Hometown: Samburu County, Kenya
Major: Economics
Minor: Peace and Justice Studies
Mathew Ltisinywa Letua is a student of Economics, Peace and Justice Studies at Tufts University, class of 2026. He is one of the fourteen sons and daughters of Letua, a nomadic pastoralist family in Samburu County, Northern Kenya. He began his academic journey at Maralal Primary school, later joining Murang’a High School (Academic performance & analysis, Top Students - Murang'a High School) in Central Kenya under the Equity Bank Wings to Fly scholarship program. He’s a Kenya Scholar Access Program (Tufts(8) — KenSAP) alumnus, one of Africa's most prestigious and competitive college access programmes.
In his first semester at Tufts, Mathew was among twelve students selected as Tisch Scholars in Peru, where he lived and studied in a rural Andean community, interrogating assumptions about development and solidarity across cultural contexts. He was later selected as one of two Tufts representatives to the McDonald Conference | U.S. Military Academy West Point - an immersive leadership experience combining high-level dialogue on ethics, integrity, and service with hands-on military drill and field training alongside West Point cadets. At Tufts, Mathew served as International Community Senator in the Tufts Community Union Senate, where he participated in the oversight of over $2 million student organization budget. He served in the Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life as both Staff Assistant and Student Advisory Council member - one of twelve students chosen to sit directly with institutional leadership, advising the Dean on programming, outreach, and the broader student experience. He wrote for the Tufts Admissions Office JumboTalk (Mathew Letua - Jumbo Talk), helping prospective students navigate pathways to higher education.
Mathew is the 2026 Davis Projects for Peace grantee. He will implement Economic Shields in Samburu, working with 80 women and 30 girls to deliver financial literacy, seed capital for entrepreneurship, and emergency scholarships - and to bring Equity Bank's Women in Business programme to Northern Kenya for the first time.
His journey to Tufts, scholarships and robust mentorships mirrors the transformative power he now seeks to create in the face of the world. He founded the Namayiana Youth Mentorship Program in 2023 with $750 in Tisch Fund support. The program has grown into a self-sustaining initiative reaching over 110 students through three annual sessions focused on civic engagement, financial literacy, and peacebuilding in Northern Kenya.
Upon graduation, Mathew will join Barclays Investment Bank in New York City in Sales, Trading and Structuring, where he interned in the summer of 2025 across CLO Structuring and Prime Liquidity Financing.
Mathew Letua, A26