Joy Nafungo
Executive Director, Hamomi Children's Centre
Bold Idea: Strengthen a model for educating orphaned and vulnerable children in informal settlements with wraparound social services, high quality instruction in a free primary school, and strong parent involvement. Share lessons learned from the local program as a model for national and regional replication.
Path to Metis: From over a decade of leading Early Childhood Development (ECD) interventions in Kenya, Joy has a deep understanding of local needs, opportunities, and the international funding landscape in ECD. Joy grew up in rural Kenya with a father who was a teacher, and began her own career teaching preschool at Creche International School. As a Training Facilitator for Bridge International Academies, she coached field staff to improve their school quality, led capacity building trainings, and designed tools for operations and learning data management.
As a Programme Officer in ECD for Plan International and ECD Programme Specialist for RTI International, Joy managed investments in and impact evaluation of ECD projects, led advocacy efforts, and supported government officials to implement interventions (such as the government’s flagship Tayari initiative). For example, she launched peer groups that supported parents to determine health and learning outcomes they desired for their children and utilize resources to support their children towards those outcomes.
Joy has a BA in Early Childhood Development from Kenyatta University, a Masters in Project Management from University of Nairobi, and is currently completing a Masters in Education at the University of Wales, focusing on innovations in teaching and learning. Joy has been Executive Director of Hamomi since 2015, where she leads program design, impact evaluation, and fundraising.
More About Joy:
Video Overview of Hamomi’s Programs
