About - MashinaniWORKS

Our Vision:

To empower historically marginalized youth and women in Kenya’s arid and semi-arid lands to improve their livelihoods through trade and commerce.

Our Mission:

To create sustainable, environmentally friendly local economies for communities, enabling them to earn diversified incomes that help them cope with the effects of climate change, alleviate poverty, and bring peace to natural resource-based conflicts.

In northern Kenya, people, wildlife, and landscapes are threatened by a rapidly changing environment, economic isolation, persistent insecurity, and harsh social conditions. To surpass this chronic economic trap, people here must earn sustainable, environmentally responsible incomes.

So far, our programs have impacted the lives of 83,300 women and youth from 21 NRT community conservancies and provided essential training and resources, while promoting sustainability and self-reliance.

Our history begins,

with its founder, the Northern Rangelands Trust (NRT), and its mission to develop resilient community conservancies which transform people’s lives, secure peace, and conserve natural resources. NRT is a non-governmental organization founded in 2004 by a coalition of visionary local leaders and conservation advocates to support the growing number of community conservancies in northern Kenya. Rooted in the local communities and guided by their priorities and needs, NRT is a rare example of conservation for the people and by the people.

MashinaniWORKS empowers local communities to help them achieve a productive, self-reliant future. We build and operate sustainable businesses, facilitate new enterprise development and employment, and empower people through income diversification and growth.

Vishal Shah

C.E.O

Vishal Shah is responsible for creating and implementing the MashinaniWORKS strategy, aligning a wide array of stakeholders to deliver the MashinaniWORKS mission, and communicating with the donor, community, and government partners. Read More

Beatrice Lempaira

BeadWORKS Director

Beatrice Lempaira’s work involves community conservation, managing, and supporting teams.

Ture Boru

Chief Economic Programs Officer

Ture Boru oversees implementation of MashinaniWORKS programs as well as spearhead development and growth of Community Enterprises, Financial Inclusion and Vocational Training (Ujuzi Manyattani) initiatives.

Samwel Kiogora

Monitoring and Evaluation Officer

Samwel is a result-oriented and ethical practitioner trained to provide managerial responsibilities, administrative support, maintenance duties, and information resource management. He is a team player who can interact and work with people from diverse backgrounds.

Doreen Mwende

Chief Accountant

Doreen Mwende is a degree holder in Bachelor of Business Management (finance and banking option) and a Certified Public Accountant of Kenya (CPA-K).

Levis Kibet

Tourism Officer

Levis Kibet uses his skills to enhance the visibility of northern Kenya tourism products while building the brand ‘The Big North’. He believes in having a strong destination management plan that can build a reliable base for tourism to prosper.

Salma Lekoomet

BeadWORKS Production Manager

Salma is a driven individual with a strong passion for empowering women in her community. Her unwavering commitment to the cause is evident in the work she has put in over the last six years. She has been working closely with women beaders who rely on their craft to earn a living.

Dr. Wario Sake

Livestock Director

Dr. Wario Sake is a qualified, registered veterinary Surgeon with a tremendous potential and passion for community development. Despite being a youth, he has highly developed leadership and organizational skills.