Arthur is the current Chair of the Landscape Chapter of the Architectural Association of Kenya, a Partner at Lexicon + Ion Planning in Nairobi, and a lecturer at the Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology Department of Landscape Architecture. He has been awarded the Norman T. Newton Prize for Design Expression in Landscape Architecture and an American Society of Landscape Architects Certificate of Honor.
Arthur has a Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Nairobi and a Master of Landscape Architecture from Harvard University.
Prior to joining KDI, Christian spent seven years as a faith-based community organizer and retreat leader during his time in Seminary School. His skill set include working in various industries such as catering, hotel management, and agriculture, most recently working as the Human Resources coordinator for a Farm Labor contractor in the ECV. He is interested in the arts, but mainly in artistic photojournalism.
Christian studied Philosophy and Political Science at Loyola University Chicago.
Somba believes in the importance of good conduct and relations within the Kibera community, and has maintained both while working with KDI on the planning and implementation of new urban developments.
Joe has over ten years of professional experience in the design and delivery of water, wastewater, and drainage systems; and rural and urban participatory design and engineering projects in the United States, Latin America, Africa, Europe, and Asia. Prior to joining KDI, Joe was a Senior Engineer at BuroHappold Engineering. He began volunteering with KDI in 2008, became a board member in 2010, and served as KDI’s first Kenya Country Director in 2012. He has taught and lectured in multiple countries and written widely in academic and practice publications on participation, sustainability assessment, infrastructure development, and resilience.
Joe received a first-class Masters in Civil and Environmental Engineering from Imperial College London and the École National des Ponts et Chaussées, Paris, and was awarded an EPSRC studentship to study for a Master of Philosophy in Engineering for Sustainable Development at the University of Cambridge. He is currently undertaking an Industrial PhD with KDI at the KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden on “Community-Responsive Adaptation” to flood risk in low-income informal areas.
Kotch is the founder and CEO of Porous City Network, a landscape architecture social enterprise working to increase urban resilience in her hometown, Bangkok, Thailand. Kotch previously founded and was the lead designer for the award-winning landscape architecture and urban design firm Landprocess, focused on improving Thailand's productive public space. Kotch is also a highly active campaigner for public green space and is a design consultant for the Redevelopment Bangkok 250 project celebrating the city's 250th anniversary. Kotch is a 2016 Asia Foundation Development Fellow.
Kotch received her master's in Landscape Architecture from Harvard University's Graduate School of Design.
WILSON SAGEKA is the Operations Coordinator at Kounkuey Design Initiative-Kenya. Wilson provides operations and logistical support as well as creates and develops relationships with external partners. He is passionate about excellence, operational efficiency and effective business leadership.
Before joining KDI in 2011, Wilson worked for non-profit agencies in organizational administration and logistics, and acquired wide-ranging skills in finance management, logistics and partner relationship development.
Wilson holds a Diploma in Business Management from the Kenya Institute of Management and a bachelor’s degree in Business Management with a major in Finance & Banking from Moi University. Studying for a Masters of Science in Development Studies & Project Management from Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, Wilson is committed to improving the quality of life, education and financial management awareness of the underserved communities through participatory and sustainable development.
Prior to joining KDI, Ross worked as a landscape designer at Hood Design Studio and at Andrea Cochran Landscape Architecture. He also worked as a design and fabrication manager at LA-Más, and taught a design and build course at Woodbury University’s Agency for Civic Engagement Center.
Ross holds a Bachelor of Arts in Landscape Architecture from Iowa State and a Master of Fine Arts from Cranbrook Academy of Art.
Before joining KDI, Rosie worked on communications and marketing campaigns at the Ananias Foundation, Planned Parenthood Los Angeles, and Cambridgeshire Community Foundation in the UK. She won the Top Hispanist Prize from the University of Cambridge for her dissertation on spatial theory, neoliberalism and violence in Ciudad Juárez, and was awarded two King’s College scholarships. She also spent a year in Spain, working at a translation agency and an editorial.
Rosie holds a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in Modern and Medieval Languages from King’s College, University of Cambridge. She specialized in Latin American literature, and studied themes such as violence, dictatorship, gender, and the body-politic.
Chelina has lectured extensively in the U.S. and internationally and has written about KDI’s community-engaged approach to planning in Forbes Magazine and NOW Urbanism. In 2008, she was awarded the Van Alen Institute’s New York Prize for Public Architecture for the design and implementation of a network of Productive Public Spaces in the slum of Kibera, Nairobi. In 2012, she was named by American Express as one of 15 Global Emerging Social Innovators. In 2014, she was named an Aspen Institute Ideas Scholar.
Chelina holds a Bachelor of Arts from Claremont McKenna College, where she graduated with magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa honors. She received her Master of Urban Planning from Harvard University.
