MEET OUR TEAM
Mali Ole Kaunga
Executive Director
Mali Ole Kaunga is a Laikipia Maasai and the Founder and Director of IMPACT. Prior to this, he founded OSILIGI (Organization for the Survival of IL-Laikipia Maasai Indigenous Group Initiatives) which later became IMPACT. He is also the Founder and Convener of PARAN (Pastoralists Alliance for Resilience and Adaptation in Northern Kenya Rangelands), a coalition of community leaders, natural resources stewards, grassroots organizations and customary institutions. Mali Ole Kaunga has previously worked and consulted with the International Labor Organization (ILO) as an Indigenous Peoples expert for its Africa Program on Indigenous and Tribal Peoples (Convention 169).
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He has also worked with WIPO on issues of Maasai Cultural Heritage and with UNESCO on Indigenous Traditional Knowledge and Climate Change. He has published articles in different journals on the topics of Indigenous traditional knowledge, Indigenous Peoples and urbanization, Indigenous Peoples’ education and the militarization of Indigenous lands.
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While at OSILIGI, Mali pioneered strategic litigation for Indigenous Peoples when he brought forward an international case against the British Government for using Maasai and Samburu lands for military training, as well as for leaving live ordinances that maimed, killed and injured scores of Maasai and Samburu in the grazing fields. He has been involved in lobbying for and advancing the interests of Indigenous Peoples affected by the Lake Turkana Wind Power Project and the Isiolo Mega Dam at national and international levels. Finally, he is a member of the CI Indigenous Advisory Group.
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Elizabeth Silakan
Director Operations &
Head of Finance
Elizabeth Silakan is from the Ilakipiak Maasai community and a graduate from the Maasai Mara University with a Bachelor of Science in Human Resource Management. In addition, she holds a Certified Public Accountants level 4 Certificate. She holds a certificate course on grants management from Strathmore University.
Elizabeth is a keen planner with proficiency in developing budgets and undertaking projects with short deadlines and often seemingly impossible objectives. Since joining IMPACT as a Finance and Administrative officer, Elizabeth has built the image of the organization by ensuring strict adherence and application of the laid down organizational policies, donor regulations, ensuring principle of integrity, transparency and value for money in community development initiatives. Coming from a pastoral setup and aware of the diverse challenges that the community faces, Elizabeth keen to see that the communities’ priorities within IMPACT programs create positive change by promoting project efficiency.
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Peter Lengurnet
Head of Programmes
Mr Peter Ezekiel Lengurnet is a resident of Maralal, Samburu County, Kenya. He is a Social Transformer in the field of peace building and conflict transformation, advocacy and governance human rights and climate change issues among pastoral communities in Samburu County. Currently Peter is a PhD student in Social Transformation at Tangaza University College, Nairobi specializing in Sustainable Development (Climate change Adaptation). He also holds a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy from Urbaniana Pontifical University of Rome, Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Theology from Urbaniana Pontifical University of Rome and a Masters of Arts (MA) in Philosophy from Sapienza University of Rome. Apart from this academic journey, Mr Peter also speaks Italian and Portuguese languages which he learnt while studying and working in Mozambique and Italy.
Prior to his assignment at IMPACT Kenya as the Head of Programmes, Mr Peter has worked with the Catholic Diocese of Maralal as the Coordinator of the Catholic Justice and Peace Commission and Director for Planning and Integral Human Development for a period of 5 years and 3 years respectively. He has been a founding member of the North Rift Peace Initiative (NRPI) Consortium of the Catholic Dioceses of Maralal, Nakuru, Nyahururu, Eldoret, Kitale and Lodwar. Moreover, Mr Peter worked with the Maasai Mara University as the part lecturer for Philosophical and Religious studies. Other positions held include Board Member, Catholic Justice and Peace Commission, Catholic Diocese of Maralal; Member of the Samburu County Oversight Census Executive Committee for the 2019 Census spearheaded by KNBS- Samburu County Statistics office in Maralal, Kenya; Secretary of the Samburu County Dialogue Reference Group (inter-religious Group); and Executive Committee Member, Inter-Diocesan and Cross Boarder Peace Conference in Lodwar for Kenya, South Sudan, Ethiopia and Uganda from 2017-2019.
