Mr. John Kioli
As the CEO-Green Africa Foundation has seen him conduct successful Research on the impacts of Climate Change on key thematic areas that informed the Kenya Climate Change Act, Facilitate Conducted several extensive grassroot sensitization and consultation meetings on Climate Change and the Climate Change Bill through Climate hearings in different parts of the country. He was recently appointed by the President of Kenya to be a Member of the National Climate Change Council.
Dedicated Champion for Climate Change who has given generously of his time, expertise, and resources to make a difference at grassroot, National and International levels. He is also The Chairman, Kenya Climate Working Group that Coordinates the CSOs activities especially on policy advocacy. He is also a member of ACCESS CSO.
He has a Master of Environmental Studies (Climate Change and Sustainability) from Kenyatta University. By his exceptional Leadership, personal initiative and total dedication to Environmental Conservation and Climate Change issues, Mr. John Kioli has added value to many lives at grass root levels and to the country’s development agenda through issues that addresses Sustainable Development Goals and Vision 2030 and Sustainable Energy for All.
Ms. Leila Kittu
Doctoral Researcher, Biological Oceanography: Marine Biogeochemistry
GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research, Germany
I am a marine researcher interested in understanding how marine plankton communities interact with chemical and physical processes in the ocean.
My aim is to understand how climate change impacts marine life, ecosystem services and assess the oceans potential to mitigate or adapt to a changing climate.
My work crosscuts between the marine nitrogen and carbon cycle and more recently transitioning towards investigating ocean-based solutions to mitigate climate change.
Dr. Evans Kituyi
Principal Consultant
Currently a practicing development consultant with specific interests in sustainable energy, circular economy, sustainability and climate risk management. Also a mentor on these themes for post graduate students.
Before joining Pelican, Evans was the Director of the East African Institute of the Aga Khan University and prior to that, a senior programme specialist for climate change adaptation at Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC). Evans is also an Associate of the Institute of Climate Change and Adaptation (ICCA) of the University of Nairobi.
Ms. Josephine Wawira
Circuar Economy Communicatiions Expert
Josephine Wawira is a communications expert with demonstrable experience in the sustainability and circular economy fields. She is currently the Communications Lead at Sustainable Inclusive Business Kenya (SIB-K), a Knowledge Centre established under the Kenya Private Sector Alliance (KEPSA) Foundation.
With her strategic communications and stakeholder management expertise, Josephine has been profoundly instrumental in the development and implementation of the Kenya Plastics Pact, an ambitious, collaborative initiative that brings together stakeholders across the whole plastics value chain to transform the current linear plastics system into a circular economy for plastics. It is the 2nd of its kind in Africa after the South African Plastics Pact.
She is keen to showcase best practices in the circular economy around the country, in a bid to inspire others to adopt sustainable business models. Look out for the Circular Economy Trailblazers Series and the just-published Sustainable Inclusive Business Magazine.
Mr. Joseph Mwakio
Partner
Joseph is one of the Promoters and the Managing Partner in Verde Afrika. He is a lead consultant on Environmental Management Accounting, Corporate Social Responsibility, Integrated Reporting and Sustainable Development Goals. He has been at the forefront in running social and community programmes being an individual with a great passion for Sustainable Development and Poverty Alleviation.
Joseph has wide experience in the areas of Financial Management, Managerial and Financial Accounting, Capital Markets Regulation and Sustainable Development. He has worked with the Capital Markets Authority, Papaya Retail Ltd, Africa Capacity Alliance (ACA), the County Government of Mombasa and Marafa Community Development Program Funded by the World Vision Kenya.
Joseph is a holder of a Masters Degree in Sustainability Accounting and a Bachelors of Commerce both from Strathmore University.
Ms. Maureen Kabugi
Actuarial Specialist
Maureen has enjoyed an illustrious career spanning over 10 years in Financial Services Sector, 8 of which have been in the Insurance industry.
She is currently responsible for matters Actuarial in the implementation of IFRS 17 standard at Liberty Life Kenya. Her experience includes Actuarial Valuations & Reporting, Product Development & Pricing, Solvency, Capital Modelling, Embedded Value and Value of New Business reporting, Data Analytics for Management Information as well as Stakeholder Management at both Board and Group Level.
While not looking at spreadsheets, she can be found enjoying a run at the nearest trail or curled up with a good book.
