- Vision for Kenya was selected to receive a grant application for $14,000 from Valparaiso University Student led organization SALT. SALT is The Social Action Leadership Team (SALT) a social justice ministry. Students in SALT serve as the leadership team that invites Valpo students to engage in Christian service both near and far. SALT is involved in local volunteering, spring break service trips and church-based community organizing
- Executive Director, Jacob Sitati will be meeting with the Director and Board of Lugulu Hopsital in March to begin arrangements for the water project to be funded by the SALT fundraising effort.
- Executive Director Jacob Sitati while in Kenya was invited by AIC Githumu Hospital a Mission Hospital established to provide affordable and sustainable, holistic, quality health care services to review their strategic plan and potentially help them in sourcing equipment for their hospital.
- Consideration is underway to support a youth project led by Samuel Ollunga, titled MDG Inc. It is a program that advances and engages in the realization of the Millennium Development Goals as well as helping ordinary people and communities across the world achieve their aims of obtaining and enhancing their source of livelihood and business enterprises towards greater wellbeing and socio-economic fulfillment.
- Planned Directors Meeting Scheduled for November 2011 to review current project progress and determine future projects for the organization.
The spring board meeting was held at the end of February with a focus on finalizing on the strategy document expalaining Vision's policy goals for the organization. Fund raisng efforts for shipment of equipment was also discussed with a goal of finalizing on the fundraising goals and efforts.
Finally, it was decided that planning should go ahead for the shipment of a small quantity of the equipment required to ensure the organizational processes in place are efficient and can deliver before planning on larger shipments.
Summer 2009
(May to September)
Fordam Wara, an Attorney, was voted in as a director to serve on the Board of Vision for Kenya;
Jacob Sitati, Executive Director, came back from a 5 week trip to Kenya, where he met with the Lugulu hospital management team and various government stakeholders who will play a role in the facilitation process of equipment donated to the hospital;
Fall 2009
Vision for Kenya in collaboration with Monaco Youth Group USA and the
African Students Club at North Park University host the annual Chicago
Marathon dinner with elite athletes.
Directors Board meeting planned in October to discuss fundraising for the shipment of equipment solicited.
Jacob Sitati directs overall firm business and is the lead counsel at Maurice +Fischer. He has previously served in various capacities in the legal field while working at various Boutique Labor and Employment Law Firms in Chicago. Prior to founding Maurice + Fischer, Jacob worked as a Legal Contractor for Allstate Insurance Company with the Government Relations and Public Policy Group under the Law and Regulation Department. While at Allstate, Jacob worked alongside the Public Policy legal team on compliance issues, regulatory issues, due diligence, legal research, legislative strategy and policy research. In addition to policy and advocacy work, Jacob is the Executive Director of Vision for Kenya, Not for profit, an Adjunct Faculty member at Valparaiso University Graduate School and a Presidential Circle member at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs. Jacob has a background in Economics, Political Science, Law, and International Commerce and Policy.
Sharon Kibwana is a Program Officer at Jhpiego, based in Baltimore, Maryland. She has over 5 years experience in coordination and management of both domestic and international public health research and prevention programs. She has worked in diverse technical areas including prostate and cervical cancer, maternal and neonatal health, family planning and reproductive health, HIV/AIDS, and health disparities among minority populations. Sharon is a citizen of Kenya and has a background in Public Health.
Yvonne Mbatia is a clinical Pharmacist by training and is currently working at Baylor, All Saints in Fortworth Tx. Yvonne has over seven years experience in Pharmacy and has worked in various positions within the field in Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas. Apart from working in Pharmacy, Yvonne has also been acitive within her immediate society where she has worked as mentor counseling youth through a community based organization “Youth Against Crime.” Yvonne is a citizen of Kenya.
Martin Mbaya is the co-founder and CEO of Nairobi Capital, Inc. (www.nairobicapital.com) a global mobile money financial intermediary with operations in Kenya offering working capital solutions and business know how to small businesses and individuals in Africa. He also serves as an advisor to MIT AITI (http://aiti.mit.edu), Maurice + Fischer (www.mauriceandfischer.com) and the BeeClan Group of companies (www.beeclanlimited.com). He holds degrees in engineering from MIT and public policy with a concentration in international trade and finance from Harvard. He is also a member of the MOC (Microeconomics of Competitiveness) network based at Harvard's Institute for Strategy and Competitiveness. Over the past decade and a half, Martin has worked in strategy, operations, technology consulting, higher education and finance primarily in Africa, America and Asia.
Fordam Otieno Wara is a licensed attorney
in Minnesota and has practiced law for a number of years specializing
in product liability litigation.
His background also includes international work. He served as a law clerk
at a firm in Nairobi, Kenya, and coordinated a human-rights project in
Kenya as a participant in the University of Minnesota's Upper Midwest
International Human Rights Fellowship program.
He began his legal career as a judicial intern for a U.S. District Court
Magistrate Judge for the District of Minnesota, and for a judge in Minnesota
district court in Hennepin County. Prior to entering law school, Mr. Wara
worked with the Africa-America Institute in Washington, D.C. where he
helped to organize the 2000 East Coast Regional Summit on Africa.
Mr. Wara is currently a Masters of Laws student at McGill University in
Canada.