KEANA FLORES is an Operations Associate at Kounkuey Design Initiative in the U.S. Keana is dedicated to supporting KDI in their efforts to address social injustices and create equitable communities through community-led design and planning.Prior to joining KDI, Keana interned at Enterprise Community Partners, an affordable housing and community development organization where she supported capacity-building initiatives for neighborhood-based nonprofit housing developers.Keana holds a Bachelor of Arts in Urban Studies and Political Science from Loyola Marymount University.
Jennifer’s diverse project experience includes institutional, cultural, and residential projects across the globe. Prior to joining KDI, she worked at the offices of OLIN, Reed Hilderbrand, and Sasaki. In 2008, she was awarded the Van Alen Institute’s New York Prize for Public Architecture for the design and implementation of a network of Productive Public Spaces in the slum of Kibera, Nairobi. She is a LEED accredited professional.
Jennifer holds a Bachelor of Arts in History and Science, a Master of Urban Planning, and a Master of Landscape Architecture from Harvard University.
Prior to joining KDI, Paola interned at FoodLab Detroit, a community of small local food businesses working to improve their communities and the environment, and at Focus: HOPE, a civil rights organization that addresses hunger, education and workforce development, and the built environment in Detroit. Before becoming a Planning Associate, Paola interned at KDI, contributing her skills to community engagement, research, analysis, and participatory design workshops on a variety of projects.
Paola holds a Bachelor of Science in Environmental and International Studies from the University of Michigan with Phi Beta Kappa honors, and a Master of Urban and Regional Planning from the University of California, Los Angeles. She has graduate certificates in Design and Development, Global Urbanization and Regional Development, and Urban Humanities.
Prior to joining KDI, Naria worked at non-profit and public agencies addressing issues including neighborhood revitalization, storm water management, foreclosure prevention, healthy food access, and economic development. While completing her Masters in Urban Planning, she explored strategies to revitalize Detroit’s vacant lots through community-driven green infrastructure projects.
Naria holds a Bachelor of Science in Public Policy, Planning, and Management from the University of Oregon and a Master in Urban and Regional Planning from the University of California, Los Angeles with a graduate certificate in Design and Development.
As Executive Vice President of Production at Disney, Tendo Nagenda oversees a slate of live-action feature films through development, production, physical production and post-production. His most recent films include 2017's blockbuster live action adaptation of Beauty and the Beast, 2015's live action adaptation of Cinderella, the critically-acclaimed Saving Mr. Banks and the inspirational drama Queen of Katwe. He is currently working on an adaptation of A Wrinkle in Time with Ava DuVernay directing and Oprah Winfrey starring, and the live action adaptations of Dumbo, with Tim Burton, and Mulan, with director Niki Caro.
Nagenda joined the company as Vice President of Production in March 2010. Prior to Disney, Nagenda served as VP of Production for Good Universe (Juno, Stranger Than Fiction) from December 2007, actively developing a diverse array of projects. During his tenure, Tendo oversaw the production of the Sam Raimi directed Drag Me To Hell, and co-produced 50/50 starring Joseph Gordon Levitt and Seth Rogen.
He joined Good Universe’s team after serving as a creative executive at Brad Pitt’s Plan B Entertainment. His mandate at Plan B was to find, develop and nurture projects that ambitiously sought to blend entertainment with substance. As such, he worked on a wide array of projects including Paramount’s World War Z starring Brad Pitt and A Mighty Heart starring Angelina Jolie. Nagenda developed a reputation within the entertainment business as an identifier of talent while working as a junior creative executive at Warner Independent Pictures, from its inception in 2003. While there he worked on high-profile projects such as George Clooney’s Good Night and Good Luck and the hit documentary March of the Penguins.
A graduate of Claremont McKenna College with a dual degree in Economics and Government, Nagenda began his career as a Consultant for Deloitte, a financial firm, where his clients included E! Entertainment Television and Northrop Grumman. He found a place as a Production Finance analyst at HBO before segueing to the creative side of producing feature films. His belief that filmed content – specifically feature films – can impact and expand the way people see and experience the world has informed his career trajectory and led him to his current position at the biggest media company in the world.
VERA BUKACHI is Senior Research Coordinator at Kounkuey Design Initiative in Kenya. She is a civil engineer, project manager and academic with over ten years’ specialising in water engineering, international development, project/ programme management and applied research. Her interest lies in providing technical expertise, coordinating outputs, managing relationships, and examining, learning from, supporting and scaling community-led initiatives related to water, sanitation, hygiene, waste and sustainability.
Nairobi born and bred, she previously worked with the engineering consulting firm Arup. She has also taught engineering at University College London.
She holds an undergraduate degree in civil and structural engineering from University of Bradford UK and is completing her PhD in Environmental Engineering at University College London.
Before joining KDI in 2016, Prisca worked with other non-for-profit agencies with special focus in community mobilization and youth empowerment.
