NurtureFirst is a global funder and capacity builder that is working with stakeholders to build systems that support home based childcare providers. The organization is hosted by ECDAN and incubated by the Global Development Incubator. I was privileged to serve as its inaugural global Executive Director.

My key responsibilities were:• Leading and managing the consortium partnership as well as the Hivos team • Operational and strategic relationship and contract management with the donor including compliance with contractual agreements• Ensuring transparent and accessible reporting against results framework and planning• Maintaining and updating learning, stimulating knowledge exchange, and integrating learning into practice• As ambassador of the program, applying account and partner management with donors and stakeholders and promoting the SRH-H agenda in external forums• Lead the efforts to identify and mobilize potential donors and funding mechanisms to grow and amplify the scope and results of the programI coordinated the successful set up of this complex programme in 9 countries, while establishing and managing a strong and diverse program team and overseeing program implementation by consortium partners – all within donor deadlines. I established and breathed life into the program governance structures at global level and I am particularly proud of the fact that under my leadership, rightsholders had space and voice in the global steering committee and in the various implementation structures. Thus far, I laid the foundations for successful program implementation, and established good relationships with the funder.

I was responsible for conceptualizing, implementing, monitoring and evaluating capacity building programs targeting civil society, reproductive rights advocates, judicial officers and other key stakeholders. I was also responsible for developing capacity building tools and resources that the Center's partners and advocates in Africa would use in their work. My role also involved building and nurturing existing partnerships of organizations and institutions to support the Center’s mission and undertaking visibility actions to profile the Center and partners’ work. I coordinated the Africa Reproductive Rights Initiative (ARRI), a regional network with 38 members from 13 countries in East, Central, West and Southern Africa whose mandate was to advance reproductive rights in Africa. The network, which met annually, provided a platform for partners to collaborate, strategize and jointly plan actions to defend and safeguard reproductive rights nationally, regionally and globally. I provided technical assistance to network members in Kenya, Uganda and Malawi on decriminalization of adolescent consensual sexual conduct, access to contraception, access to sexual and reproductive health information and access to abortion. I also undertook capacity assessments and worked with partners on organizational strengthening and development. I also undertook exciting work with the judiciary. I worked with judiciary training institutions and women judges associations in Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania to strengthen the ability of judicial officers to effectively adjudicate over reproductive rights.I led our regional work on blocking regression on sexual and reproductive health and rights, collaborating with partners and colleagues across the globe to block the advancement of anti-gender movements.

I led a team of 5 persons and was responsible for developing and implementing regional advocacy and partnerships strategy at the African Union, the African Commission on Human and People's Rights (ACHPR) and the Pan-African Parliament (PAP). A key highlight was that I led my team in conceptualizing and supporting the Mechanism of the Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Women in Africa at the ACHPR to implement the audacious campaign for the decriminalization of abortion in Africa which called on AU Member States to implement their commitment to women and girls' sexual and reproductive health and rights in Africa. The support my team and I provided to the ACHPR included advocacy and capacity of civil society actors. This culminated in the establishment of the Africa Coalition on Safe Abortion (ACSA) - which brought together partners from 8 countries in Africa. My team and I also provided research support to the ACHPR and technically engaged with the other organs of the AU to build their capacity and mobilize support. In this regard, I was involved in crafting the PAP's program of action on the implementation of the reproductive health provisions in the Maputo Protocol. In January 2017, I convened the Africa Safe Abortion leaders meeting resulting in a declaration that enjoined African leaders to implement their commitments.I was a member of the Senior Leadership Team, responsible for providing strategic direction to the organization. I contributed to the development of the country and regional strategy documents. I was a member of the tender committee which provided oversight to the supply chain management process.

My remit was to build and nurture partnerships to sustain the Commission's programs and projects. Under the supervision of the Deputy Commission Secretary, I was responsible for building and maintaining relationships with development partners, developing proposals and concept notes and securing funding for the implementation of the Commission's constitutional obligations. I successfully developed 3 proposals for fundraising for KNCHR projects and mobilized approximately Euros 575,000 for the financial period 2014/2016. I also successfully developed 2 proposals for implementation of the KNCHR Strategic Plan securing Euros 2,800,000 to be utilized over three years – 2015/2018.I also provided leadership on gender mainstreaming and successfully coordinated the development of guidelines for mainstreaming gender and diversity for KNCHR.

This was an exciting role and I was responsible for several projects - election monitoring, peace building and conflict management and judicial and penal reforms. Some key highlights include the following; in 2011, I successfully moved the Kenya Magistrates and Judges Association to adopt a tool developed by the Commission for purposes of application during vetting of judicial officers under the new constitutional dispensation. In 2010, I led the national referendum monitoring project, developed monitoring tools, recruited and managed a team of 40 monitors, 1 coordinator and 3 data entry clerks, contributed to design and implementation of a referendum civic education campaign including developing material on women’s gains in the new constitution, prepared interim and final referendum monitoring project reports. In 2012, I worked with staff and monitors on the party nomination and election monitoring project. I developed party primaries monitoring tools, edited the nomination report and election monitoring reports, disseminated the report to 40 representatives of political parties and the Registrar of Political Parties. With regard to peace building and conflict management, i represented the Commission in the National Steering Committee on Peace Building and Conflict Management, contributing to the government’s conflict management and response interventions in several parts of the country. In 2013, i implemented a conflict mitigation program in Mombasa County securing commitment of members of the county assembly in development of policy frameworks to manage conflict in the region. I was also functionally responsible for gender mainstreaming within the institution and built capacity of staff and commissioners on the same. In this regard, I co-conceptualized, co-designed and participated in a Public National Inquiry on Sexual and Reproductive Health leading the inquiry team in Nairobi County and managing experts’ hearing.

My work involved receiving and investigating complaints on human rights violaitons. In that regard, I undertook preliminary investigations into violations of sexual and reproductive health right and prepared a report which informed a concept note on a Public National Inquiry into the matter. I also undertook high level investigations into post-election violence specifically leading the team investigating extra judicial killings by police in the then Nyanza Province, prepared investigation reports analyzing violations, and identified perpetrators.I was responsible for preparing legal briefs on investigations undertaken for consumption by various audiences.I undertook training of staff on gender and gender mainstreaming culminating in my appointment as staff gender focal point with responsibility to coordinate gender mainstreaming in the organization.I served in the tender committe first as alternate member and subsequently as a full member.

Welfare and public interest litigation on women's human rights; gender based policy and legislative analysis; women's rights advocacy, education, capacity building and empowerment