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Eddah Wanjiku Waweru
Finance Manager
Eddah Wanjiku is an accomplished finance Professional with 10+ years of experience in corporate Finance, Accounting and Governance. She is known for her analytical mindset, attention to detail and result-driven approach.
She holds a Bachelors degree in Finance and is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA-K). She stays up-to-date with the latest accounting standards and regulations through continuous professional development and actively seeks opportunities to enhance her skills and knowledge
Eddah is committed to making a positive impact in the community and is also passionate about promoting financial literacy and empowering young professionals to make informed financial decisions and succeed in their careers.
Outside of her professional endeavors Eddah enjoys travelling to experience new cultures, reading books, gardening and spending quality time with friends and family.
John Tingoi
Senior Programme Manager
Peace building & Conflict Transformation
John Ole Tingoi is a Laikipia Maasai who has been working on human rights advocacy for the last 16 years, advocating for the rights of pastoralist communities in Northern Kenya. He has experience working with the Kenyan government, specifically in the National Registration Bureau and Civil Registration Services.
John has a passion for land and human rights advocacy, as well as for social transformation of pastoralist communities, with whom he has worked extensively. He has received training in community development, participatory methodologies, intellectual property law and documentation. John has also participated in international negotiation processes and contributed to a number of policy proposals — the first Kenyan Policy on Traditional Knowledge, Cultural Expression and Folklore, the National Land Policy, and article 8 of the Convention on Biological Diversity.
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Elijah Lempaira
Branch Coordinator Samburu &
Program Manager Community Land Protection
Lempaira Desmond Elijah is the Program Manager for IMPACT’s Community Land Protection Program, which empowers pastoralist communities across northern Kenya to understand and claim their collective tenure rights. He oversees the day-to-day operations of the project and coordinating a group of paralegal workers based at the community level. Lempaira is so enthusiastic and committed to supporting the pastoralist communities to benefit from the available information and natural wealth found on their community lands. His urge to support communities comes from him being a pastoralist, born and raised in the plains of Laikipia County and motivated by tremendous steps other communities have made in developing and improving their living standards.
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Prior to joining IMPACT, Lempaira worked at the African Education Trust and Nyada Public Accountants mainly on both qualitative and quantitative data analysis. Lempaira earned a Bachelor’s degree in Arts from the University of Nairobi. In addition to this, he has a Certificate Course in SPSS, STATA and Advanced Excel from the University of Nairobi, certificate on the Human Dignity; The Universal Declaration on Human Rights from Amnesty International, a certificate on E-learning course on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples from the United Nations Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner and, also the Legal Empowerment Leadership Course from the Legal Empowerment Network which is the largest community of grassroots justice defenders in the world. The network brings together 2472 organizations and 9472 individuals from over 160 countries, all working to advance justice for all.
In his spare time Lempaira enjoys adventure/bird watching and reading motivational books, Robin Sharma is his favorite author.
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Vivian Silole
Project Manager
Inclusive Conservation Initiative
Vivian joined IMPACT in August 2022 as a project coordinator for Gender and natural resource governance and concurrently supporting inclusive conservation projects, under the Climate Change, Adaptation and Resilience Programme. Her role revolves around working on initiatives geared towards alleviating gender inequalities and strengthening women’s capacities in natural resource management institutions among indigenous communities. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Environmental Conservation and Natural Resources Management from the University of Nairobi, where is she is also currently pursuing her Master of Science degree in Range Management.
Prior to joining IMPACT, Vivian has worked with renowned institutions such as CETRAD and UNESCO, where she gained skills in targeted research projects, technical writing, strategic planning and project coordination, that she continues to utilize and build on while at IMPACT. Vivian has an unwavering passion towards community-led initiatives that promote social justice and sustainable development especially among indigenous peoples. She is driven by a strong sense of fairness and the conviction that every individual/community deserve respect, equal rights, and access to equal opportunities. She aspires to be a catalyst for transformative change, working alongside indigenous peoples to build a more just, inclusive, and sustainable future for all.
