bACKGROUND

Noëlla was born in the Democratic Republic of Congo to a Cypriot father and a Congolese mother. At five years old, her life changed when her father suddenly died. Noëlla's mother could no longer support her so she was sent to live with relatives in Europe.  

Throughout her difficult childhood, Noëlla had little or no contact with home. Over the course of 13 years she exchanged a few letters with her mother and had two or three phone calls. Christmas and birthdays were hardly celebrated. Whilst living with relatives she was allowed to pursue her education and Noëlla's determination as she progressed through school and then onto higher education led to her receiving a degree in Business Management.

Shortly after finishing her degree, Noëlla's friend entered her into a modelling competition and she was chosen to appear in a campaign for Agent Provocateur. Noëlla did various campaigns in New York and London and modeling took Noëlla from the pages of fashion magazines like Vogue, Elle, Vanity Fair and Marie Claire to a global stage. As she traveled the world she always wanted to give back and share her passion for human rights.

At the age of 18, Noëlla returned to her homeland to meet her mother. It was then that the vision for Malaika was planted in her heart as she witnessed firsthand the poverty and lack of opportunity for women in the country. In 2007, Noëlla founded Malaika, a nonprofit grassroots organization that empowers Congolese girls and their communities through education and health programs. Malaika’s projects are impacting thousands of lives in the community of Kalebuka and in Congo and are all offered completely free of charge. 

These include a school that provides an accredited, holistic curriculum for over 430 girls, a Community Center built partially in partnership with FIFA that provides education, health, and sports programmes to over 5,000 youth and adults each year, clean water for over 35,000 people each year through the building and refurbishment of 31 wells and an agriculture program, which helps feed students and staff 2 meals each day; and a technical program.

Noëlla works to promote and advocate for the value of education and has reached out beyond the village of Kalebuka to the nation of the DRC and the continent of Africa in order to engage with surrounding communities. As one of the leading voices in girls’ education in the world, Noëlla is an Ambassador for The Global Fund, to Fight Aids, Tuberculosis, and Malaria.

Read more about Noella’s advocacy and philanthropy here.

In her work as an international model, Noëlla’s passion is to model with meaning, using her profile to raise awareness for causes she believes in as a mother, a feminist, and a believer that it is an intrinsic human right to access education, health, and opportunity.

Read more about her work as a model here. 

Noëlla is a proud mother of two children, JJ and Cara. Raising children who recognise the value of giving back and empowering others is important to Noëlla, and her children join her in Congo over the summer holidays each year and participate in Malaika’s work there by helping to distribute malaria nets, amongst other tasks and activities. Both children also donate their birthdays to Malaika every year.