Kenya

Monica Nyaga graduated from Moi University with a Bachelor’s degree in Social Work and a Master’s degree in Gender. Her passion lies in education and nurturing youth leadership skills. Currently working as a Program Officer at SHOFCO, Monica leads the access to education and post-secondary scholarship program. Her primary responsibility is to oversee the successful transition of girls into high school, with the goal of empowering them to become change-makers in their communities. Additionally, Monica served as a program officer with JCCP Kenya, where she organized training sessions and awareness-raising events in Eastleigh—a region prone to violent extremism and other forms of radicalization. She addressed the high rates of mental illness and gender-based violence through her work. Monica is deeply passionate about education and girls’ leadership initiatives. She firmly believes that early access to education for girls breaks the cycle of poverty, prevents child marriages, child labor, period poverty, and other forms of gender-based violence, thereby allowing girls to reach their fullest potential.

Lydiah Salome is a finance professional with 12 years of experience in accounting. She holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree in Finance from Kenyatta University and is a Certified Public Accountant (Kenya). Currently serving as the Senior Finance Manager for Shining Hope for Communities (SHOFCO) in Nairobi, Kenya, Lydiah has played a pivotal role in ensuring compliance and operational efficiency within the organization. Lydiah’s responsibilities encompass various aspects of financial management, including cash management, financial reporting, donor financial reports, payroll processing, compliance, and internal controls review and improvements. She is recognized as a reliable and supportive team member, who has earned trust from stakeholders and increased funding for SHOFCO through her diligent work. Lydiah is driven by her passion for teamwork, cohesiveness, and the empowerment of those living below the poverty line. Her ultimate professional goal is to influence operational decisions across functions and contribute to resource redistribution for the betterment of disadvantaged communities.

Zipporah Kageha Karani has over ten years of experience in the communications profession. Zipporah holds a Bachelor’s degree in Communication and Media Technology from Maseno University in Kenya. She currently serves as a Communications Specialist for a USAID grant-funded project in Kenya. Prior to her career in journalism, she volunteered at an HIV/AIDS network. Zipporah was a finalist nominee for the CNN Journalist of the Year Award in 2010, specifically in the HIV and AIDS category. She also served as a mentor journalist for the British Council BBC School news project in both Kenya and the UK. Zipporah’s professional experience includes supporting communications in various grant-funded projects in Kenya and South Sudan. Zipporah is committed to facilitating change within communities, using innovative communication interventions to address social and cultural barriers. Zipporah is passionate about environmental issues, mentorship, youth development, gender and women’s issues, humanitarian relief, and leadership development.

Rael Esther is the deputy head teacher at SHOFCO-Kibera School for Girls in Kenya, an institution that provides quality education and holistic support to girls from the largest urban slum in Africa. Rael has been a teacher for over ten years and mentors other educators to enhance their professional development. With a degree in Special Needs Education from Kenyatta University, Rael is passionate about creating inclusive and empowering learning environments for all learners. She has participated in various workshops and leadership programs, such as Ability to Execute Essentials (McKinsey) and School Design & Improvement Program by KIZAZI. Rael is a visionary leader who believes in the power of education to transform lives and communities.

Simon Mwangi has more than five years of experience working on education, employment, disability, marginalization and inclusion. He is currently the Program Manager for the COVID -19 Recovery and Resilience Program, focusing on inclusive education and inclusive livelihoods. Previously, he served as Program Manager for the professional fellows’ program on inclusive development and as Project Assistant for the Inclusive Disability Employment Project at HI. He volunteered in inclusive education support in informal settlements in Kenya as a teacher support. Prior to joining HI, he was the chair of an organization he founded at Kenyatta University which advocated for the rights of people with disabilities and creates awareness in local communities. Through his strong leadership and interpersonal skills, he has built meaningful relationships with relevant stakeholders so that the projects and programs he has initiated and supported are successful and sustainable. He has awakened the spirit of volunteerism, innovation, advocacy, community service, and activism. His collective efforts in community service were recognized by the Kenyatta University student governing body and awarded Community Service Person of the Year. He recently participated in the Young Africa Leadership Initiative Fellowship in the Public Management track. He enjoys and aspires to focus on young people with disabilities. He believes it is important to put people at the center of development so that progress is equitable and broad-based and people can actively participate in social, economic, and political change.