Programme Manager
Climate Change, Resilience and Adaptation
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Sajila Pamita
Sajila pamita is a masai from mukogodo east ward in laikipia north constituency and a graduate form the university of Nairobi with a degree in bachelor of arts . She is driven by passion of touching lives and doing small things with great love for indigenous communities of northern Kenya .
She joined IMPACT in March 2021 as a Environmental research fellow . She had previously worked with African Educational Trust in laikipia which dealt with education for children in marginalized communities. Her passion, past experiences and exposure into community work drew her into applying for the Research fellow position where she would enjoy interacting and engaging with pastoral communities and identify the challenges they face. This too is a learning curve on the cultural aspects of her community that she did not know.
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Purity Nyaguthii
Responsible Investments, Business and Human Rights,
Program Manager
Purity joined IMPACT in 2022 in the Responsible Investments, Business and Human Rights Program which seeks to empower indigenous communities to demand accountability from businesses, private or Government owned, to human rights.
Purity is an Advocate of the High Court of Kenya, with a Bachelor of Laws from University of Nairobi and a Diploma in Law from Kenya School of Law. She is also currently undertaking a MSc Applied International Development – Human Rights Pathway at University of Reading.
Purity’s human rights and legal experience includes community’s capacity building, research, policy advocacy, casework, community mobilization and training. Prior to joining IMPACT Purity worked at UPR Africa where she supported civil society organizations across Kenya to participate in the Universal Periodic Review of Kenya’s human rights status across all thematic areas. She also previously worked in different capacities in the Centre for Minority Rights Development (CEMIRIDE) where her interest in the intersectional human rights challenges levelled against indigenous and minority communities was piqued.
Purity is strongly passionate about indigenous peoples’ rights and firmly believes in legally empowering indigenous communities to break systemic barriers of marginalization in an inclusive society that not only recognizes indigenous peoples’ rights but also protects them.
Project Officer
Natural Resource Management
UNDP & IKI supported project
James Mema
James Mema is a graduate of the university of Nairobi with a bachelor of science in range lands management. His interest lies in environmental conservation and integration of both human and wildlife.
His career began at Ol Pejeta conservancy where he actively engaged in monitoring the population dynamics of selecting endangered species under the ecological department. He also worked with the community department where he was able to lead talks with the community on grazing plans, as well as collecting data on peoples' perspectives on conservation around the conservancy.
James joined IMPACT as an environmental peace fellow, gathering information concerning climate, environmental change, peace, conflict and the impact of COVID -19 ,He was later promoted to a Natural Resource Management project officer .
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Oduor Nelson Owity
Project officer
B(eat) Locust Project
& ICT Officer
Hailing from Samburu County - born and raised. Nelson Joined IMPACT Kenya in June 2022 as an ICT Practitioner with 8 Years hands-on experience in the field of ICT with major experience in Network design and administration, Hardware repair and Maintenance, Data handling and recovery, cyber security, email administration, communications, graphics design and video editing.
He has four years experience working towards strengthening the resilience of community through supporting programs in different thematic areas and amplifying the voices of the vulnerable members of the community through development of case studies and development of IEC materials. Nelson is driven by the first hand experience of the plight of the in habitants of the Northern frontier and has the vision of inclusivity of the Indigenous Peoples voices and participation in decision making on the issues that affect their lives and set precedence for future generations.
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William Naimado
Project Coordinator
Environmental & Community Engagement
William Naimado joined IMPACT in March 2022 as an intern and later joined the team as a Program Assistant under the Climate change adaptation and resilience program, which focuses on improving indigenous natural resources management and strengthening indigenous communities’ capacities to adapt and be resilient to climate change risks in Northern Kenya.
