Volunteer Engagement Event

Our volunteer engagement event brought together volunteers and VSO alumni from across Kenya to share the power of storytelling.

Learn about our speakers and hosts

Watch the event highlights video

Watch the sessions from the event

History of VSO Kenya

Join George Awalla, VSO Business Pursuit Lead for the Horn of Africa, shares his reflections on the rich history of VSO's operations in Kenya.

VSO Voices – Panel discussion with our Volunteers

Listen to the inspirational stories of VSO volunteers Gerishon, Lucy, Mbaire, and Marina about the impact of their VSO volunteering journey on the community and themselves.

Leveraging LinkedIn to tell your story

Career coach and motivational speaker Susan Kiamba gives her advice on how to communicate your volunteer experience on LinkedIn and advance your career.

The power of storytelling

Hilary Lyons, an award-winning communication skills trainer, shares tips and techniques to help you tell your story with impact while staying authentically you.

Screenshot from toolkit: Volunteer passport

Download our Digital Toolkit

To equip you with the skills you'll need to create engaging online content, we’ve developed the ultimate Digital Toolkit which will give you all the top tips and tricks for talking about your volunteering experience.

From how to film videos effectively, to writing social media posts that will reach the masses, and even what steps you can take to secure influential media coverage, we’ve got your back.

Download the Digital Toolkit

Share your stories with us using #WeVolunteerFor

Hosts

Fridah Okomo

Fridah, youth climate champion — Fridah Okomo.

Fridah Okomo is a Youth and Climate Champion who's helping to strengthen community resilience by standing shoulder to shoulder with local communities.

As a climate champion she has worked on climate change mitigation, adaptation, and advocacy actions and mentored national climate champions in Kenya.

Additionally, through her campaigning and advocacy efforts, Fridah is playing a pivotal role in ensuring that climate change policies and legislation are on policymakers’ agendas in Kenya.

Susan Kiamba

Susan Kiamba is an experienced Leadership and Career Coach who supports managers, executives, and professionals when they need clarity for their career, job, leadership, or personal circumstances.

Susan has a broad coaching and consulting experience across various industries including banking, retail, insurance, international NGOs, hospitality and education.

Given her passion for equipping young professionals with skills to help them succeed in the workplace, Susan is also an adjunct lecturer.

Our speakers

Hilary Lyons

Hilary is an award winning trainer who knows how to bring out the best in people. She has twenty years’ experience in communication skills.

She is passionate about giving individuals the tools and techniques that will enable them to step out of their comfort zones and fully express themselves.

Marina Illerhues

Marina has a background in Industrial Psychology and has been working for Randstad since 2014.

She started as a consultant in the Netherlands and after a six months volunteering assignment with VSO in Tanzania, where she contributed to the development and implementation of a career centre for students seeking jobs, she was promoted to Corporate Citizenship Manager at Randstad Global.

In this role she is responsible for all programs that have an impact on local and global communities, including the long partnership between Randstad and VSO.

Currently she is taking on another volunteer assignment with VSO Kenya as Business Development Advisor.

Lucy Asewe

Lucy Asewe is a teacher and co-founder of Y-ENACT, a community-based organisation championing diversity, inclusion and gender transformative approaches in education and health services.

She currently is the Inclusive Education Advisor at VSO. Lucy is a passionate inclusion specialist with over eight years’ experience in implementing different programs supporting inclusion.

Lucy is a Youth Friendly Service (YFS) provision provider and technical advisor. She holds expertise in livelihood skills, entrepreneurships and employability. She has offered technical support in policy development to county and national governments, working closely with the Ministry of Health, Youth State Affairs and the Ministry of Education in various counties.

Mbaire Kamau

Mbaire Kamau works at the African Wildlife Foundation as the Senior Youth Officer in the Global Leadership team, where she leads the curation of the Charles R. Wall Youth Leadership Program.

She currently coordinates the leadership fellowship that aims at equipping young professionals who are passionate about the environment, with knowledge, skills and networks to lead systemic change in sustainable development.

Mbaire volunteered with the International Citizen Service (ICS) from 2016 to 2017. She later extended her active citizenship as a programs manager with Amani Institute, Kenya from 2018 to 2022, where she led, developed and facilitated social impact training programs for individuals, enterprises, NGOs and leadership development programs.

Gerishon Were

Gerishon Were is an experienced Trek Leader at GivePower with a demonstrated history of fostering impactful projects and cultural facilitation

Gerishon has held many roles at VSO, as a volunteer, Social Inclusion Facilitator, ICS assessor, and Team Leader, among many more.

As the Business Development Manager at Tropical Lush Limited and the co-founder of Eneza Products he has honed recruitment and strategic planning skills, embodying ethical business practices.

With a commitment to active citizenship, his career journey seamlessly connects leadership in impactful treks, volunteering, and business management to contribute to global and local well-being.