Peter Kithene

Peter Wilson Kithene is the founder and CEO of Mama Maria Kenya.

A Kenyan native, Peter Kithene holds a BA in Psychology from the University of Washington. Peter witnessed endless suffering due to lack of healthcare, including the deaths of his parents, siblings, neighbors, and friends – all who died with no chance to seek care. Having lost both parents and six siblings by age 12, Peter made it his dream to stop this cycle of suffering by bringing reliable healthcare to rural Africa.

After receiving his undergraduate degree, Peter chose to focus entirely on creating a sustainable, rural healthcare solution by refining the Mama Maria Clinic model he and his wife had founded in 2005. The end result was an innovative and sustainable approach to healthcare previously unseen in rural Africa. Peter combined his unique background and visionary perspective on how and why rural villages, like the one he was raised in, endure the problems they do, and used that to create a sustainable answer to the problem of healthcare. His solution changed the focus from giving to the needy to providing an opportunity for them to invest in their own future. In so doing, he altered the face of rural African healthcare.

In 2011 Peter was named a Top Five Finalist for Schwab Foundation’s Social Entrepreneur of the Year, Africa (in participation with the World Economic Forum). In 2007, he was chosen one out of more than 7,000 applicants from 93 countries to be CNN’s Global Heroes honoree of “Medical Marvel” honoree for his work in developing rural healthcare in Africa. In 2008, he was named as one University of Washington’s “Wondrous 100” — one of 100 described as UW’s “extraordinary and influential living graduates.”

Peter divides his time between Kenya, and his home in Seattle, Washington, with his wife, Katrina, and sons, Mathó and Zakayo. As he continues to run MMC, Peter is completing his MPH in Global Health at the University of Washington.