Naimado is a BSc. Environmental conservation and natural resource management graduate from the University of Nairobi ,who apart from being a pastoralist has a passion in environmental conservation and working with the communities. He previously volunteered as a community health worker under AMREF and a school tutor, he also worked as a research data collector for ILEPA in Samburu County amongst other surveys including NTSA enumerator in monitoring traffic.
He believes in positivity, team work and spirit of leadership where everyone should be a leader at their own capacity to set a good example for others and to have a positive influence on people. His pastime interests lie in adventure, cycling, playing football and billiards.
Gideon Lengalen
Project Accountant
Gideon is a competitive and committed Junior Accountant with two years of experience in the industry ,who believes that being reliable brings out the best in you and the organization. Since joining IMPACT in 2022, He is committed to updating financial statements, paying monthly payrolls and preparing financial reports.
Gideon earned a Bachelor’s degree in Public Administration and Leadership from Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT). He also obtained certifications from the Kenya Accountants and Secretaries National Examinations Board (KASNEB) where he holds a Certified Public Accountants (CPA) Advance Level.
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When he is not organizing financial transactions and any other work-related tasks, Gideon participants in environmental cleanup in the community. He is the treasurer of the Safi Safi Youth Initiative in his home area Wamba East Ward, Samburu East Subcounty.
Trizah Nairotia Eyanae
Peace Programme Assistant
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Trizah joined IMPACT in September 2021 as an Assistance program officer under the peace project. Previously she had acquired a wide range of experience 2 years working with children peace initiative Kenya as a field officer on peace building activities and over 6 years working under Catholic Diocese of Maralal, Caritas and other donor projects in Samburu County.
She has experience in mobilizing communities during meetings and trainings, and
conducting community trainings on early warning signs, disaster management & community grazing, personal hygiene, community health and household data collection.
She also has hands on experience in food distribution/cash transfer in hardship and food insecure districts in Northern Kenya.
Her hobbies include traveling, playing volleyball, socialization and enjoying music
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Tony Leleruk
Community Land Protection
Programme Assistant
Leleruk is from the indigenous Samburu Community of Kenya. He graduated from Laikipia University with a Bachelor of arts in Business Management and Economics. Prior enlisting to IMPACT, He worked with CSI-K (Community Safety Initiative Kenya) for a period of 5 yrs. Leleruk received a couple of trainings on Peace building and Conflict Transformation, Climate change, Human rights advocacy and Policy formulation; Rangelands policy under the Ranger Programme working with the Amayia Triangle Initiative in the counties of Laikipia, Isiolo, Samburu and Baringo on Kenyan Rangelands Ecosystems Productivity. He also acquired knowledge and skills on Community policing; working with Indigenous social movements and Traditional Institutions on the management of Natural resources.
Tony attained a certificate of recognition by Mercy Corps for his outstanding contribution to Sustainable Conflict Management in Arid Lands.He also worked with the Population Reference Bureau (PRB) under the PACE Program (Policy Advocacy Communication Enhanced) in influencing County planning and budgeting.
His goal is to camera an egalitarian community through social movements and knowledge on tenure rights and guarding them to the latter. Outside the programme context Tony grounds himself as an indigenous philosopher, who gains traditional knowledge through analyzing oral stories, proverbs, listening to traditional songs, keen to indigenous Astrology and reading novels from authors like Nelson Mandela and Barrack Obama.
Priscilla Senteina
Project Assistant
Agroecology &
Office Admin -Maralal
Priscilla previously worked with Twala women for five years as a farm manager under Laikipia permaculture centre,she is a trained permaculturelist and is experienced in aloe ,flora plantation ,tree nursaries preparation ,kitchen gardens and beekeeping farming.
Priscilla is a Diploma holder in Human Resource Management from the Kenya Institute of Management,she joined IMPACT in August 2020 as an office administrator in the Maralal office.
