Beckett Talks: Lisa O’Keeffe

For Women’s History Month, Carnegie School of Sport Senior Lecturer Dr Lisa O’Keeffe chatted with Annette Stride in the latest edition of the Beckett Talks podcast to share with us how she empowers Kenyan women through access to sport.

Over the last three years, Dr O’Keeffe has worked with an international charity  in America whose aim is to empower women. Working with women who live in rural areas of Kenya, the charity supports women to improve their standard of living, help feed their families, and ensure their children are able to go to school.

One of the ways Dr O’Keeffe works with the young women is through sport.  Programmes have been set up to encourage women to play football, train in track and field events, and compete in sports days. In the future, scholarships programs and a girl’s leadership program will be available for young women to support them on their sporting journey.

Dr O’Keeffe says, “I see these projects being so important for these communities in Kenya, especially at a local level because other than it keeping you fit and healthy, it’s giving people confidence that they know there’s something else that they can maybe try. It’s empowering them to feel like they can make some choices about what sport they want to play, or working as a team that’s developing their traits and skills and that maybe it’s more fun to learn through sport than it is in a classroom.”