From Idea to Impact: How Rebecca Nantaba Kisitu Is Building Menstrual Health Leadership in Uganda

Entrepreneur Spotlight: Rebecca Nantaba Kisitu

Founder and CEO, Uplift Health for Her (Alpha Mai Africa Ltd.)

Rebecca Nantaba Kisitu is a social entrepreneur working to improve menstrual health, dignity, and access to reproductive health services for women and girls in Uganda.

She is the founder and CEO of Uplift Health for Her, a social enterprise registered as Alpha Mai Africa Limited, which manufactures reusable sanitary pads under the Uplift Pads brand and provides menstrual health education. Alongside menstrual products, the enterprise also promotes access to menstrual pain relief and modern contraceptive options, helping women and girls better manage their reproductive health.

At the core of Rebecca’s work is a simple belief: When women thrive, communities flourish.

A Health Professional Turned Social Entrepreneur

Rebecca brings strong professional experience to her entrepreneurial journey. She is a Palliative Care Specialist with a Bachelor of Science in Palliative Care from Makerere University and has more than five years of experience in project management.

In addition, she is a certified social entrepreneurship trainer, a Social Innovation Academy (SINA) model replicator, and an Adolescent Health Champion.

Earlier in her career, Rebecca served as an ambassador for the Determined, Resilient, Empowered, AIDS-Free, Mentored and Safe Women (DREAMS) initiative, supported by PEPFAR and formerly USAID. Through this work, she engaged with adolescent girls and young women to address the structural factors that increase HIV risk, including poverty, gender inequality, sexual violence, and limited access to education.

These experiences shaped her commitment to improving women’s health and empowerment through innovative and sustainable approaches.

The POWER Accelerator Journey

Rebecca joined the POWER Young Women Accelerator (Cohort III) in January 2025 with an early-stage business idea.

Through intensive training, mentorship, and coaching in social entrepreneurship, business planning, and fundraising, she transformed that idea into a structured and fundable enterprise.

Her startup focuses on four key areas:

• Menstrual health products
• Menstrual cramp pain relief
• Access to modern contraceptive pills
• School retention support for adolescent girls and young women

A key focus of the initiative is reaching hard-to-reach communities on Bussi Island in Wakiso District, where access to menstrual health products and services remains limited.

Through the POWER accelerator, Rebecca was able to:

• Develop a complete investment-ready business plan
• Legally register Alpha Mai Africa Limited on 15 July 2025
• Strengthen her fundraising and partnership development skills
• Position the business for future growth and scaling

Impact and Growth

Expanding Production and Team Capacity

Since launching her enterprise, Rebecca has significantly expanded operations. Her production capacity has grown, and her core team has increased from one to seven members, supported by two technical advisors.

Financial Growth

The enterprise has also demonstrated strong financial progress. Rebecca’s operational capital increased from UGX 1,500,000 in 2024 to UGX 8,000,000 within just ten months, reflecting the business management and fundraising skills she developed through the accelerator.

Reaching More Communities

Uplift Health for Her now operates from two branches in Kampala and Bussi Island, improving access to menstrual health products and education for underserved communities.

Leadership Beyond Her Own Enterprise

Rebecca’s impact now extends beyond the growth of her own startup.

Following her outstanding performance in the POWER accelerator, she was recruited by Action 4 Health Uganda (A4HU) to serve as Lead Consultant in establishing the Malangala Menstrual Hub, supported by DSW.

Between September and December 2025, Rebecca led the process of revitalizing a previously closed menstrual health production facility. Her work included:

• Rehabilitating the production site
• Strengthening the capacity of a 15-member production team
• Supporting manufacturing, marketing, and sales systems
• Promoting menstrual hygiene management among 3,015 girls and young women in Kassanda and Mityana districts

The Malangala Menstrual Hub serves as a pilot model for decentralized sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) social entrepreneurship hubs integrated within Youth Empowerment Centres.

Importantly, it demonstrates how POWER alumni can transition from accelerator participants to national-level implementers, supporting broader systems change.

Global Fund Recognition of the POWER Model

The potential of the POWER approach is also being recognized at the national level.

In January 2025, Action 4 Health Uganda presented the POWER model as a scalable solution under the Global Fund grant cycle, supporting Uganda’s HIV and TB Reduction Strategic Plans.

Following assessment by The AIDS Support Organisation (TASO), the model was selected for scale-up due to its integrated approach addressing:

• Gender equality
• Women’s economic empowerment
• Entrepreneurship development
• Access to finance through the Multi-sectoral Investment Fund

In July 2025, a grant was awarded to pilot the approach with 348 adolescent girls aged 15–17 in Kyankwanzi and Buliisa districts.

The long-term vision is to establish decentralized SRHR Social Entrepreneurship Hubs within Youth Empowerment Centres, each serving between eight and ten youth clubs.

These hubs will be led by POWER alumni and certified community-based business coaches, ensuring:

• Community ownership
• Sustainable access to SRHR products and services
• Expansion of women-led enterprises
• Strengthened economic empowerment

The Malangala Menstrual Hub will serve as the first prototype for this model.

A Model That Builds Leaders

Rebecca’s journey illustrates one of the core strengths of the POWER Accelerator.

The program does not only support the creation of startups. It also develops female leaders who go on to strengthen health systems and entrepreneurial ecosystems.

Through combined support from DSW, Action 4 Health Uganda, Makerere University School of Public Health, and partners including the Global Fund, the POWER model is evolving from an accelerator program into a broader ecosystem for women-led social entrepreneurship in reproductive health.

Rebecca Nantaba Kisitu is no longer only an entrepreneur.

She is now a system builder helping shape the future of women-led reproductive health innovation in Uganda.

Malangala Menstrual Hub production team Trained by Rebecca to produce re-usable sanitary Pads. 

Ready products made by Malangala Menstrual Hub under the brand name MARE Pads.