Vivienne Wendo
Communication Officer
Vivienne joined IMPACT in January 2021 as a Communication officer whose role is to enhance the publicity of the organization. In close cooperation with the coordinators and managers of both programmes, she is responsible for developing and implementing the external communication and media strategies, including through the website, social media, annual reports, newsletters and press contacts.
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She is a Journalism and Mass communication graduate from The Multimedia University of Kenya. She previously worked at the Nairobi Institute of Business Studies as a Online studies content creator, and later joined Kenya News Agency (Uchumi house-Nairobi) for over 2 years as a writer and reporter.
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Her passion as a journalist is telling the story of the vulnerable people in the community especially women and children.
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Sabina was born and raised in Marsabit County. She is part of the Rendille community, a Cushitic pastoral nomadic community from Northern Kenya. Before joining IMPACT as an Office Admin, Sabina was working as a cashier at a supermarket in Nanyuki.
Sabina's passion to serve in human rights-based organizations stems from seeing the suffering of her own community, especially in terms of lack of access to services. Upon joining IMPACT, she was assigned the position of an Office Admin in an attempt to contribute to IMPACT’s general goals.
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Sabina Lekuton
Office Administrative Assistant
Raphael Lenaruti
Paralegal & Community mobilizer Samburu
In his early years, Raphael Lenaruti worked with Samburu County under the department of Agriculture as a community mobilizer for groups supporting crop production.
In 2018, he joined the IMPACT as a paralegal worker to help communities in Samburu County complete their land registration procedures as stipulated in the Community Land Act, 2016. He coordinates with Samburu County officials and community leaders in matters concerning community land.
Raphael believes in strengthening Indigenous communities and setting them on a path towards self-reliance through capacity-building initiatives. Using a modern approach, he seeks to facilitate transformative change within Indigenous communities by ensuring that their voices are heard, recognized and respected.
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James Matunge is a pastoral field school teacher by profession. He is passionate about dedicating his knowledge and time to initiate and influence community development initiatives geared towards protecting the livelihoods of Indigenous Peoples. James is currently the chairperson of Laikipia North Huduma Sacco and a board member of Loata Sand Dealers.
He joined IMPACT in February 2020 as a paralegal worker serving under the Kurikuri Group ranch, Laikipia North Sub-county. James holds a diploma in Theology from Mount Kenya Bible College.
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James Matunge
Paralegal & Community Mobilizer Laikipia County
Johanna Minyarit
Mechanic Driver &
Community Mobiliser
In his early years, Johanna Minyarit worked for Lolomarik Farm as a mechanic and later was promoted to the position of Assistant General Manager. He has worked as a mechanic for over four years. In addition, Johanna is a competent driver with 11 years of experience. He is also a trained bee keeper who worked in Lololmarik farm for 7yrs then moved to Africa Bee Keepers (ABK) as a trainer for a year.
In February 2020 Johanna joined IMPACT as a Mechanic Driver, contributing his rich experience to IMPACT’s operations. Johanna acquired his driving license from the Automobile Association (AA) of Kenya, Meru Branch. Similarly, he holds Grade 2 and 3 Mechanic Certificates from the Nyeri Technical Training Institute and Ethi Polytechnic, respectively.
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Lelente Karmushu
Driver
Lelente joined IMPACT in 2021 as a Driver, entrusted with the safe transit of staff members and visiting partners and donors. He acquired his driving licence from the Automobile Association of Kenya (AA) in 2004 and has since garnered 20 years of experience .
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Prior to joining IMPACT ,Lelente worked for Galana Cattle for 6 years after which he joined the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy as a Ranger Monitoring person for 4years. He was later promoted to a Security Driver in the same organization ,a position he held for 13 years .
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Having been born, raised and worked in the landscape for many years,he is well conversant with the terrain, communities and indigenous cultures and values that drive our mission as a grassroots organization.
Everlyne Lalkailepi is from Samburu north and previously worked in Dumisha Sacco Samburu as a customer care officer, teller and as a sales and marketing officer at Baragoi branch.
