she/her/hers
Cleo Kambugu is a 32-year-old Ugandan Trans woman activist who currently as the current Programmes Officer Grantmaking and administration of UHAI UHAI is an indigenous activist fund that works through grantmaking, and capacity support to resource sex worker and sexual and gender minority organising in Eastern Africa. She joined UHAI f as a Programme Assistant Grantmaking and Capacity Support and has in four short years risen first to head the Grants Administration docket of UHAI supervising a staff of five and later to head the entire docket and spearhead the making and administration of about USD 1,800,000 (80 grants) per year across seven Eastern African countries of Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, Ethiopia and DRC in English, French and Swahili.
Her work has also included her participation in informing the development of activist-led funds like UHAI for example the International Trans Fund and currently ISDAO the West African LGBTQ Fund, where on behalf of UHAI she is working to inform the development of the funds grant making framework and guidelines in particular and its programmes in general. As a Board Member on Astraea’s Lesbian Foundation’s activist advisory Board she works to inform the foundation’s work in Africa both from her activist and philanthropic perspective, and on behalf of UHAI she over sees and informs the grantmaking work of the Uganda Human Rights Fund.
Her philanthropy aside, Cleopatra’s activism has involved the use of film in advocacy. Her documentary “The pearl of Africa” which currently sits on the Netflix platform and has won world wide international accolades chronicles her experiences navigating affirmative trans* healthcare, as well as that of her and her partner deliberating the universality of love, and pathologisation of trans* bodies, their relationships, families and partners.
Academically she has pursued an undergraduate degree in Agriculture with a bias to Crop Pathology as well as an Msc. degree in Molecular Biology and Biotechnology both at Makerere University as scholarships from the Government of Uganda and the latter as a World Bank Fellow.