Meet the Team

Kingwa Kamencu is a multiple award winning writer and poet based in Kenya. Her published works include My Soul Begins to Flower: Poetry (Blackstar Press, 2025), Women Kingmakers: Operationalizing a Politics of Care (Badili Africa, 2024), The Shy Girl (Oxford University Press, Nairobi, 2010), and To Grasp at a Star (EAEP, Nairobi, 2005).

The novella To Grasp at a Star won three major Kenyan awards at its inception (the National Book Development Council Manuscript Award, The Wahome Mutahi Prize and the Jomo Kenyatta Prize for Literature) and is currently on the Kenyan secondary school syllabus recommended reading list. She has also published poetry and short stories in varied anthologies. She has also written scripts for popular television programmes Stay (K24), and Madame President (YouTube, Facebook).

Having had a highly fulfilling career as an arts and culture journalist for more than ten years, she set up a firm Blackstar Media to further spotlight and highlight the work of the creative scene; and a non-profit organization, Culture and Communication in Development, to give support to enable the wellbeing and sustainability of creatives. Financial literacy, capacity building training, and wellness programs have been some of the most recent projects run to this end. She holds an MSt in Creative Writing and an MSc in African Studies from the University of Oxford.

Geoffrey Otieno is a Kenyan chemist and materials scientist whose academic and professional career spans over two decades, with a strong focus on nanomaterials, chemical safety and security, and sustainable technologies. He currently serves as a Senior Lecturer at the Technical University of Kenya, where he previously held leadership roles as the Director of the School of Chemistry and Material Science and Chair of the Department of Chemical Science and Technology.

His research interests lie at the intersection of nanotechnology, environmental chemistry, and sustainable materials. Dr. Otieno has contributed to the development of novel materials for water purification, renewable energy applications, nanoformulated drugs and biodegradable polymers. He has collaborated with institutions such as Nestlé Waters (France), the University of Oxford, and multiple universities across Africa. He is a contributing author to several academic volumes, including Nano-Formulation and Preclinical Study of Dihydroartemisinin-Lumefantrine Antimalarial Drug. Chemical and Materials Sciences: Developments and Innovations Vol. 6, 1–29.
Beyond his research, Geoffrey has played a significant role in chemical safety and security policy across Africa and the Global South. He is an Associate of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), a member of the Governing Council of the Kenya Chemical Society, and a member of INTERPOL’s ChemCongress Industry Advisory Group on Chemical Security. He has led and contributed to numerous regional and international programmes aimed at improving chemical management practices in academic, industrial, and government institutions.

Geoffrey is a member of the Royal Society of Chemistry and the Kenya National Academy of Sciences. Through research, teaching, and policy engagement, he remains dedicated to using science to address real-world challenges and support the next generation of African scientists.

In addition to academic and technical work, Geoffrey continues to contribute to leadership development and scholarship access. He serves as the Kenya National Secretary for the Rhodes Scholarship and participates in the selection process for scholars from East Africa. His work reflects a commitment to academic excellence, public service, and collaborative problem-solving.

Geoffrey holds a Doctor of Philosophy in Materials Science from the University of Oxford. He also holds a Master’s degree in Advanced Materials Engineering from Kangwon National University, South Korea, and a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry and Mathematics from Kenyatta University, Kenya.

Victoria Miyandazi completed her LLB with First Class Honours at Kenyatta University before obtaining a BCL, MPhil in Law, and DPhil in Law from the University of Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar. She joined the University of Nottingham School of Law as an Assistant Professor in Public Law in April 2025. Prior to this, she was the Knight Fellow in Legal and Constitutional Research at the University of St Andrews, where she taught and supervised postgraduate research in Global Constitutionalism, Comparative Studies in Legal and Constitutional Research, and The Idea of Law.

She has served as a Legal Researcher for the Kenyan Judiciary Committee on Elections, and as a Researcher and Editor at the Oxford Human Rights Hub, where she led the Action4Justice Kenya project. She has also practised law as an Advocate of the High Court of Kenya, focusing on human rights and constitutional litigation. In addition to her legal practice and research, Victoria lectured at the University of Embu, teaching courses such as Property Law, Administrative Law, Public International Law, Civil Procedure, and Mooting. She also taught International Humanitarian Law and Equality Law as part of the University of Oxford’s Ohio State Pre-Law Programme.

She is the author of Equality in Kenya’s 2010 Constitution: Understanding the Competing and Interrelated Conceptions (Hart Publishing, 2021) and has published widely in peer-reviewed journals and edited collections on issues relating to comparative constitutional law, equality, judicial politics, fourth branch institutions, human rights, and socio-economic justice. Victoria is a member of the UK Young Academy (2023–2028) and was named one of The Africa Report’s 10 African Scholars to Watch (2025).