Steering Committee of the Haki ni Yetu Project

The Steering Committee provides policy guidance and overall quality assurance in the Haki ni Yetu project. The Steering Committee does NOT award grants.

Members of the Steering Committee

Annet Nerima Majoni is currently working with the Kenya Human Rights Commission with 10 years of experience in the governance and Human Rights. She is a professional with experience in Research, Policy Development and Analysis, Strategic Advocacy, Scenario Building, Project Design, Implementation and Management, Public Finance Management, Partnerships and Movement Building, Monitoring and Evaluation among others. Annet has experience working at community, national and regional levels to champion for accountable and responsive governance in matters of Human Rights, public finance management, social accountability, anti-corruption, inclusion of stateless communities and informal traders, public participation, movement and partnership building on political and economic interests among others. She has been providing technical support and analysis on national and international human rights frameworks, advocacy, capacity building and advisory to state and non-state actors championing the human rights agenda.   She is the co-convenor for Okoa Uchumi Campaign, The National Integrity Alliance and Centre for Fiscal Affairs.

Gitahi Githuku is as a human rights defender, Pan-African, Feminist.  Currently he is a Program Officer, Kenya on Land, Water and Climate Justice with American Jewish World Service.  His work has mainly involved grants making and social movement building, especially among grassroots and marginalized indigenous peoples.   Gitahi has worked with human rights tools and mechanisms in various national and regional forums over the years. Including EU tools like guidelines for HRDs. He has gained overarching culminative expertise on human rights issues including access to justice, LGBTIQ+ Rights, good governance, security, protection of HRDs, indigenous people’s rights, advancing basic rights and fundamental freedoms for all.

Ivy Kihara is a highly experienced human rights lawyer with over 15 years of experience in civil society organizations across various African countries. Ms. Kihara – a person living with albinism – is an expert in human rights, governance, democracy, safety and security of human rights defenders, civil society, NGO security management, women’s rights, business, and human rights, youth empowerment, disability and inclusion, public finance management, and media and film production. She has worked with several donors, including the European Union, Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency, Department for International Development, Canadian International Development Agency, Embassy of Norway, Ford Foundation, Open Society Foundation, Bread for the World, United Nations Development Fund, KIOS, ForumCiv, Institut Für Auslandsbeziehungen, National Endowment for Democracy, USAID, and the private sector. Ms. Kihara has a Master’s Degree in Law in Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa, a Post-graduate Diploma in Law, and an LLB (Hons) in Law with Human Resource Management and Computer Science. Ms. Kihara has held several positions, including Security and Organizational Management, Governance and Human Rights Consultant, Program Director- National Democratic Institute for International Affairs, Executive Director – Pawa Initiative. She has also volunteered for several organizations and served as a board member.

Heidi-Maria Helenius works as a Programme Advisor with Disability Partnership Finland (DPF), an umbrella organisation of Finnish organisations of persons with disabilities engaged in international development cooperation and implementing the DPF Development Cooperation Programme funded by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland in 10 countries across the world. Heidi-Maria is responsible for the disability inclusion and mainstreaming work DPF is carrying out with various Finnish NGOs in order to ensure that the human rights of persons with disabilities are fully taken into account in their international development projects and programmes. In her previous positions Heidi-Maria has worked with international organisations and programmes focusing on social and human rights. Heidi-Maria holds a Master’s degree in International Relations and Middle East Studies (Joint Honours, University of St Andrews) and in Political Science (University of Helsinki), and a post-graduate diploma in Disability Studies (University of Leeds). Heidi-Maria is a member of the KIOS Board of Directors. 

Nerima Wako is an accomplished leader who serves as the Executive Director of Siasa Place (SP), a youth organization established in 2015. SP is dedicated to empowering the youth of Kenya to engage directly with the political mainstream meaningfully. Nerima’s impressive academic background includes a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism and Sociology from Jacksonville State University, which she obtained in 2010, and a Master’s in Public Administration, which she earned in 2012. SP specializes in civic tech, digital political campaigns, and advocacy. Nerima has held several positions of influence in Kenya, including Vice Chairperson of the Youth Coordinating Committee – Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission, Convenor of Youth Serving Organizations Kenya (a consortium of 25 youth organizations), Member of the Kenya Eminent Peace Panel (2022) appointed by the National Cohesion and Integration Committee, Member of the UNDP Youth Sounding Board, and Member of the Youth Advisory Committee to the Kingdom of Netherlands. She is also a board member of InformAction Kenya, Kenya Human Rights Commission, and Badili Africa. Additionally, Nerima is a writer who was a former columnist with ‘The East African’ and occasionally writes for national papers. In 2018, she was selected an Obama Leaders Fellow.

Mary Were Opot is the Founder/ Executive Director at Winam Grassroots a local based organization focused on women and girls empowerment, advocacy, economic and climate justice. She has worked in the Private Sector (finance/banking) strengthening access to credit for grassroot women traders, training and mentoring on savings and financial literacy.  She has been involved project initiation, implementation, coordination, management production of policies, frameworks and sessional paper, strategic plans and conflict mitigation.  She holds a master’s degree in project planning and management, and a Bachelor of Science Degree in Agribusiness Management and professional Certified Accountant.  Mary is a MEAL Capstone Researcher and has array of transferable skills. She serves her Country in as a Director in a State Parastatal and a number Public school boards. A Trustee of the CSO Network Trust. Facilitator and mentor at Inspired Women Lead a global leadership platform.