Leadership Motivation

As an Obama Fellow, a member of the African Leadership Network, and a trained UNESCO International Youth Peace Ambassador, Eddy brings a vast international network and development experience into the Kenyan Senate. He was the youngest speaker and first panel leader at the 2012 G8 Summit that culminated into one of the largest agricultural production investments in Africa by the Obama Administration. Eddy has been recognized with the 2012 Impact Award from the Kenyan US Diaspora, the 2013 Africa Village’s Top 30 Under 30 Most Inspirational Young People on the African continent, and Salt’s 2015 top 30 under 30 most innovative and influential youth in Africa.

Eddy grew up in rural Migori, and while from a loving and well-meaning family, he knew the hardships of so many Migorians—including early teen years spent surviving in foster families.  Through hard work and the remarkable generosity of the community, including both local and international benefactors, Eddy was able to pursue his education in Kenya and abroad. It is his goal to help the community provide similar opportunities to hardworking Migori residents.

In the 2007/2008 post-election violence, Eddy founded Ongoza, an organization committed to bringing an end to civil violence by empowering young people to become economically independent champions of peace in their local communities. Ongoza is now an independent institution continuing to strengthen youth across Kenya. Building on this track record, Eddy will continue to focus on youth and women empowerment, job creation, climate advocacy, and social entrepreneurship in the Kenya Senate.

Eddy is passionate about governance and is an enthusiastic collaborator. In the past, he has worked on various community action projects with British Council, World Economic Forum, Graca Machel Trust, among others. He was in the select Equity Bank’s CEO’s task force that restructured the Bank’s Pre-University Program in 2009 and consulted as the first Think Tank on youth engagement strategy for the MasterCard Foundation’s head office in Toronto, Canada in 2011/2012. He was also part of the professional committee that structured and established the 2nd Kenyan Prime Minister’s Youth Round Table in 2010.

As part of the small Changemakers’ advisory group invited by the President of Mozambique, H.E. Amando Guebuza, he consulted for the Presidency on restructuring Mozambique’s national youth employment and entrepreneurship program in 2010. He became the youth representative and member of the CEOs’ Roundtable that brought together CEOs and policy makers of top Kenyan and regional companies and principal government decision makers from key sectors of the economy to deliberate on national and regional issues emerging from the World Economy Forum’s Global Competitiveness Report 2010-2011.