kenya works
STORY
About Us
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Since 2004, Kenya Works has been standing with vulnerable children and their families in communities across Kenya to break down poverty's barriers and expand human rights for all.
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The organization is a registered non profit in both the United States and Kenya. Since 2023, we have operated from our campus in Ongata Rongai, which is home to our community center and the Miale ya Tumaini Child Protection Center.
Founding Years
Inspired by a New York Times article on the UN Millenium Goals to eradicate global poverty, Mary Gerritts Stusek decided to dedicate her retirement to creating opportunity for others.
In 2004, she founded the Kenya School Project in support of the developing democracy's goal to provide free primary education to millions of school-aged children. In 2008, the organization became Kenya Works to represent an expanded focus on community development.
Leadership Change
During this same time period, Julie Schaller-Schmidt was serving as the family representative for the Schmidt Family Foundation/U.S. Venture Corporation social responsibility initiative in Kenya. The focus of that work centered around support for Victory Community Development Center (VICODEC), a primary school and technical training center in Ongata Rongai, Kenya. Julie had developed a student sponsorship program, matching U.S. sponsors with vulnerable students to attend VICODEC primary school. Julie worked with Mary on utilizing Kenya Works payment system for student sponsorships and the two became close allies.
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As Mary looked to retirement in 2014, she asked if Julie would head Kenya Works, allowing beneficiaries from both organizations to seamlessly unite under the Kenya Works umbrella. The two traveled to Kenya together that year setting the stage for the leadership change and new initiatives for the nonprofit.
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New Program Development
The Makini Pad Initiative / MHH Works
During that trip, Julie was already envisioning a solution to a problem that she saw girls facing with their education. They lacked period products and education and carried a lot of shame over menstruating due to myths and stigma. It wasn't uncommon for girls to miss school every month because of their periods. She wanted to be sure that sponsored students had menstrual supplies, but in searching for products and training, kept coming up short. She was inspired by the reusable products movement taking hold in the developing world, but not with models of acquisition, education or production. No such products were made in Kenya, and the products available elsewhere on the continent were expensive and poor quality.
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To address this need, Julie teamed up with her colleagues at VICODEC--Executive Director Joe Wachira and Feliciters xx who leads their vocational education program. The three put a business plan into place to design, develop and produce Makini Pads on the VICODEC campus. A steady stream of dressmaking students meant a win-win for creating good jobs for a skilled workforce. And by late in 2014, the organizations launched The Makini Pad Initiative to distribute free pad kits and menstrual education to school-going girls.
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Kenya Works Community Works
In 2017, Kenya Works introduced human rights programming delivered in and with communities across the country.
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Our Vision
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Building a poverty-free Kenya with opportunity for all
Our Mission
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Kenya Works empowers Kenyans in vulnerable circumstances to overcome poverty and tackle key human rights issues.
Our Programs​
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Our programs are built on multiple, proven and interconnected solutions to breaking down poverty's barriers.
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Like Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, we start with basic needs providing Shelter and Feeding to children and youth, as well as family outreach to prevent sheltering needs. The next layer creates community access to Menstrual Health & Hygiene (MHH), with products and programming to end period poverty and create a period-friendly world. Opening doors to education is our third pillar, which we do through individual and community-level sponsorship, school feeding programs and infrastructure support to partner schools. Our fourth pillar builds access to broad-scale human rights advancement developed with and for communities.