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PROJECT TEAM

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
Prof. Bronwen Thomas

Bronwen Thomas is Professor of English and New Media and Head of the Narrative, Culture and Community Research Centre at Bournemouth University in the UK. She is the author of Narrative: the Basics and Literature and Social Media (both Routledge) and has published widely on online literary and reading communities. Bronwen has previously led three projects on digital reading funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council: Researching Readers Online (2012); the Digital Reading Network (2013-15 https://www.digitalreadingnetwork.com) and Reading on Screen (2017-18 https://www.readingonscreen.co.uk)

CO – INVESTIGATOR
Prof. Joseph Muema Kavulya

Prof. Joseph Muema Kavulya is the University Librarian at Chuka University, Kenya. He holds a B.A (Sociology and Literature) (1989-1992) and M.Ed. (Library and Information Science) both from Kenyatta University, Kenya (1994-1995) and a PhD (Library and Information Science) from Humboldt University, Berlin (2001-2004). He also attended training in Computer Networking at the University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, USA (1999), and proficiency in German as a Foreign Language, at The Centre for International Education and Cultural Exchange, Kreuzberg, Bonn, Germany (2000). He is the Chair of the National Executive Committee of the Kenya Libraries and Information Services Consortium, KLISC, which is the national library consortium dedicated to the development of digital libraries in universities and research institutions and improving access to scientific information for teaching, learning, research, innovation and policy making in Kenya. He has headed a number of projects including Integrated Radio-Frequency Identification Project and KENET Video-Conference-Based Remote Teaching Project (CUEA). Currently he is involved in African Higher Education Leadership in Advancing Inclusive Innovation for Development (AHEAD) Project funded by ERASMUS+ Programme of the European Union) as a researcher. His current areas of research interest include informatics for development, remote teaching information and digital literacy, LIS education, digital research, information access for disadvantaged groups, Research Metrics, and scholarly communication.

PROJECT ADMINISTRATOR/ CUEA Lead
Jane Nambiri OUMA
Research Fellow

Jane Nambiri holds a Master’s in Education Research and Evaluation from The Catholic University of Eastern Africa (CUEA) and is currently a doctoral student. She has been a participant in evidence-based practice that promotes social service practice and service delivery based on measurable outcomes. Jane has also participated in a wide variety of research projects at the university. Besides supporting proposal processes, she also participated as a researcher and administrator in the four ways of the “Longitudinal Study Research for Stop Violence Against Girls in School Project” which was funded by Big Lottery Fund UK, through Action Aid International Kenya and currently an administrator at CUEA, of the African Higher Education Leadership in Advancing Inclusive Innovation for Development (AHEAD) project, funded by ERUSMUS+ Programme of the European Union).

Dr Tricia Jenkins
Founder/Director
Digitales Limited

Tricia Jenkins is a founder director of Digitales Ltd, a research and digital storytelling company established in 2008, hosted by the Insitute of Creative and Cultural Enterpeneurship (ICCE) at Goldsmiths, University of London. Tricia is an experienced Digital Storytelling facilitator and recently completed a PhD at Middlesex University, which focused on the use of Digital Storytelling with older people. Tricia has over 35 years working in participatory media in education and community settings. She is also a Senior Associate at participatory video company Insight Share and an Associate Lecturer based in ICCE at Goldsmiths. She has facilitated Digital Storytelling workshops in the UK, across Europe and in Australia and Israel. She is co-editor of the book Digital Storytelling Form and Content: http://www.palgrave.com/gb/book/9781137591517#aboutBook.

Joan Mwachi-Amolo
Regional Director,
East Africa (Worldreader)

Joan Mwachi-Amolo manages the Worldreader portfolio in Kenya and greater East Africa. She is responsible for the strategic objectives and policies in the country office. Joan is an experienced educator, having started her career in the classroom setting and progressing on to designing and implementing training programs and capacity-building initiatives around non-formal school systems in impoverished communities. She has expertise in designing programs and tools for start-up organizations. Prior to joining Worldreader, Joan was the Regional Support Manager, Operations, at Bridge International Academies, a Nairobi-based organization that builds a network of ultra-low-cost private primary schools. Joan received a Bachelor of Education degree and a Master in Education Administration degree, both from Kenyatta University. She is inspired by the book “An Enemy Called Average” by John L Mason, which motivates her to do more than average in every aspect of her life.

