Inosi Nyatta
Kenya & Magdalen 2000
Born in Kisumu, Kenya in 1974, Inosi Nyatta studied at Nairobi University and New York University before going to Oxford to read for the BCL. She returned to New York and went into legal practice, specialising in global project development. She is now a partner in Sullivan & Cromwell LLP’s Finance Group and is Co-Head of its global Project Development & Finance Group where her work facilitates the financing of transactions across a wide range of development projects. Nyatta has been named ‘Dealmaker of the Year’ by The American Lawyer and one of Crain’s ‘Notable Women in Business’. She and her brother Shu Nyatta (Kenya & Magdalen 2004) have generously funded the Nyatta Family Café in Rhodes House, a hub for connection in the newly remodelled buildings. This narrative is excerpted and edited from an interview with the Rhodes Trust on September 10, 2024.
‘I realised very early on that there were completely different ways that people could live and be happy, fulfilled, and have productive lives.’
I grew up mainly in Nairobi, which is a fast-paced and very international city. My father is from the coastal areas of Kenya, from the Taita community, and my mother is American. They met in Nairobi when my mother came to Kenya after she had studied East Africa in college. She intended it to be short trip, but the met my father, they got married and the rest is history!
Nairobi was a great place to grow up. Lots of international institutions that worked across Africa had their headquarters there, so it was a community with people from many different places. In contrast, during vacations, we also experienced living in my father’s village, where my grandmother would cook on charcoal at a mud stove and we would go to the river to fetch water for cooking. Growing up in the city but also seeing that tight-knit rural community presented a very interesting dichotomy. It made me realise very early on that there were completely different ways that people could live and be happy, fulfilled and have productive lives.
In high school, I wanted to get involved in everything, and I’ve always tried to do that since then. I’ve always found this to be a great way to connect with people and to really experience the place and community you are in. I wasn’t good at everything I did but loved exploring. My elementary school drew from the community it was in, with a mix of middle-class students as well as students from the neighbouring low-income community. Children bond without stratification, and I think it’s so valuable to reflect on those early friendships as a reminder that stratification does not determine who people actually are.
My high school was a girl’s boarding school, which provided an opportunity to develop independence. We had a formidable headmistress who created a disciplined but comfortable environment where the focus was on learning, supporting one another, and growing as leaders. We were given an opportunity to lead in our early years, and many of the girls from the school have ended up in significant leadership roles in their careers.
On applying for the Rhodes Scholarship
I went to law school as an undergraduate at the University of Nairobi. At that time, it was the primary law school in Kenya, and it really drew together a dynamic, energetic group who have become some of the top lawyers, judges and politicians in Kenya. That energy of everyone striving to prove themselves was invigorating . We benefitted from having professors who had been some of the most prominent lawyers in Nairobi, so it was a fantastic experience.
Kenya had been going through a long period of economic depression and there business and economic activity was fairly muted at the time I graduated from law school. Because I wanted to become a commercial, transactional lawyer, I felt that I needed to broaden out my legal education in order to do so. I was fortunate to NYU Law School in New York and spent a year doing an LL.M there. My timing could not have been better – 1999-2000 was the middle of the dot.com boom. When the opportunity came up to apply for the Rhodes, at first, I wasn’t absolutely sure: it was going to be another year of school, and I did not really have the money to go back to Nairobi to the do the interview. But my family and my fiancé (now husband) were extremely supportive and helped me figure it out, and I managed to get back to Kenya for the interview and got the Scholarship.
‘There have been ideas that have come out of Oxford that have changed the world’
At Oxford, just like in high school, I really enjoyed experimenting with a lot of different sports and activities. I joined the Magdalen choir, although I quickly realised, I had not carried over my vocal talents from high school! I tried rowing too, even though the five o’clock morning starts were challenging.
I really enjoyed meeting the other Scholars and broader Oxford community, as well as exploring Oxford, which is such a special place. History permeates everything; Oxford has been a place of learning for a nearly a thousand years, and you feel that. You feel, ‘There have been ideas that have come of this place that have changed the world, and I can be part of that.’ It’s helped me in thinking about what I can do for my community, for my family, for my nation, for the world. Sometimes those ideas can seem too big to handle, but Oxford empowers you to understand that it can be done.
‘We need to find a way to bridge the opportunity gap’
I knew that I wanted to practise law, and I wanted to do it in a place where I could really have an impact internationally. Part of the reason I came back to New York is that I found a very international legal practice that clicked with what I wanted to do. I see my role as bringing people together in transactions from different jurisdictions, and with different objectives, with a focus on project development. I’ve always believed that to move things forward for emerging markets, we need more economic development. In my practice, I’ve been able to focus on developing energy, natural resource and infrastructure projects, which I believe are key to unlocking economic development. By harnessing capital to develop these sectors, you can spur economic activity. My work is also intellectually fascinating and fulfilling.
Being involved with the community is also so very important to me. I do this currently by working with not-for-profit organisations as a catalyst to support a wide range of initiatives. I see myself more as a global citizen, sharing techniques and knowledge, with the goal of creating opportunities for others to grow, develop and thrive. I’m part of a group within the New York City Bar Association that focuses on international pro bono work, and we’ve achieved a amazing connectivity across Africa and Latin America to cross-pollinate ideas and initiatives among communities in both continents. The global platform that I have now gives me the opportunity to connect with a very broad group and, hopefully, create the same opportunities for them that I have had.
A major challenge of our generation is to find a way to effectively bridge the opportunity gap. How do we give people the ability to get the same opportunities, no matter where they are? The issues we see in the world – poverty issues, race issues – could we solve these if everyone was able participate fully and equitably in their communities and countries? I strongly believe that a key to bridging this gap is education and economic support structures for good ideas no matter where they originate. We should not have a world where people believe (or are perceived) to have a “good life” only if they live in certain places, go to certain schools or work in certain jobs. Everyone should have the chance to fulfil their potential, be productive, receive support for their innovation and succeed where ever they are in the world. It sounds very idealistic, but I hope one day we can get there.
‘Open that door you might not have opened’
The Rhodes Scholarship really is what it’s set up to be. It’s one of those opportunities you can’t replicate. The Scholarship is special in that it acknowledges its origin, and uses it to create a foundation for change through each of us Scholars, as future leaders and role models for a better world. We must learn from each other and work together.
To today’s Rhodes Scholars, I would say, take the opportunities that are offered and don’t be afraid to do things that seem a little bit scary and a little bit different, and to become friends with a new person. By saying, ‘I’m going to give it a shot,’ you could learn something new and wonderful. So, open that door that you might not have opened - the Rhodes Scholarship gives you the opportunity to do that.