Journalist. Pan-Africanist. Advocate. Builder. Seven years in the humanitarian sector across East Africa.
I'm a journalist, Pan-Africanist, and refugee advocate with over seven years of experience in the humanitarian sector, working at the intersection of storytelling, governance, and community-led advocacy across East Africa.
My journey is deeply rooted in my own experience as a refugee in Kenya. Having faced numerous challenges including a prolonged lack of refugee identity documents, I understand firsthand the hardships refugees face in accessing identity documentation — and the systemic barriers that reduce people to statistics rather than leaders.
I hold a bachelor's degree in Journalism and Media Studies from the University of Nairobi. I contribute to various media platforms to challenge refugee responses that advance "saviour" approaches — those that do not centre refugees as agents of their own change.
Prior to joining R-SEAT, I served for nearly five years as the Executive Director of Youth Voices Community (YVC), where I helped guide the organisation to become a leading refugee-led organisation advancing advocacy, socio-economic inclusion, and self-reliance in Kenya.
I currently serve as the East Africa Regional Lead for Refugees Seeking Equal Access at the Table (R-SEAT), where I work to institutionalise meaningful refugee participation and leadership at the state level across the East Africa region.
As a Pan-Africanist, I hold that Africa's collective consciousness — in viewing refugees as brothers and sisters, not burdens — offers one of the strongest pathways to genuine inclusion across the continent.
Creating space for powerful conversations — convening diverse voices around complex humanitarian, governance, and community issues.
Advisory on how organisations communicate with — not at — communities. Grounding messaging in dignity, clarity, and lived reality.
Building media strategies that amplify refugee-led narratives and shift the humanitarian sector's relationship with community-driven change.
Designing and executing advocacy strategies that shift policy, build coalitions, and create lasting institutional change for refugee communities.
Building relationships with funders and partners that centre community leadership and advance localisation in the humanitarian ecosystem.
Crafting and placing stories that challenge dominant narratives, amplify marginalised voices, and hold institutions accountable.
Working to institutionalise meaningful refugee participation and leadership at the state level across the East Africa region.
Guided the organisation to become a leading refugee-led organisation advancing advocacy, socio-economic inclusion, and self-reliance in Kenya.
Advising on strategy and community engagement for one of Africa's leading entrepreneurship support organisations for refugees and host communities.
Empowering young sports talent from marginalized communities through mentorship, visibility opportunities, and access to resources that help them
pursue professional sports careers.
"Africa's collective consciousness — seeing refugees as brothers and sisters — offers one of the strongest pathways to genuine inclusion."
— Ishimwe Jean Marie