Ciro Muiruri, Speaker Bio

Ciro’s remarkable life story is a true definition of resilience. Her journey of growing up as an AIDS orphan in one of Kenya’s toughest slums, surviving an attempted homicide, the abduction of her 8-year-old daughter, and eventually seeking asylum in Canada was recently featured in the Toronto Life Magazine.

Today, Ciro’s extraordinary story of transforming her own life from being a homeless refugee, starting a new life from scratch to leading Pendo International Projects, a Canadian Charity that builds schools in Kenya impacting the lives of more than 300 families annually is the inspiration behind her bold mission to teach others that it is possible to do the same. She continues to reinvent herself as a highly sought-after Speaker sharing her life experiences to inspire and stir her audience to action while leveraging the art of storytelling with passion. Ciro has graced corporate event stages at Sun-Life Financial, Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board, BMO-Bank of Montreal, Women’s College Hospital, Royal Bank of Canada (RBC), and charity events at Shelter Movers and United Way among others. 

Ciro is also an educator for human rights and serves as a board member in organizations such as Sojourn House Refugee Shelter in Toronto. In 2022, Ciro received the prestigious Echoing Green Global Fellowship. So whether your organization is having a celebratory event, fundraising or trying to understand cultural prejudices that may be impacting your corporate diversity and inclusion strategy, or facing a period of unprecedented adversity, your team will no doubt revere Ciro for her mastery of teaching people how to accomplish unfathomable goals and tap their limitless potential.

LinkedIn: Ciro Muiruri

“You hold the power to remain the ash or transform into a phoenix. It’s entirely up to you” Ciro Muiruri.

  • BMO (Bank Of Montreal)

  • Women's College Hospital

  • United Way Of GTA

  • Songs Of The City, Toronto

  • Lecture Session University of Toronto

  • Sojourn House Refugee Shelter

  • Shelter Movers

  • Lecture Session UofT

  • United Way/BMO

  • IWD - Scotia Bank

What People Are Saying

“Ciro is a sought-after speaker and in fact,  so moved an executive audience at one of the large banks that they captured her presentation on video, sharing it across the organization reaching thousands. She  has also been selected as a keynote  speaker at United Way Songs of the City  event on April 5, 2018.”

— Sherry Hugh,  United Way. 

“Powerful, inspiring speaker who communicates her important message from a very personal place. She is a gifted  storyteller who brings her listeners along  a very difficult, transformative journey” 

— Marc Hull-Jacquin, Executive Director Shelter Movers

“She’s polished, poised, and pretty darn smart! I would not hesitate to recommend her as a speaker for top-level  events and campaigns.” Katy Rea, Center  For Addiction and Mental Health"

— Katy Rea, Center  For Addiction and Mental Health 

"Ciro Muiruri spoke at the University of Toronto's Family Residents Association of Toronto core teaching day on the theme of health equity. She was an articulate, poised, and incredibly engaging speaker and our residents were held captive by her storytelling. It was highly suggested that we invite a speaker with lived experience, and Ciro made us so glad we did because of her candid and spirited presentation. Our resident doctors benefitted greatly from hearing her speak, and many highlighted to me the fact that her presentation was the highlight of our teaching day. We would strongly recommend her for any future relevant engagement".

—Ilan Fellus and Vivian Tam, FRAT Presidents 2019-2020,

Department of Family & Community Medicine, University of Toronto