Yvonne Baldwin & MamaMate (Tanzania / South Africa) 

Shehara Apr 6, 2026 1 min read

MamaMate won both the Women’s Innovation Factory and the Grand Prize at the UN AI for Good Global Summit in Geneva, 2025, competing against 650 innovations worldwide. This was built because Yvonne lived the problem and she built as her community.

Document

Who Built It

Social innovator, first-time mother, founder of Ele-vate AI Africa. Not a tech background. A personal experience of isolation.

The Gap They Saw

30M+

Women give birth in Africa each year.

1 in 5

Experiences postnatal depression, often in silence.

Most

Most rural mothers have no access to postnatal guidance, especially in local languages.

What They Built

A pocket-sized, voice-powered device that works

Offline

Charges by solar or USB

Speaks local languages including Swahili, Zulu, and Arabic

Tracks baby care routines

Gives culturally relevant health advice

Monitors maternal wellbeing

Connects mothers anonymously with each other.

Who It Serves

First-time mothers in rural and underserved communities across East, West, Central, and Southern Africa.

Piloting in Tanzania and South Africa, expanding to refugee settings.

Award

Women’s Innovation Factory
& The Grand Prize at the UN AI for Good Global

Geneva, 2025, competing against 650 innovations worldwide.

This was built because Yvonne lived the problem and she built as her community.

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