Hope Azeda was raised as a refugee in Uganda and returned to Rwanda after finishing her theatre studies at Makerere University. She is one of the leading figures in contemporary Rwandan theatre. As the founder and artistic director of Mashirika Performing Arts and Media Company, a leading theatre company in Rwanda since 1997, the group collaboratively created »Africa’s Hope«. The work was performed many times in Kigali, at the G8 World Summit in Edinburgh in 2005, toured in the UK in 2006 and 2008, was held in the biennial festival in Sweden in 2008 and in Los Angeles 2012. To this date, Hope Azeda has been involved with 77 productions through Mashirika Performing Arts and Media Company and with countless other productions through partnerships and workshops acting as director, writer, mentor, and advisor. In 2015 after being tasked with creating a legacy based project, she started the Ubumuntu Arts Festival which brings together many countries from around the world to develop and showcase drama for reconciliation.