Kanyoro spent twenty years in Geneva, Switzerland: the first ten years with the Lutheran World Federation as Executive Director for Women and Church and Society, and the next with the World YWCA, where she made history as the first non-white General Secretary (CEO) in 150 years history of the YWCA Movement. Kanyoro received a Ph.D in Linguistics from the University of Texas in Austin and a Doctor of Ministry (DMin) from San Francisco Theological Seminary. She was also a Visiting Scholar at Harvard Divinity in Old Testament and Hebrew Studies. Musimbi Kanyoro has held leadership positions in Research of Languages, Human Rights and Philanthropy. Kanyoro is the recipient of numerous awards over the years including a recognition as one of the 21 Women Leaders for the 21st Century by Women’s E-News. In 2015, Forbes named her as one of the 10 power brands working for gender equality and in 2016 she was recognized on a list of “Forty over 40 – women who are reinventing, and disrupting and making an impact”. In 2018, she was named among the 100 people making a difference in gender policy, and in 2019 she was recognised as one of the nine people who fought for the planet alongside Bill Gates, Ban Ki-moon and Michael Bloomberg.