Meet our team

Kirsty oversees strategy, financial management, fundraising and operations in the UK. She has over 15 years experience working in senior management in international NGOs in the UK and US, particularly in projects supporting women and girls in East Africa. She has a BA Degree in Psychology & Criminology and holds a fundraising qualification from the Chartered Institute of Fundraising. Kirsty joined us in July 2019.

Leela leads RFK’s fundraising and impact from the UK, working closely alongside our partners in Kenya. She has over 12 years’ experience working in small international development charities, supporting projects in sub-Saharan Africa to improve access to education, training and enterprise. She’s excited to have joined the RFK team in November 2022.

Keely manages our communications and works with Leela on RFK’s fundraising initiatives in the UK. She has 7 years experience in predominantly philanthropic fundraising, most recently for a large international charity supporting girls and women living in challenging circumstances across the world. Keely was delighted to join the team in June 2024.

Mary is the leader of our partner NGO in Kenya. She is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA-K) and holds a Bachelor of Commerce Degree from Mount Kenya University. She also holds a Certification on Strategic Management and Leadership from the Kenya Institute of Management. Mary has worked with Raising Futures Kenya since 2009.

Florence is a trained teacher and qualified counsellor, she oversees the management of our three Seed of Hope centres. Florence also supports our students with counselling, mentorship and personal guidance. Florence was one of the original members of staff to join Seed of Hope and has been with us since 2003.

Sophie brings close to 20 years’ experience in international development, working within, alongside and through charities and non-governmental organisations. She is an M&E professional with a passion for gender equality and rights. Sophie is currently based in Nairobi.

John has over 20 years of Executive Level experience within the not-for-profit sector in UK, USA, UAE, Italy, India, The Netherlands & Ireland. He is the former Chief Executive of Sightsavers Ireland and is currently the CEO of Saint John of God Foundation covering UK, Netherlands, Malawi and Ireland. John is a highly skilled fundraiser and supports us with overall fundraising strategy and implementation.

Chris has over 15 years of experience working in audit and treasury mainly providing consulting services to FTSE100 listed companies. Chris has experience in the manufacturing, retail, travel, pharmaceutical, energy, and financial services industries. Chris is passionate about eradicating poverty in Africa and believes that the best way of doing this is to give young people knowledge and skills that empowers and gives them hope for the future. Chris currently lives in Horsham, England with his wife and two young children.

Manni comes with over fifteen years of experience leading cross-functional, international projects in the pharmaceutical sector. Manni believes strongly in our mission, and brings her experience of having managed models similar to Raising Futures Kenya from her corporate life. Manni lives in Switzerland.

Dan is a researcher with skills and experience in M&E and Impact Evaluation – working in Kenya, Tanzania and Sri Lanka. He is passionate about ensuring organisations are well-equipped to capture and measure the impact of their work. Dan brings his impact assessment expertise to the Board and supports us with our monitoring, evaluation and learning. Dan lives in Kenya.

Dee is a charity engagement strategist whose career has spanned community fundraising, corporate relationship building, brand marketing, charity comms and public mobilisation. With a particular passion for rooting decisions and operations in the lived-experiences and needs of the people charities exist for, Dee is an advocate for dismantling unhelpful power dynamics.

Tom is a secondary school leader, teacher and experienced Safeguarding Lead with over 10 years’ experience in the education sector and a particular interest in pastoral care, holistic education and safeguarding. Prior to qualifying as a teacher he worked in investment management on behalf of corporates, charities and pension schemes. 

A successful businessman and Founder/Chief Executive Officer of Millennium Consulting, Philip Keet was born and spent his formative years in Kenya. Established in 1995, the consultancy supports global organisations with their technology journeys by providing advice and delivering finance and technology transformation solutions.

Susan joined us in 2020 and kindly supports us with lots of data input, ensuring our database and donation data is up-to-date and accurate.

Edwin is a Finance, Research, Business Planning and Access to finance specialist with over 15 years of experience in employment, consulting, and training. He is a former banker and Lecturer in several universities in Kenya and currently works as an SME business Planning and Development Consultant. He is also a Certified Professional Mediator with experience in resolving workplace conflicts.

Edwin is the treasurer of Raising Futures Kenya board leading in budgetary and finance control and has been a board member since 2015.

Irene is an organisational development professional with over 16 years experience working in a culturally diverse context with international development organisations. She develops and delivers interventions and solutions to support behaviour change, embed desired organisational culture and systems for greater effectiveness. She is an ICF credentialed Coach (ACC) and a certified professional group and team coach.

Lillian is an industrious, results oriented professional with comprehensive experience in grants/projects management and administration. She has experience in facilitating the implementation of projects throughout their life-cycle including all phases from proposal development, through pre approval, approval, commitment, monitoring & evaluation, reporting (technical & financial) and closure. Lillian has been a member of the Raising Futures Kenya Board since 2019.

Kevin is an Advocate of the High Court of Kenya and Holds a Bachelor of Law Degree (LLB) from Moi University. Kevin currently practices Law in Nairobi Kenya with an interest in Litigation, Alternative Dispute Resolution, Commercial law, contracts law, Tax Law and Conveyancing. He is instrumental in offering volunteer legal services and advice to the Board and Raising Futures Kenya.

Lawi is an innovative and performance driven entrepreneur with a deep passion for technology and skill transfer to young entrepreneurs. He has vast experience in the operations of Kenya’s informal sector in the areas of wood work, metal fabrication and upholstery businesses. Lawi is currently serving as a board member of a TVET Institution in Migori and is also on the board of The Anglican Church of Kenya (Mbeere diocese). He joins the RFK board to help strengthen the Entrepreneurship and TVET arms of the organisation.

Boru is a Senior Risk Officer at CPF Financial Services, one of the largest pension administrators in Kenya. He is a risk management professional with over 7 years’ experience and brings wider industry knowledge  in Enterprise Risk Management, Business Continuity Management, Compliance Monitoring and Quality Assurance. He is a certificate member of Institute of Risk Management – UK (CMIRM). He was appointed in November 2022 to the Board of Raising Futures Kenya to help in development and implementation of risk management framework.

Amisa Rashid is the Founder and Executive Director of Nivishe Foundation, which focuses on community-based mental health interventions, leveraging technology, and innovative solutions through advancing her leadership skills and resource mobilization to improve the wellbeing of vulnerable communities. Amisa is an award winning mental health practitioner and advocate with extensive experience in leadership and management.