Wanjiku Gathoni
Monitoring and Evaluation
East Africa (Worldreader)

Wanjiku Gathoni Munyiri believes that Monitoring and Evaluation is an integral part of any project being implemented and is inevitable for the success of any project. She is passionate about recording results and learning lessons from any intervention. She has an undergraduate course in Business and Information Technology and supplemented this with certificate courses in Monitoring and Evaluation, Statistical Package for Social Sciences to strengthen her skill in Monitoring and evaluation. She is currently pursuing a Masters of Arts degree in Project Planning and Management. She has previously worked for the United Nations- World Food Programme, African Women’s Studies Centre and for Parliament of Kenya.

Jess Rose,
Research Assistant,
Bournemouth University

Jess Rose is a Doctoral student at Bournemouth University, using participatory video to explore survivors’ lived experiences of coercive control. She is also a freelance photographer, and is based in London. Her research interests broadly include Feminist movements and methodologies, person-place relationships, and site specificity. Previous research has explored the practice of re-performance in live art, and graffiti as a form of political protest.

NETWORK MEMBERS

Prof. Hellen Inyega N.

Professor Hellen Inyega N. is an Associate Professor – Language, Literacy, Special, and Early Childhood Education – teaching courses at all levels of the Kenyan education system; supervising students on placement in pre-primary to tertiary educational settings; providing advisement on academic research; coordinating PhD programmes in Early Childhood Development.

She is a consultant for Language, Literacy, Numeracy, Special Education, Early Childhood Education and Learning Assessment and provides technical support on: early language, literacy and numeracy instruction, materials development and use; capacity development of regional and national level education personnel; early childhood development policy framework; psychometrics and competency-based curriculum assessment; develop relevance, efficiency, effectiveness, sustainability and impact measures of education projects.

Dr Dorothy Njoroge, Ph.D

Dr. Njoroge is an Assistant Professor of Corporate & Development Communication. She is also currently the Chairperson of the Association of Media Women in Kenya (AMWIK) a membership association that advocates for the advancement of women working in media-related enterprises. Dr. Njoroge is vastly experienced in a higher education having taught in universities in Kenya, Tanzania and the U.S. She developed the curriculum for USIU’s Master of Arts in Communication (MCom) and is a curriculum reviewer with the Commission for University Education. Dr. Njoroge, has a strong interest in gender issues and is currently running a program to train civil society organizations on strategic advocacy on gender-based violence. She has presented several papers in the flagship communication associations such as International Communication Association (ICA), International Association for Media and Communication Research (IAMCR) and theAssociation for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication(AEJMC). Her research interests are gender and communication, role of communication in governance as well as advocacy and activism.

Mr Nabil Eid

Director of Global ICT Accessibility and Inclusion at Ruh Global IMPACT, Award-Winning Author, Speaker, and Influencer, Nabil is a Specialist in Accessibility & Disability Inclusion in International Development. Nabil has held several positions and worked with numerous INGOs, civil society networks, UN agencies, governments, private sector, and grassroots organizations to successfully create positive change at global, regional, and national levels. He has 25+ years of experience in disability inclusion strategies, providing counselling, coaching, research, evaluation and monitoring and ICT accessibility solutions and assistive technology services. He is the Author of 8 books about disability inclusion and ICT accessibility

Prof. Wendy Griswold

Wendy Griswold, Professor of Sociology and Bergen Evans Professor in the Humanities, holds a Ph.D. in Sociology from Harvard and a Master’s Degree in English from Duke. She has previously taught at Harvard and at the University of Chicago. She has been a visiting professor at the University of Oslo, Norway, and at IMT Lucca, Italy, and she is on the academic boards for the cultural sociology programs at Erasmus University, Rotterdam, The Netherlands and Cattolica University, Milan, Italy. She has been a Jean Monnet Fellow at the European University Institute, a Guggenheim Fellow, a Member of the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton; for the 2017-18 academic year she is a Fellow at the National Humanities Center. At Northwestern she is affiliated with Comparative Literary Studies, English, the Program of African Studies, and Media, Technology and Society in the School of Communications. She is currently the Interim Director for the Program of African Studies.

