better means of getting girls into school and ensure that they get the kind of quality education that can transform and secure their future.
She is also part of an organization called Akili Dada, which aims to nurture transformative leadership in girls and young women from underprivileged backgrounds.
There is also the KUZA Project in Kenya’s second-largest city, Mombasa. This movement seeks to encourage sustainable job creation and productivity and also address selected root causes of youth unemployment in the city.
Elizabeth has served as a Brand Endorser with Proctor & Gamble in Kenya on the Always Sanitary Pad campaign “Stand Up and Keep Girls in School Campaign.” The initiative sought to highlight the plight of girls who have to miss school due to a lack of sanitary pads.
She is also the Kenyan National Coordinator for Women in Maritime in Africa (WIMA), and she was listed in the Business Daily’s “Kenya Top 40 Under 40 Woman” back in 2015.
