Note: When we first heard Miryana’s story, we were absolutely blown away by her ambition and her drive. This is not a story you will want to scroll past! 

Meet Miryana Chirimwami, a senior studying public relations at the SOJC. In addition to being an Account Executive at Allen Hall Public Relations, Miryana is also a founder and Chief Executive Officer. 

Miryana always had a passion for business and communications, and she fell in love with public relations. For most of us at UO, this means joining AHPR and applying to a couple of boutique PR firms in the months leading up to graduation. But Miryana decided to take things into her own hands and founded her own PR firm last fall, My Choice Public Relations. When asked what inspired her to start her own firm, she said “I just realized, I knew exactly what I wanted to do, so why wait?”

She figured the best time to start her business was now; she is young, willing to learn and ready to face any challenges that may come her way. “Failure is not a fear because it won’t stop me from doing better in the future, and I have time to do that,” Miryana said. “If the pandemic has taught us anything, it is that anything can happen at any time. If I want something, I am going to do it now.”

When we asked Miryana about the future of her business, and if she hopes to run it as a boutique PR firm, she stopped us. “No,” she said. “I plan to grow this company until it is the next Edelman.” By the time Miryana is 26, her goal is to make MCPR its own standing agency. She wants MCPR to be a big agency with its own skyscraper building and signage to prove it. 

As MCPR grows into the next big agency, Miryana plans to grow Vision Malaria Foundation too. VMF, a foundation Miryana founded, will help provide proper care and prevention kits for malaria in places that lack the life-saving resources. 

Malaria, a preventable but deadly disease, is extremely prevalent in Miryana’s home, Tanzania Dar Es salaam. Miryana’s younger sister died of malaria a month after her first birthday. 

MCPR and VMF are the personifications of Miryana’s goal to give back to her country and honor her sister’s memory. When Miryana immigrated to the United States at 7, she thought the only way she could give back was by becoming a doctor. Now, she lives out her passion for business and PR while simultaneously honoring her sister’s memory and all those senselessly lost to malaria. 

She hopes her story will also encourage young immigrants to find ways to pursue their dreams, while also giving back to the communities that raised them.

Before today, you might not have heard the name Miryana Chirimwami, but trust us, you will. Miryana is a UO student, a CEO, an immigrant and a hard-working humble woman. Most of all, she is a sister and a family member dedicated to turning her love for business and story-telling into an international company and a life-saving foundation. 

We are incredibly lucky to have Miryana on our team. She has inspired us beyond belief and we cannot wait to see her continue on her journey to change the world.

To get in touch with Miryana about MCPR, send her a message on LinkedIn. For more information about malaria, go to https://www.who.int/health-topics/malaria#tab=tab_1