Tiko has appointed Serah Joy Malaba as Co-Chief Executive Officer, joining founder and current CEO, Benoit Renard, in a shared leadership model aimed at scaling impact for adolescent girls across Africa. The pair will co-lead the organisation’s next phase as it deepens its efforts to address unintended pregnancy, HIV and sexual and gender-based violence among adolescent girls.
Benoit says, “Tiko was born from the belief that we can solve public health crises with girls at the centre. It has been a remarkable decade, with 2024 standing out as Tiko’s greatest year of growth, scale and impact. We have now delivered over 2.7 million youth-friendly services to more than 1.1 million girls across seven countries in Africa. We more than doubled our reach from 2023 to 2024. As we now move to scale this impact even further, I am excited to build this next phase with Serah. Serah has played a pivotal role in delivering more services to more girls and she brings bold ideas, deep care, and a sharp eye for turning vision into action.”
Since founding Tiko in 2014, Benoit has led the organisation to becoming a trusted provider of tech-enabled, girl-friendly health services. Today, Tiko’s model connects girls to care through community-based support and digital technology, delivering services with dignity, speed, and impact.
Serah, who previously served as Chief Impact Officer, played a central role in designing and rolling out Tiko’s “Triple Threat” strategy which confronts the intersecting crises of unintended pregnancy, HIV and sexual and gender-based violence. She has led the organisation’s expansion into seven African countries, forging strong partnerships with governments, clinics, and communities to scale girl-centred care.
Serah adds, “Girls want systems that see them, listen to them, and work for them. We are building solutions with them, not for them. Tiko’s ecosystem connects girls to care through a network of trained mobilisers, quality assured clinics, and stigma free health workers who serve as companions. Through a grassroots-led and tech- powered model, girls are able to stay in school, make timely health choices , and build more secure and independent lives. Stepping into this role means I carry their stories, their resilience, and their hopes into every decision we make. I’m proud to co-lead a team that is committed to transforming how health systems respond to the needs of girls across Africa.”
Under the new co-leadership, Tiko will implement its ambitious five-year strategic plan to support 4 million girls by 2030. The Co-CEO structure highlights Tiko’s continued commitment to inclusive, African-led, female leadership. From the Tiko board to the in-country teams, we are leading by example. As an expert in leading large-scale healthcare programmes, Serah’s focus will be on delivery, integration and government co-financing while Benoit will oversee innovative financing, operations and technology. The shared model keeps us close to the communities we serve, ensuring girls remain at the centre of the solutions built for their future.
Serah will be based in Nairobi, Kenya, while Benoit continues to lead from Cape Town, South Africa.
About Tiko
Tiko strengthens the resilience of girls across Africa by protecting them from the “Triple Threat”: unintended pregnancy, HIV, and sexual and gender-based violence. We connect girls to free health and wellbeing services across health systems, through a community-driven and tech-enabled model of care. By removing barriers and acting as their companion, Tiko helps girls to shape their own futures where they thrive.
Enquiries : shelley@tiko.org