KIWODEA was founded in 1995 by Nancy Tesha. At the time, Mama Tesha was Assistant Commissioner in charge of the Tanzania Women and Children under the Office of the Prime Minister. She saw that the needs of women were not being met so she decided to start an organization to support women. With the help of Hon. Reginald Mengi (Managing Director of IPP Media), Gallus Abeid (Former Kilimanjaro Regional Commissioner), and Anne Makinda (at the time Minister of Community Development, Gender, and Children, now Member of Parliament), she started KIWODEA. 

 The organization was originally started as the WTF micro-credit loan program and has expanded over the years to meet the needs of the women of Tanzania and the impoverished communities of Kilimanjaro, adding a variety income generating activities, a Montessori nursery school, and most recently a library and a project to support people with Parkinson’s Disease and disabilities.

The Parkinson's and Disabilities project began because Mama Tesha's husband, Dr. Tesha died of Parkinson's. During his career Dr. Tesha had many leadership roles in the medical community, including Superintendent of KCMC Hospital in Moshi. In his will, he asked his wife to devote a section of KIWODEA to helping others in the community suffering from the Parkinson's because there is a scarcity of care options for those with the disease as it is very rare in Tanzania .