Ugandan-born, United Kingdom-based empowerment leader Stella Olivia Namakula Kikoyo has received international recognition for her work advancing women’s empowerment, education and leadership after winning Gold in the Gender Empowerment category at the 2026 Women Changing the World Global Awards in Paris, France.
The award places Kikoyo among women from around the world recognised for creating impact through leadership, education, advocacy, business, humanitarian work, innovation and other fields.
More than 1,500 nominations from 97 countries were submitted for the 2026 awards, reflecting the international scope of the programme and the breadth of work being undertaken by women across different sectors and communities.
For Kikoyo, the Paris recognition represents another milestone in a journey spanning more than two decades and bringing together education, marketing, media, entrepreneurship, leadership and women’s empowerment.
At the centre of that work is a simple idea: knowledge can become a force for transformation when women are equipped to act on it and share it with others.
“Women’s empowerment is not simply about giving women more opportunities; it is about giving women access to knowledge that changes what they can see, what they believe is possible and what they are prepared to act upon,” Kikoyo says.
She describes this philosophy as “moving light from one woman to another in the form of knowledge.”
The concept has become a defining element of her work through Stellar Woman, the global empowerment, education and media platform she founded to amplify women’s voices, share knowledge and encourage women to pursue purposeful lives, leadership and meaningful legacies.
Her wider empowerment philosophy is expressed through the call:
BE HER. RISE. SHINE.
For Kikoyo, “Be Her” begins with identity and the recognition of one’s own possibilities. “Rise” represents taking action through knowledge, purpose and self-leadership. “Shine” is about extending that impact by sharing experience, knowledge and stories so that other women can see new possibilities for themselves.
She views visibility not as an end in itself, but as a means of creating wider impact.
“Knowledge becomes powerful when it is acted upon, and transformational when it is shared,” she says. “When a woman receives that knowledge and acts upon it, she rises. When she shares what she knows, she shines.”
Building a global platform for women
Kikoyo’s work has developed across several interconnected platforms.
As Founder, Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of Stellar Woman Magazine, she has built a digital and print publication centred on women’s leadership, entrepreneurship, careers, personal development, business and transformation.
The publication also provides a platform for women to share experiences and expertise, with the intention of turning individual stories into sources of knowledge and inspiration for other women.
As host of The Stellar Woman Show, Kikoyo has held conversations with internationally recognised leaders and authors, including Kim Kiyosaki, Sharon Lechter, Dr Maggie Kigozi and Susan Nsibirwa.
Through these conversations, she explores subjects including wealth creation, entrepreneurship, leadership, personal development and purposeful living.
Her work also extends through Stellar Woman Academy, where she delivers coaching, masterclasses, visioning experiences, leadership development and business and brand programmes.
The programmes are designed to support women as they clarify their purpose, strengthen self-leadership, develop careers and businesses and think intentionally about the legacy they want to create.
Kikoyo brings to this work more than 25 years of experience in Marketing and Business Management education in Uganda and the United Kingdom. A Chartered Marketer, Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, academic, author and international speaker, she has also worked in executive education, including delivering specialist masterclasses to Executive MBA participants.
Her areas of expertise include marketing, brand positioning, neuromarketing, Neuro-Linguistic Programming, coaching and mindfulness.
Recognition across Europe and beyond
The Paris Gold is the latest in a series of honours recognising Kikoyo’s work.
In April 2025, she received Bronze in Gender Empowerment at the Women Changing the World Awards in London.
Later that year, at the Women Changing the World European Awards in November, she received three honours: Gold for Gender Equality & Empowerment, Silver for Women in Education and Bronze for Women in Leadership.
In April 2026, she returned to the Women Changing the World Global Awards in Paris, where she received Gold in Gender Empowerment.
Kikoyo has also joined the Women Changing the World community as a judge, giving her an opportunity to participate in recognising and elevating the achievements of other women.
For her, the growing recognition is less about awards themselves and more about the opportunities they create to extend the reach of her work.
“Winning this award has stretched the horizon of what I see is possible,” she says. “For me, recognition is not the destination; it is an opportunity to take this work further, reach more women and keep the light moving.”
Extending the mission to the next generation
The expansion of Kikoyo’s work is also taking place through new partnerships and initiatives.
Her collaboration with Street Business School supports efforts to equip women with entrepreneurial knowledge and practical skills aimed at creating pathways from generational poverty towards greater economic opportunity and wealth creation.
Her commitment to younger women is being developed through Stellar Teen, an emerging media platform and magazine focused on teenage girls and issues including identity, confidence, self-awareness and leadership.
In September 2026, Kikoyo and longtime collaborator Divya Parekh are also scheduled to release Unstoppable, the first international anthology under the Stellar Woman platform. The project will provide women with another avenue to share their experiences, expertise and stories while building visibility and authority.
These initiatives are connected by Kikoyo’s belief that empowering one woman can have consequences far beyond the individual.
A woman who gains knowledge and confidence can influence her family, workplace and community. Her example can also shape the aspirations of younger generations.
That intergenerational dimension is central to Kikoyo’s long-term vision of creating what she describes as “a better and brighter world where millions of women rise into their potential and shine as Stellar Women.”
She hopes those women will use their knowledge, experiences and voices to enrich the lives of others and broaden what future generations believe is possible.
Her message is captured in the phrase:
“A better and brighter world, one Stellar Woman at a time.”
For Kikoyo, becoming a Stellar Woman is not about achieving a particular status or reaching a standard of perfection. Instead, it is an invitation for women to recognise and use the knowledge, experience and potential they already possess.
“A Stellar Woman does not rise simply for herself,” she says. “She rises so she can shine. And she shines so that somebody else can see.”
About Stella Olivia Namakula Kikoyo
Stella Olivia Namakula Kikoyo is a Ugandan-born, UK-based global empowerment leader, Chartered Marketer, academic, author and international speaker.
She is the Founder, Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of Stellar Woman Magazine, Founder of Stellar Woman Academy and host of The Stellar Woman Show.
With more than 25 years of experience in Marketing and Business Management education across Uganda and the United Kingdom, her work spans women’s empowerment, leadership, entrepreneurship, executive education, marketing, media and publishing.
Through Stellar Woman and her wider initiatives, Kikoyo works to equip women with knowledge, perspective and practical tools to pursue purposeful lives, develop their potential and create legacies that extend beyond themselves.
