I have 3 decades as educationist with a focus on Strategic Leadership, Educational Management, Agricultural Technical and Vocational Education and Training, Competency Based Curriculum Development and Assessment, project management, and Gender and Development.

Administratively, I have held various positions, in various institutions of learning ranging from secondary to tertiary.  For six years I taught and administrated in a mixed secondary school and another seven in a pure stand girls high school. The issues and effects of school programmes especially co-curricular on boys and girls are unique yet they cannot be sorted out in tandem.

Consequences of choices would later come out distinctively among young men and women as I train and administrate in tertiary institutions. It is at this stage that I took more interest in gender matters as I would ask my trainees to support and protect each other. One touching case was a married lady from one of the minority tribes in Kenya who took over five years to complete a two-year course because she conceived annually and had to defer her studies every time. We came together as women leaders in the institution and convinced her to undertake a family planning procedure without the spouses consent and this made her complete her studies in the sixth year.

In Kenya, most trainees, especially in Government institutions, stay in institutional hostels as they pursue their studies. In these hostels the cloak rooms are shared and, in most cases, not used well. At one time I was a hostel mistress of one of the ladies hostels, and among my hostel members was a lady with a physical disability and was on crutches. Those days the Government of Kenya (GoK) had not launched Performance Contracting in the public training institutions, which would later improve learning and working environment to make them accessible by all. I agreed with the hostel members that we designate one washroom for the lady as a way of supporting her. I still remember how grateful she was as she completed her studies and came to my office to appreciate the gesture. In 2003 the GoK enacted Persons with Disabilities Act. This has gone a long way in improving accessibility by Persons Living With Disabilities (PLWD) at places of work. Most importantly it has helped to sensitize administrators and staff on plight of PLWD.

In my teaching and training career I have worked with adolescents and youth. In Kenya, youth is defined as those in the age group of 18-35 years. According to the last national population census carried out in 2019, about 70% of the Kenyan population is below the age of 35 years. 15 years of my teaching career I have worked with youth (ages 18-24) training, guiding and mentoring them as agriculturalists and teachers. Gender and inclusivity lens was a constant approach in determining what? Why? And How? of content and content delivery.

The ability to always put on the gender lens was ingrained as I pursued my post graduate studies in education. My Masters and PhD research were on women in educational leadership in terms of numbers, voices and change management.

I have also offered my gender expertise in capacity building and backstopping staff and trainees in Agricultural Training Centres to mainstream gender perspectives in programmes, procedures, processes and actions in the last four years. Q-point and GIZ have built me up a lot in allowing me to connect theory and practice.

In addition, I have also benefited from capacity building programmes, both nationally and internationally, which aim at women empowerment and inclusivity and with a focus on business. Currently I am a master trainer for Agricultural Technical and Vocational Education and Training for women with a theme of Gender Makes Business Sense and the power of three (Me, We and Us) based on overarching principles of Gender Transformative Approaches.

My desire is to see individuals and institution practically make gender and inclusivity values. This will create a fertile media for my nine-year-old daughter’s life and dreams.