Lorna Kanyuga is a development professional with five years of experience in the social sector, holding a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from the University of Nairobi. She recently served as the Kenya Philanthropies Lead at Microsoft, where she coordinated digital skills and entrepreneurship training programs. Previously, she worked at Yusudi Limited, where she led the development, testing and launch of Jijali, an online learning program that uses blended learning techniques to provide personalized entrepreneurship and career training to over 1,400 young people. She was also a Life Skills Trainer at the same company, where she developed and delivered career preparation training to over 200 unemployed college graduates and young professionals. Prior to that, she managed the Social Projects Department at the AIESEC office in Kenya, where she led the development and implementation of strategies to grow the international volunteer program. Through these experiences, she has gained skills in project/program management, training, and youth development. In her spare time, Lorna volunteers at schools in informal settlements in Nairobi, where she supports schools in providing life skills training to students and fundraises for learning materials. She is passionate about skills development for youth from disadvantaged backgrounds, youth development and the use of technology in education.

Host Organization: Luminate

Role at Host Organization: At Luminate, Lorna will serve as Project Management Fellow. She will help track and implement all of Partner Support’s major projects by collecting data and impact and by providing project management / implementation assistance. She will gain exposure to work across six regions (Southeast Asia, Central and Eastern Europe, Africa, Latin America, and the United States), as well as multiple impact areas.

Daniel Maweu is a midwife and a reproductive healthcare educator with nine years of cumulative professional experience working in clinical midwifery, perioperative nursing care, and nursing education. Daniel currently works with Partners In Health-Liberia as a midwifery coordinator/educator. He has been vital in improving maternal and neonatal care at JJ Dossen Memorial Hospital and Pleebo Health Center through continuous mentorship of midwives in Southeastern Liberia. Daniel also works as a visiting obstetrics faculty at the School of Nursing, V.S William Tubman University, where he played a key role in setting up the midwifery department. Daniel has worked in various institutions as a nurse-midwife, perioperative nurse, and educator in both Kenya and Liberia. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Kenyatta University and a Master of Science in Nursing (Midwifery) from Mount Kenya University, Kenya. Daniels’ biggest passion is building resilient maternal health systems and he is a strong advocate of respectful, dignified maternity care for all women of reproductive age.

Godfrey Okumu is a social change advocate/activist with over 19 years of experience in community-led interventions, movement building, human rights advocacy, and management of social change projects in Africa. In his professional life, Godfrey has supported and nurtured grassroots groups and communities on human rights advocacy, campaigning, and networking/social movements. He is an alumnus AVAC HIV Prevention advocate and also an HIV-Cure Academy Fellow. He previously worked for NIGEE, where his roles were to spearhead campaigns on ending child marriage and FGM/C which also included championing for girl’s access to quality education. Previously, he worked for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as a Field Coordinator for a Youth Intervention, where he was part of the team that adapted the eminently known Adolescents HIV/AIDS Evidence-Based Families Matter! and Healthy Choices I&II programs in Kenya. As part of his international assignment, he also worked for Actionaid International Zambia as a National Youth Inspirator. He was appointed to be a member of the International Planning Team for the GNB Global Meeting 2018 under Girls Not Brides. Currently, he is a Global Member of the Girls Not Brides Members Advisory Committee. At Tostan, Godfrey is part of the Program/TTC training team and the focal person for the Tostan’s Training and Replication pathway, where he is supporting Tostan’s two pilot initiatives in Nigeria namely ‘Strengthening Community Institutional Building in the Nigeria For Women Project (NFWP) Planning Grant and Uniting Nigerian Communities to End Violence Against Women and Girls.

Mary Mogona is from Kenya who serves in a grassroots organization well known as Shining Hope for Communities (SHOFCO) which is based in the informal settlements of the country to build urban promise from urban poverty. She serves under the capacity of a coordinator under the future education program whose role is to execute a support model for SHOFCO graduates that continues to build on leadership skills, resilience, and provision of psychosocial support also engaging external stakeholders to make this a reality. Mary is passionate about young adolescents and believes in the provision of equal opportunities to all and mentorship as this would create a platform for young people to identify their potential to be able to be change-makers and come up with innovative solutions to the current challenges to create a long term impact.

