Tulizo Foundation Ambassador Programme athletes with facilitators Clare Maina (left) and Kolly Wanders (right) (© Kijiji Photographers)
The work of Nzimaheart Runners has become a shared mission thanks to the launch of the Tulizo Foundation as part of a three-year partnership with the ASICS Foundation.
Nzimaheart Runners, which has since been renamed as the Tulizo Athletics Club, is the only all-female training camp in Iten, Kenya, dedicated to supporting the growth and development of athletes in a safe environment. The group was founded by Joan Kolly Wanders, Mary Keitany and Carolyne Jepkosgei in 2024 and huge strides have been made since its launch – including the creation of the Tulizo Foundation and ASICS Foundation partnership in May of this year.
The Tulizo Foundation aims to address gender-based violence (GBV), gender inequality, and limited access to safe and supportive environments for women and girls. Through sport, education, mentorship and community engagement, the foundation works to promote dignity, protection and long-term social change.
Kolly Wanders coaches the Nzimaheart Runners, members of the Tulizo Foundation Ambassador Programme in Iten
According to UNESCO (2025), 40% of women in Kenya have experienced emotional, physical, or psychological intimate partner violence, while one third of women globally have experienced physical and/or sexual violence (United Nations).
In the past, Wanders, Keitany and Jepkosgei saw the signs, but they were unable to stop it. So, they launched their mission to stop gender-based violence, one girl at a time.
“Through the Partnership Program, ASICS Foundation works collaboratively with partner organisations rather than only providing financial support,” says Masayo Hasegawa of the ASICS Foundation. “We combine our respective expertise and strengths to address social challenges together.”
Tulizo Foundation’s four pillars
The Tulizo Foundation takes a four-pillar approach: school outreach, community outreach, community runs and the ambassador programme.
One of the programme’s targets is 40 attendees at each community workshop. At the first community workshop on GBV, more than 150 women aged between 17 and 80 turned up.
“We didn’t have enough room; we had to add seats outside,” says Wanders. “Everyone was so happy, and even now, when you go on to the street, they ask: ‘When is the next session?’ They have new ideas, they all wanted something that is really for women.”
Each Tulizo workshop opens with the macarena, now a staple icebreaker of the programme.
Kolly Wanders leads the ice-breaker dance at the Tulizo Foundation workshop (© Toni Hiram)
“Coming together as women, having some fun, and speaking up about what women go through in their daily lives gives them courage and free space to talk and to find solutions,” says Tulizo Foundation facilitator Clare Maina. “We love to give solutions.”
Hasegawa adds: “We hope to contribute to safer and more inclusive communities where women and girls can live with dignity, participate in sport, and pursue their aspirations with confidence.”
The impact can already be seen.
“Walking down the street, I noticed one lady has started growing vegetables in her compound as a way to be financially independent and reduce the likelihood of GBV,” Maina says.
Underpinning everything is the power of sport.
The group runs bring the community together through non-professional running. During Christmas, Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha, participants in Tulizo's community runs will also share goods with those who are less fortunate.
“The goal of Tulizo is to make the community want to have that change, so that it comes from them, not from people telling them what to do,” says Wanders.
The team acknowledges it will take time for trust to build and for older women to open up, but they are already starting to see it happen.
Reflecting on the ASICS team’s recent visit to Iten, Hasegawa says: “What stood out most was the trust that Tulizo Foundation has built within the local community and the safe environment it provides for women and girls. We could see how sport is being used not only to develop athletic potential, but also to encourage confidence, education, leadership, and mutual support.”
Facilitators approach with a listening-first mentality, which has enabled more intergenerational stories and conversations. This generational connection is amplified through the ambassador programme.
Athletes from Tulizo Athletics Club are being trained as mentors and leaders within their community. Tulizo Foundation provides the athletes with additional education, mentorship and leadership skills. Classes include GBV, social media, financial literacy, mental health, nutrition, injury prevention and education on opportunities after their athletics careers.
The programme trains the athletes to become ambassadors for change and leadership, and to mentor the next generation. In time, the ambassador programme will invite girls from outside the camp to participate.
The Tulizo Foundation marked the first partnership project in Africa under the ASICS Foundation Partnership Program.
Next steps
“We are very grateful to the ASICS Foundation team because they are so keen on empowering women and girls,” says Wanders. “With their support, it will really help us go beyond. Not just in Iten, but we are planning to go even beyond the region, to other counties, and later, nationwide. That is our biggest goal.”
Maina adds: “Giving back to the community doesn’t need much energy, it just needs you and some strength.”
That is the spirit of the women behind the Tulizo Foundation.
One girl at a time. One woman at a time. Tulizo and the ASICS Foundation team are changing the story.
Emily Colquhoun for World Athletics