Tanzania: Dr. Victoria Marwa Heilman

Born in 1973 in the Mwanza Region of Tanzania, Dr. Victoria Marwa Heilman is the founder and managing director of Alama Architecture in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania (2012), as well as the co-founder and executive director of Tanzanian Women Architects for Humanity (TAWAH, 2010). She holds a bachelor’s of architecture from the University of Dar Es Salaam in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania; a master’s of architecture from The Catholic University of America in Washington, DC; and a PhD in architecture from the University of Stuttgart in Stuttgart, Germany.

Dr. Heilman was a lecturer at the School of Architecture and Design at Ardhi University in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania until 2018, and volunteered for Habitat for Humanity Tanzania (2007–2008). She serves as a member of the Architects Association of Tanzania, and was a board member of the Tanzania Green Building Council (TZGBC). She led the TAWAH team to winning the World Habitat Gold Award (2025); was featured in the book, 100 Women: Architects in Practice (2023); and she was named one of the “50 Influential African Women Architects” by African Column (2024), a Mama Hope Global Advocate (2020), an Eisenhower Fellow (2016), and a Ford Foundation IFP Fellow (2004).