Racheal Njiru has over eight years of experience in community development programs, specifically in community implementation, management of diverse programs, and coordination. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in Integrated Community Development from Daystar University, Kenya. Currently, she holds a key role in Humanity & Inclusion as a Manager in the Disability and Inclusive Development Program. During the implementation of the project, she established an in-business task force supporting persons with disabilities in Kakuma on matters of economic inclusion. She has equally supported twenty-five micro-enterprises with disabilities in Kakuma by providing them with business development services, as well as advocating for linkage opportunities for them. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she contributed to concept development to FCDO that culminated in her organization receiving grants to support the recovery of micro-enterprises adversely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. In relation, she contributed to the COVID-19 Recovery and Resilience concept and proposal development funded by MasterCard Foundation, where 200 MSMEs will be supported in the recovery of their businesses, by providing capacity building services and financial support. She believes in supporting access to developmental milestones among teenagers, and thus is passionate about offering mentorship and coaching to young teenagers to provide them with hope, courage, and faith to achieve their dreams. She is passionate about improving people’s lives by supporting them and equipping them with skills that will aid them to live dignified lives.

Redempta Mwende is a Monitoring, Evaluation, Research and Learning professional with over 6 years of extensive experience working in the International Development sector. She has hands-on experience in developing and providing strategic leadership in development of Monitoring and Evaluation systems. She has served as a Regional Monitoring and Evaluation Coordinator – East Africa and Yemen Region at Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC). In these roles, she provided strategic and technical support to NRC’s Monitoring and Evaluation efforts across ten countries. This includes supporting the implementation of NRC’s M&E standards, systems and practices to produce, measure and demonstrate improvements in programme performance and inform evidence-based decision making. She undertook training across Country Offices to increase capacity of staff to implement M&E systems, tools and practices. She previously served as a Monitoring and Evaluation Lead at Mercy Corps where she led all M&E functions. Through the wide array of programmes implemented, she has a proven record of designing and execution of M&E systems, quantitative and qualitative analysis, data management, operations research, evaluations, development of knowledge management systems and M&E compliance. Additionally, she has experience in building relationships and compliance reporting for a wide array of donors including USAID, DFID, NMFA, World Bank, Google, Global Fund, SIDA and UN. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree double major in integrated community development and social work from Daystar University. She also holds a Master’s degree in Project Management and Evaluation from Kenyatta University. She enjoys focusing on youth employment and heath development programs, and has a strong passion for women empowerment.

Host Organization: SEED Spot

Role at Host Organization: At SEED Spot, Redempta will serve as a Measuring and Evaluation Fellow. She will help design, collect, and track SEED Spot measuring and evaluation work enabling more accurate and up to date data. In addition, the fellow will help to optimize a more searchable,organized, and complete database of SEED Spot alumni creating a platform to enhance our current programs and create new programs.

Lorna Kanyuga is a skilled development professional with five years of experience in the social sector. She obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from the University of Nairobi. Currently, she is the Kenya Philanthropies Lead at Microsoft, where she coordinates digital training initiatives and entrepreneurship and employability programs. During her time at Yusudi Limited, she led the development, testing and launch of Jijali, an online learning program that uses blended learning techniques to provide personalized entrepreneurship and career training to over 1,400 young people. Previously, she was Life Skills Trainer at the same company, where she developed and delivered career preparation training to over 200 unemployed college graduates and young professionals. Prior to that, she managed the Social Projects Department at the AIESEC office in Kenya, where she led the development and implementation of strategies to grow the international volunteer program. Through these experiences, she has gained skills in project/program management, training, and youth development. In her spare time, Lorna volunteers at schools in informal settlements in Nairobi, where she supports schools in providing life skills training to students and fundraises for learning materials. She is passionate about skills development for youth from disadvantaged backgrounds, youth development and the use of technology in education.