UZIMA BOARD MEMBER
Rose N. Waigwa
Executive Director
One of the founders, Rose N. Waigwa, who is a trained Girls’ Brigade officer and was running a Girls Brigade in one of the churches in Nairobi for 14 years, strongly felt the calling from God to work with female children in the slums of Nairobi.
In June 2006, a Girls Brigade was formed in Maili Saba Tumaini Church. With God’s provision Rose purchased a three-roomed mud house which was within the Tumaini Church compound and this was used for Girls Brigade meetings and teaching the children.
Catherine Maina
Uzima Board Member
Catherine Maina is an Audit Partner at Kang'ethe & Associates, a medium sized Firm based in Nairobi, Kenya. She is qualified accountant and has been practising for the last 10 years. She joined the firm in 1991 as an audit trainee and rose through the ranks.
Over the years and based on her professional experience she has served in various Boards as shown below:
- Mater Misericordia Hospital Staff Pension Scheme:- Board Chairperson wef May 2015 to May 2020.
- Centre for Domestic Training and Development Board Treasurer wef 2009 todate.
- Uzima Trust Fund Board Treasurer wef from 2010 to date.
- Green Belt Movement full member from 2011 to 2018.
She is active in various charitable activities including the Mater Heartrun, Zero Chid n Mother death Campaign
Visiting and supporting childrens' homes etc.
Very passionate and active in mentoring youths especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Charles J. Mwaura
Uzima Board Member
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Stanley Eboya
Uzima Board Member
Stanley Eboya is from Nairobi County, Kenya. He is a professional teacher with along teaching experience as well as school leadership experience. He has been a school head for the last nineteen years. Currently he works with Kings International Academy.
Stanley is a born again Christian who works as an associate pastor with Upper room Believers Ministry. He is a married man blessed with three children. He has a passion for children and always wants the best out of them by nurturing and uplifting their potentials. He is well versed with education system in Kenya.
Matthew Nelson
Uzima Board Member at Large
Matthew Nelson is from Minnesota, U.S.A. His professional background is corporate business operations management, with an emphasis on lean-quality process improvement and business system integration. He currently acts as a product owner of software development at the largest healthcare insurance provider in the U.S.A.
Since 2014 his primary role with Uzima has been to liaise between Uzima Trust Fund and churches and businesses within the U.S.A. in order to bring focus and support to the immediate needs and long-range goals of Uzima Centre. He has been a member of a ministry team that visits Uzima Centre, traveling with members from his community to work alongside and visit with the teachers, staff, children and community members at Uzima Centre.
Caroline Wanjiku Kamau
Secretary to the Board
Caroline Wanjiku Kamau is the current secretary to the Board. She is an Advocate of the High Court of Kenya. She has acquired professional experience over a span of 3 years in various capacities in several organizations she holds a Bachelor in Law(s) from the University of Nairobi and a Postgraduate Diploma from Kenya School of Law. She has an eye for social justice issues and desires to be a mouth piece for those who are vulnerable, oppressed and downtrodden in society. She is a legal practitioner in the humanitarian space. She is passionate about her legal practice as it enables her to work with victims of humanitarian crisis, these include refugees, asylum seekers, stateless persons she is currently employed as a Legal/Program Officer at Kituo Cha Sheria ‘Legal Advice Centre’ a leading human rights and non-governmental organization established in Kenya, whose mandate is to ensure that the poor and marginalised have access to justice and human rights. She is based at Kituo Cha Sheria’s - Forced Migration Programme (FMP) which is in partnership with United Nation High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). The Forced Migration Programme (FMP) is specifically devoted to addressing the legal and policy needs of refugees, asylum seekers and stateless persons residing in urban areas in Kenya, with a view to improving their welfare by guaranteeing access and enjoyment of the institution of asylum.
Lucinda Gardner
Uzima Board Member at Large
Lucinda Gardner was born, raised and lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S.A. She is currently the president and owner of Pope Bucknell, LLC a senior housing with healthcare management company that owns and manages several campuses in Minnesota. As such she has expert, hands on knowledge of the senior housing with healthcare services industry including development, construction, implementation and oversight of every facet of managerial operations. Over her 35 year career she has become adept at maximizing performance through operating efficiencies, sustainable cost reductions and increased net earnings while continuing to support critical business operations within a highly competitive and regulated industry.
Lucinda has always had a passion to serve those in need but when she visited the Uzima School in 2015 it became personal. Rose Waigwa’s passion for and commitment to changing the lives of children in the Shiranga slum in Dandora caught hold and for the past five years she has been a member of a ministry team that has supported the Uzima school in various ways including social, spiritual, physical and financial. Visits to the school and community of Uzima are some of her most treasured memories.
