Our Team

A locally rooted team with practical experience

Gracious Givers Kenya is led by a team with experience in livelihoods, community health, child protection, climate action, youth empowerment, monitoring, finance and community development.

Our team combines lived experience, technical skills and a strong commitment to community led work.

Leadership

Leah Otieno

Founder and Executive Director

Leah Otieno is the Founder and Executive Director of Gracious Givers Kenya. She brings over ten years of experience in livelihoods, child protection, youth empowerment and community resilience work.

Her leadership is shaped by lived experience in Nyando and a strong belief in locally led solutions. She guides the organization's strategy, partnerships and program direction, while ensuring that communities remain at the center of the work.

Leah supports program design, resource mobilization, safeguarding, child protection and community engagement. Her work focuses on strengthening families, improving livelihoods and building resilience with dignity.

Program leadership

Appollonia Ombima

Programs Manager

Appollonia Ombima is a community health and development practitioner with over eight years of experience supporting health, family strengthening and community based programs in Kenya.

At Gracious Givers Kenya, she coordinates program implementation across the organization's key areas of work. She supports planning, field coordination, team supervision and activity follow up to ensure that programs are delivered in a clear, consistent and community centered way.

Her background includes sexual and reproductive health, HIV prevention, malaria control, gender based violence response, community health promotion and positive parenting. She brings strong experience in mentorship, capacity building and working with local structures to strengthen wellbeing among children, youth, caregivers and families.

Appollonia helps ensure that Gracious Givers' work remains practical, inclusive and responsive to community needs.

Pillar and technical leads

Leads for climate resilience and sustainable livelihoods, youth empowerment and wellbeing, livelihoods and enterprise development, and community health.

Edward Willis

Lead, Climate Resilience and Sustainable Livelihoods

Read bio

Edward Willis is an agronomist with experience in community based agriculture, farmer engagement and field level coordination.

He has worked with farming communities in Kisumu County, supporting farmer mobilization, registration and training in climate resilient agricultural practices. His experience includes work linked to household food security and agricultural value chains.

At Gracious Givers Kenya, Edward coordinates climate resilience and sustainable livelihood activities. He supports communities to strengthen food security, adapt to climate shocks and take practical action to protect the environment.

Philister Ondiek

Lead, Youth Empowerment and Wellbeing

Read bio

Philister Ondiek is a social worker with experience in community development, youth engagement and grassroots mobilization.

She has supported sexual and reproductive health programs and community led initiatives that bring young people, families and partners together. She is a strong facilitator with a practical approach to communication, participation and relationship building.

At Gracious Givers Kenya, Philister coordinates youth empowerment work. She supports mentorship, life skills, youth leadership and wellbeing activities that help young people grow in confidence and take part in community change.

Christabel Were

Livelihoods and Enterprise Development Lead

Read bio

Christabel Were is a development practitioner with ten years of experience in youth and women's economic empowerment.

She has strong experience in project coordination, practical training, financial literacy, partnership building and support for income generating activities. Her work focuses on helping women and young people gain skills, confidence and access to livelihood opportunities.

At Gracious Givers Kenya, Christabel supports sustainable livelihoods and enterprise development initiatives. She works with communities to strengthen self reliance, improve household income and promote practical pathways out of vulnerability.

Nickson Odhiambo

Community Health and Wellbeing Lead

Read bio

Nickson Odhiambo is a Registered Community Health Nurse with over ten years of experience in community health service delivery.

His background includes outpatient care, emergency response, maternal and child health, health promotion, sexual and reproductive health, HIV, malaria and TB programming. He also has training in Basic Life Support and First Aid.

At Gracious Givers Kenya, Nickson leads community health and wellbeing work. He supports health education, wellbeing activities and practical interventions that help families and young people access information, care and timely support.

Institutional support

Monitoring, evaluation, research and learning, plus finance and administration — the systems behind the community work.

Alex Gwada

Monitoring, Evaluation, Research and Learning Lead

Read bio

Alex Gwada is a monitoring, evaluation, research and learning professional with experience in community health and child welfare programs.

He has worked with USAID funded initiatives, supporting case management systems, health data, reporting and learning processes. His background in community health gives him a strong understanding of field realities and the importance of reliable data.

At Gracious Givers Kenya, Alex supports accountability, learning and impact tracking. He helps the team use evidence to improve program quality, strengthen reporting and show the real change happening in communities.

Salmon Ngege

Finance and Administration Manager

Read bio

Salmon Ngege leads finance and administration at Gracious Givers Kenya.

He supports budgeting, financial planning, administration, donor compliance and internal systems. His work helps ensure that resources are used responsibly and that programs are backed by clear financial and operational processes.

At Gracious Givers Kenya, Salmon strengthens accountability, transparency and cost conscious planning. His role gives the team the structure needed to deliver community work with confidence, discipline and trust.

Work with a locally rooted team

We are open to conversations with donors, foundations, schools, researchers, companies, government actors, volunteers and community organizations that share our commitment to locally led change.

Partner With Us

Continue exploring