She joined IMPACT in November 2021 as a marketing officer under Rasilimali Sacco which is a registered sacco under the register of co-operatives society Acts of Kenya.It was started by IMPACT to primarily mobilize savings and deposits and extend credit to its members there by empowering them economically and socially.
Everlyne Lalkailepi
RASILIMALI SACCO
Marketing Officer
Victorlyn Mukiri
Geographic Information System (GIS) Intern
Victorlyn Mukiri hails from Meru County, she completed her bachelor of art in Geography (Geographic information systems and remote sensing ) Degree from Moi University and later joined Malawi University of Science and Technology in Malawi for drone technology, where she graduated with distinction as a licensed and certified drone pilot. She utilizes GIS technology for feasibility planning, decision-making, and real-time information relay for project development.
Prior to joining IMPACT as a Intern, Victorlyn worked on GIS-related projects such as population dynamism and sustainable development to assist in the future sustainability of natural resources, and that is why she is passionate about marginal biodiversity conservation for healthy ecosystems and equitable benefit sharing. She is also an advocate for afrocism and climate change dynamics through making and documenting interactive maps for planning and expert documentation. She also enjoys painting, creative nature photography, traveling, and singing
COMMUNITY RESOURCE PERSONS
Community Resource Persons support the Program Managers in the execution of the program work at the community level, they work across the different IMPACT projects, strategically using their experience and knowledge of the geographical area to plan and advise on the implementation of the work at the community level, they are sourced from our 4 target counties of Northern Kenya (Marsabit,Isiolo,Laikipia and Samburu).
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The CRPs share IMPACT’s vision of supporting local development actors and community members to lead change. They have the knowledge and experience in community engagement and government and non-state actors engagement.
Hawo Golicha hails from Chari ward,Isiolo County.
She joined IMPACT as a community Resource Person in April, 2023 after showing interest to work with us because we work with Indigenous communities and her interest is to help her community.
Hawo is passionate about helping communities know their rights and advocating for social issues
Hawo Golicha
Peter was attracted to the community work done by IMPACT especially on defending land rights for many years.
He joined IMPACT in April, 2023 as a Community Resource Person based in Laisamis,Marsabit County to be able to take part in this noble course.
As an elder he advocates for peaceful coexistence among his community members and their neighbouring communities.He is passionate about Indigenous peoples rights and therefore helps his community members to know their rights.
Peter Galwersi
Cynthia joined IMPACT as a Community Resource Person in April, 2023 representing Waso ward, Samburu county.She holds a Diploma in Social work and Community development from the Samburu Technical College.
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Having been born and raised in an indigenous community in Samburu county,Cynthia's passion is to serve the indigenous communities and help them learn and understand their rights and in the long run improve their livelihoods.
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Cynthia Lenawalbene
Wilson hails from Leparua in Isiolo county and he currently represents the ward as a Community Resource Person since joining IMPACT in April, 2023.
His interest is to help the organization in advocating for the rights of indigenous people especially the Ndorobo of Leparua.
His hobbies are travelling and making new friends.
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Wilson Lemillion
Hailing from Wamba west in Samburu county, Leseeto joined IMPACT in April 2023 as a Community Resource Person. His interest to work with the organization was influenced by the effort IMPACT has kept in handling the land and peace issues his community has been experiencing since time immemorial.
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Kitonga Leseeto
Pamela is a resident of Olmunishoi community land ,Ilpolei location. She joined IMPACT as a Community Resource Person in July 2023 representing Mukogodo West ward .
Prior to joinong IMPACT Pamela worked as a volunteer in empoering women in her community tand most especially women.o improve their living conditions. Her interest is to help the organization in advocating for the rights of Indigenous people most especially women.
Pamela Georgina Monjoh
Hailing from Oldonyiro, Lalaikipiani joined IMPACT on the 1st of July 2023 as a Community Resource Person .He was drawn to the community work done by IMPACT on drought management and community land protection.
Lalaikipiani is passionate about indigenous peoples rights, and as an elder He has been advocating for a peaceful coexistence among his community and neighbouring communities.