Curriculum Vitae [Updated  June 2020] 

Beyond my research activities, I am an entrepreneur and community mobilizer. Born and raised in poverty in rural Kenya, I have started and worked for organizations that aim to disrupt the status quo and lift communities out of poverty. At 18, I co-founded GreenChar, a social enterprise that provided homes and institutions in rural Kenya and urban slums with clean energy. For my work and leadership at GreenChar, I was the youngest recipient of Echoing Green Fellowship – an award for the world’s best social entrepreneurs. At 19, I was named on the Forbes’ 30 under 30 list in Social Entrepreneurship, the second youngest person to receive the honor. I have also been awarded the Women Deliver Social Entrepreneur Award in 2016, the Anzisha Prize Energy Award and many other awards. Salt Magazine has also listed me as 30 under 30 social entrepreneur and Richtopia has named me as one the 100 Most Influential Entrepreneurs under 25.

In my free time, I watch a lot of football (or as Americans prefer: soccer; Arsenal & Gor Mahia are my favorite clubs). I also make art (oil on canvas and photography) and write fantasy fiction under the alias Okumu Ounga (visit website here).