Dr. Susan Njeri Kibue
Uzima Board Member
Dr. Susan Njeri Kibue is a registered architect with the Board of Registration of Architects and Quantity Surveyors in Kenya. She holds a PhD. in Architecture from the University of Sheffield (2000) and is a SeniorLecturer at the Department of Architecture at the Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT). She has worked on Housing and traditional architecture includingaspects of cultural adaptations for housing of urban dwellers in Kenya, and has overseen research projects in slum upgrading and community-based self-help projects. Among her latest research is, Post occupancy evaluation of slum upgrading projects: A comparative study between self-help initiatives and government sponsored initiatives. The project results have been included in a publication (April 2018) funded by the National Council for Science and Technology (NACOSTI).Dr. Kibue is also engaged in Architectural Consultancy with Domus Architects, where she is the Director, and has designed and supervised various residential, commercial and educational buildings in Kenya. She is committed to sustainable building and construction processes.
David Brown
Uzima Board Member at Large
I am a medically retired military veteran. My past work history includes the military, government administration, construction and finance.
I am married to my wife Kimberly. We have three kids together. We live in Saint Michael, Minnesota.
I have been working with Uzima since 2015.
Israel Sokeye, MD
Uzima Board Member at Large
In 2012, an opportunity was presented to Israel to serve. He was invited to participate as a member on one his church’s ministry team to foster the church’s mission of Go Love Live.
At that time, he joined the Uzima ministry team and participated in fund raising and eventually a mission’s trip in 2015. The team visited Uzima Education Center in Shiranga slum, in Dandora, Nairobi, Kenya. They met the children of the school and built relationships with the founder Rose Waigwa.
Over the past several years, Israel has been part of the team from Maple Grove Covenant Church (MGGC) involved in working with Rose to explore sustainability projects for the school. This also include building a school that has a positive impact on the lives of the children, their families and their community in the Shiranga slum.
Israel has always had a passion for helping the underprivileged. Since that trip, the children and their needs have always tugged on his heart.
Roberto Simone
Uzima Board Member
Roberto Simone is the new Cluster General Manager in charge of the luxury city hotel, Villa Rosa Kempinskiand the high-end tented camp in Masai Mara, Olare Mara Kempinski.
An Italian native, Roberto Simone has a wealth of experience working for some of the world’s leading luxury hospitality brands such as JW Marriott, Anantara Hotels & Resorts and Silversea Six Star Cruise Line, among many others.
The53-year-old globetrotter has a soft spot for children, orphans, the disadvantaged groups and women. Roberto has been supporting Uzima Educational Centre since he joined Villa Rosa Kempinski last year, both using his personal funds and mobilizing the hotel to help the Centre.
Among notable things Roberto has been able to mobilize the hotel to do include hosting Uzima Educational Centre Christmas Party for all Children at Villa Rosa Kempinski, presiding over Annual Reward Programme for Uzima Kids who participate in developing Christmas cards, lobbying for sustainable revenue generating programmes for Uzima through his international collaborations, and of course, sharing his wide fund raising and development experience with other Uzima Board members and partners.
Roberto is a holder of Global MBA in Finance from Durham University Business School, UK, with concentration in Corporate Finance and Investment Analysisas well as certifications in Hotel Real Estate, Asset Management and Investment Analysis from renowned institutions such as Cornell University, NYU Business School and Wharton Business School.
VOLUNTEER SUPPORTERS
Mwingirwa J. Kithure
Uzima Volunteer
Mwingirwa Kithure has volunteered with the Uzima Educational Centre for four years now. He has been instrumental in organizing various visitation to Uzima Center by various staff of Villa Rosa Kempinski.
Through his organization skills, he pioneered the now famous annual Christmas Card Competition where Uzima Education centre pupils compete in creating the winning Christmas card. The top 10 winning pupils in the competition are rewarded with school uniform
Kithure has also played crucial role in creating and editing content for new Uzima Center Website. He also relentlessly mobilized resources for purchase of basic needs by hotel staff when visiting the Uzima Center. Passionate about children and their welfare, the ever smiling man nicknamed, Kiths also organized Christmas Parties for the children, bonding sessions and mentorship for the pupils. He also led a team of volunteers to paint the school and spruce up the institution.
A Journalist, PR, Marketer, Communications and hotelier with over 15 years experience, Kithure works as the Director of Media, Marketing & PR at the prestigious Villa Rosa Kempinski. He has also worked for Sarova Hotels, Mediamax Networks and The Standard Group.
A bubbly personality with deep sense of humour and passion for life, Kithure brings onboard a wealth of experience in organizing events, Media Planning and Publicity, Strategy, Communication.
Lawrence Agufa
Uzima Volunteer
Lawrence Agufa is an IT professional with a bias in IT projects with over 10 years of experience. Lawrence holds a Master’s Degree in project planning and Management from the University of Nairobi. He is currently working as the Head of IT at Villa Rosa Kempinski Nairobi where he leads all IT based projects with a focus on system optimization for client satisfaction. He has been instrumental in facilitating the development of the new Uzima Educational Centre website. A passionate man about welfare of disadvantaged children, Lawrence has been playing an active role mentoring and visiting Uzima Kids.