TATU GATERE is the Kenya Country Director at Kounkuey Design Initiative. Tatu leads the Nairobi office and oversees design, construction, financial and project management.
Prior to joining KDI in 2015, Tatu had worked on both commercial and place-based community projects in the USA, Canada, South Africa and Kenya. She has structured her career to explore research and design in contemporary architecture and urbanism, while raising questions around the role of culture, context, place and condition in the development of program and form. Her ambition is to make beautiful, safe, efficient buildings and public spaces accessible to families, societies and communities irrespective of economic or social status.
Tatu has spoken both nationally and internationally on KDI’s community centered approach. In 2016 she was selected as the Next City World Stage speaker at the Habitat III conference in, Quito Ecuador. Tatu holds an Associates of Architectural Engineering Technology from The University of the District of Columbia and a Bachelor of Architecture from the Fay School of Architecture at The University of Arkansas.
EMMA SKOTTKE is a Landscape Design Coordinator at Kounkuey Design Initiative in Kenya. As project manager of the IDEO Amplify project she is working closely together with Kibera residents to showcase how communities can create awareness and resilience around flooding and other common crises trough physical and non-physical implementations within the existing Kibera network of productive public spaces. Emma is also involved with the development of design strategies and solutions for open spaces and landscapes, and with the planning and execution of community design workshops in Kibera.
Emma has a strong passion for community driven design, communication and human centered urban transformation processes. She believes that memories, stories and identity is central in order to create a socially and environmentally sustainable places. Before Emma joined KDI she worked at several different architect and planning firms in Sweden as well as starting up and managing a project engaging youth in urban planning and place-making in Nairobi.
Emma holds a master´s degree in Landscape Architecture from the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Alnarp.
As a CPA professional who is highly knowledgeable about current accountancy practices, Eugene joined KDI from extensive national and international experience from accounting and auditing to financial and grant management. Eugene also brings a wealth of experience from the private sector where he worked in various management roles.
Previous work experience includes Alexander Forbes Financial Services (Kenya), African Development & Emergency Organization (ADEO), Horn Relief (Now ADESO) and Balozi Housing Cooperative Society (A society for U.S.A.I.D. & U.S. Embassy staff members in Kenya). Eugene was a Finance Manager at Cordaid, as well as Grants Manager at IMA World Health, both in South Sudan, working on the World Bank funded Rapid Results Health Programme (RRHP).
Before joining KDI, Jessie worked with community members in Brooklyn, NY to research the upstream social, economic, and physical determinants of health in their neighborhoods, informing the NY state-funded Vital Brooklyn plan. While working towards her master’s degree, Jessie used quantitative and qualitative analyses to investigate the complexities of climate adaptation and resilience in areas vulnerable to sea level rise and other impacts from climate change and subsequently its effects on communities that live there. Additionally, Jessie researched the nexus of food subsidies and health, namely how the discontinuation of federal food subsidy programs can be linked to negative community health outcomes related to spikes in water-borne disease outbreaks.
Jessie holds dual Bachelor of Arts degrees in Business and Spanish from Pepperdine University and a Master in City Planning from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Before joining KDI, Sal worked as a Junior Designer at LA-Más, where he started as a Design Fellow. In 2013, Sal was a Prize Winner for the ACSA/AISC Steel Design Student Competition for the project, “Inverted Landscapes”.Sal holds a Bachelor of Architecture from Woodbury University.
Prior to full time employment at KDI in 2014, Pascal gained experience through as community engagement projects in Kibera and Nairobi as well as through the KDI’s participatory design projects. Over time, he has amassed extensive experience in research methods and data collection via household survey, focus-group discussions and key informant interviews.
JAMILLA HARPER is the Associate Country Director at Kounkuey Design Initiative in Kenya. She focuses on delivery of engaged community development process by creating and fostering relationships with local and regional partners. Jamilla is recognized for her zealousness and ability to work in close community settings with the scope to interact with and influence institutional and multilateral organizations on multi-tiered development projects.
Jamilla joined KDI in 2012 with extensive field experience in community-driven development in areas of extreme poverty in the USA and Kenya. She is a Rotary Foundation Ambassadorial Fellow and a part of the winning team in the 2013 AECOM International Student Competition.
Jamilla holds dual Bachelor's degrees in Corporate Communication and Spanish from the College of Charleston as well as a Master's in Development Studies from the Institute for Development Studies at The University of Nairobi.
Christina has worked on a range of projects through all phases of design. Prior to joining KDI, Christina worked at several landscape architecture firms including, Nancy Goslee Power & Associate and GSLA Studio.
Christina holds a Bachelor of Arts in Communication with an emphasis in Photojournalism. She completed her graduate studies in Landscape Architecture at the University of California, Los Angeles Extension. She was the recipient of the ASLA Student Honor Award.
Claudia has a professional background in concierge services and established The Help Company, one of the first nanny agencies in the country.