Mr. Brian O. Yalla, CFA, CAIA, CIPM, MCSI, CIFA
Manager, Capital Markets
Brian is an investment and capital markets professional. In his current role he manages the implementation of capital markets development initiatives and programmes in close collaboration with implementing and strategic partners including governments, policymakers, regulators, industry associations among other stakeholders. Alongside the various stakeholders, Brian has successfully led in the design and development of some of the innovative capital markets development programmes and projects currently being implemented. Among Brian’s areas of interest are; alternative investments and maximizing their potential especially in Africa, Financial Technology, and leveraging technology to enhance the value proposition in capital markets, debt markets enhancement and sustainability, and sustainable finance.
Brian has previously worked at the Capital Markets Authority – Kenya, Kenya Industrial Estates Limited and Kenya National Bureau of Statistics.
Brian holds two master’s level qualifications in Mathematical Finance and Financial Engineering in addition to a bachelor’s degree in Economics and Statistics. He holds the following professional qualifications; CFA charter and Certificate in Investment Performance Measurement (CIPM) from the CFA Institute (USA), CAIA charter from the Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst Association (USA), Diploma in Capital Markets and Certificate in Securities from the Chartered Institute of Securities and Investment (UK), Certified Expert in Sustainable Finance from the Frankfurt School of Finance and Management (GER). He is also a member of the Institute of Certified Investment and Financial Analysts, Kenya.
Mr. Edwin Munene Gitaari
Operations Officer
A graduate in horticulture, Edwin Munene Gitaari has been involved in the design, implementation, and certification of various regulatory and private voluntary standards in East Africa since 2003. He has worked in horticulture, tea, and cocoa value chains in production and compliance positions. He is a trainer of trainers, a food safety auditor, a food production specialist with over 20 years experience in the industry. Having worked in various capacities in several companies across East Africa.
Edwin is the current Operations Officer in charge of Olivado operations in Kenya. At Olivado, in addition to strategy formulation and execution, he is planning and overseeing implementation for Olivado EPZ, Olivado Fresh EPZ and Hopetoun Limited operational strategies in Kenya.
Mr. Dennis Kigiri
Agricultural Scientist | Lecturer | Researcher
Dennis is an internally motivated, distinguished person and a scholar with high ethical standards and remarkable scientific depth and resourcefulness. His aspiration is to find, understand and apply the most appropriate and novel scientific methods for pursuing the research questions to address problems affecting humanity with a general objective of serving people and the planet. At Egerton University he pursued a Diploma in Animal health (distinction), Bachelors in Animal Sciences (second uppers) and Masters in Animal Nutrition (Thesis submitted).
He is a part-time lecturer at the University, department of animal sciences in the faculty of Agriculture. He teaches and examines different courses which include but not limited to Animal Nutrition, Feeds and Feeding, Animal Physiology, animal health, Feed Production and Conservation, and production courses such as Dairy, Pigs, Poultry, Rabbits, Sheep and Goat production, and Biotechnology in Animal Nutrition. He also assists in supervising students’ research projects, which involve proposal development, research designs, data collection and analysis, and report writing.
Dennis is involved in both research and outreach activities. In research, he is involved the Black Soldier Fly and Prosopis as alternative protein and energy feed sources and Kenya Climate-Smart Agriculture Project KCSAP. In outreach has is involved in responding to farmers’ questions and coordination of Seed of Gold in Sunday Nation.
Dennis is a Cochran fellow (2019), Michigan State University, has been writing Facts sheets about agricultural practices with Ruforum, works for Ressect (a Swiss insect-based protein company) in charge of research and development, working on indigenous chicken value chain in Bomet (KCSAP), Livestock Judge during the ASK shows in Nakuru, Mapped black soldier fly larvae producers in Kenya (Egerton and Wageningen University 2021), attended multi-stakeholder partnerships and food systems courses 2022(Wageningen University), Started a breeding and multiplication centre for black soldier in Turkana (Danish church Aid) 2021, West Nile region in Uganda 2022, and Novfeed company in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania 2021. Currently, he is a team member implementing Refooture project in Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia, and The Netherlands on regenerative and inclusive food systems under Nakuru living lab.
His hobbies include cooking, mentoring, traveling, photography, and environmental conservation.