Born and raised in Kenya, Dr. Obama studied in Germany, obtaining a Masters degree at the University of Heidelberg. She completed her doctorate studies at the University of Bayreuth and also graduated from the Berlin Film and Television Academy. Dr. Obama lived and worked in Germany and the UK for several years before returning to Kenya to work for the humanitarian agency, CARE International. A key component of her work there was to create and coordinate Sport for Social Change Network, a global initiative that uses sport as a tool for social change. Dr. Obama is the Director of the Sauti Kuu Foundation (www.sautikuufoundation.org), which she founded in 2010 Dr Auma Obama. Sauti Kuu (Kiswahili for ‘Powerful Voices’) seeks to give a voice to financially and socially disadvantaged children and youth. Using a Self-Help Model of intervention the Foundation works to unlock their potential and enable them to improve their lives. Dr Obama also has held/ holds the following positions: Trustee of the Jacobs Foundation (2011 – 2015), Councilor of the World Future Council (2015 - Current), Patron of the Storymoja International Festival (2014 – Current) and the WELT Business Club (2017). Trustee of the Stiftung Lesen (German Reading Foundation (2015 – 2017), and a Council Member of the Kilimanjaro Initiative since 2014. Trustee of the Jim Button Foundation,  Dr. Obama is the Initiator of the Sauti Kuu Act Now Youth Awards. Dr Obama is also a published author. Her memoir ‘Das Leben kommt immer dazwischen’, was first written and published in German in 2010. The English edition ‘And Then Life Happens’ later came out in 2012. She has been awarded numerous prizes for her humanitarian work as well as an international Speaker. Dr. Obama, is an alumni of the Rockefeller Foundation‘s Bellagio Centre Residency Program.