Soiya Gecaga is the Founder and Executive Director of “We the Change” Foundation, an a foundation that describes itself as inspiring people to “be the change” they want to see in the world.
The foundation’s key area of focus is the development and creation of a center of excellence to provide education and care to children in the marginal communities of Kenya.
Speaking to Jeff Koinange on Capital Talk in 2011, Soiya narrated that she left the country at the age of eleven and returned 26 years later at the age of 37.
It was during her time away that she pursued her studies in the UK, including a Master's degree in Modern History from the highly exclusive University of St. Andrews and a postgraduate diploma from the equally presitgious London College of law.
She then worked as a solicitor with the Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer between 2001 and 2003 before playing the same role at Bates and Braithwaite between May 2006 and 2008.
Gecaga told Koinange that while in her day to day activities, she spent a lot of time giving back to the community and volunteering, a matter that created in her a desire to do something to change the lives of other people.
Her desire was compounded by the post-election violence that rocked the country in 2007, forcing her to return to Kenya in an attempt to help foster peace and reconnect with her culture.
"When I was working at the local school to help young children read, I was looking at everything unfold [the violence] and saying to myself that someone should do something. The more I did that, the more I started thinking, well, I cannot expect other people to do things if I am not willing to do something.
"People often ask me, how did you make that choice, and I say that it didn't feel like a choice to me. This felt like the thing I had to do. I had spent a long time away and had been given a good education and working as a lawyer in London, yet something was missing for me," she stated.
Through the “We the Change” Foundation, Soiya provides ECD and education programs to children in marginalized communities, with her work gaining prominence in Mathare.
She is also the founder of Vale School in Muthaiga, Nairobi, a school that focuses on child-centered teaching and learning methods and trains the caregivers and parents of students to use training tools that support their child’s development.
Soiya was an Acumen East Africa Fellow in 2011, and also has experience working with the United Nations, Goldman Sachs, Njoge Education Trust, and Mother Teresa’s home for the destitute in India.
She is the daughter of Jeni Kenyatta, President Uhuru Kenyatta's elder sister.
Video Courtesy of K24