Professor Griswold is currently doing the following: (1) writing a book on American cultural regionalism, the third volume of a trilogy on culture and place, with a focus on the Mississippi Delta; (2) working on a comparative study of the reading practices of educated youth in twelve countries; (3) organizing a research symposium on “Global and Local Strategies of Twenty-First Century African Artists”; and (4) studying the changing images of Saint Jerome over a thousand years of European art.

Ms Marita Rainbird

Marita has been working in the international media business as a producer, writer, director, distributor, project manager and a trainer since 1984. In 2004-2008 she was in charge of Mundo – a 1,7 m€ media education and work training project for immigrants and ethnic minorities in Finnish Broadcasting Company YLE. The success of Mundo encouraged her to initiate Icebreaker Productions in 2010. In 2009 – 2016 Marita was working with vulnerable children and youth in Finland, Zimbabwe, Argentina and Kenya using different forms of art in empowering media projects. Marita is an International Business Communications graduate and has certificates of producing, multimedia scriptwriting and directing among other things. In 2018 she completed her studies of nature-based tourism services and published two fable books about Finnish nature. In 2020 she studied Peace Building in Rotary Peace Center at Chulalogkorn University in Bangkok. She welcomes new challenges and is always ready to explore new ideas and territories worldwide. Marita is a chairperson of Icebreakers.

Ms Lily Nyariki

Lily Nyariki holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Literature and two Postgraduate Diplomas in Librarianship and Mass Communication from the University of Nairobi (Kenya) and Leeds Metropolitan University (UK) respectively. She has worked for the Public Sector, NGOs and International organizations for over 30 years. Currently, she is based in Eldoret – Kenya. Lily just retired from Moi University in June 2020 where she worked as a Librarian in charge of the University Bookshops for 23 years. Previously, she worked for the Kenya National Library Services Board for 14years.

Since 1994, Lily has continued to offer her services as a consultant for various institutions including the Dag Hammarskjold Foundation, UNESCO, UNICEF and the Association for the Development in Africa as consultant in Monitoring and Evaluation, information management, publishing and the book trade.

Lily has published two books titled Publishing and Book trade in Kenya (1997) and Perspectives on Book Development in Africa (2019) as well as several papers in peer reviewed publications. She has a special interest in developing and nurturing the habit of reading especially among children and has since 1997 worked the Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA) as their Focal Point for Books and Learning Materials. She is also an Executive Committee member of International Book Agency for Education (AILE) and the International Publishers Association (IPA) Africa Action Plan Committee.

Mr Joseph Odhiambo

Joseph Odhiambo is a Business and community development consultant helping nonprofit organizations and socially-minded small businesses develop their organizations and programs, engage in business and strategic planning, improve their program administration, and raise funds to meet their goals. Joseph has over 10 years’ experience in Technology and Nonprofit. Having worked as a Program Director at Mama Sarah Obama Foundation, in charge of fundraising and program development. and World Leadership Institute Africa (www.oneworldleadership.org), in partnership with University of Maryland USA and Kenyatta University, he coordinates research projects, and international community development exchange programs which provides students with practical, translatable knowledge and capabilities that are required to enter and contribute constructively to the international development profession, managed technical assistance programs, and supervised partnerships, collaborative ventures and governmental relations. Prior to that, he founded (www.digitalwayict.co.ke) , a tech startup which assists Nonprofit and small businesses implement ICT4D (Information and Communications Technologies for Development) is an initiative aimed at bridging the information, communication and technological divide between the duty bearers (government), service providers (Business/NGOs) and the beneficiaries (Consumers/communities).

Mr Kelvin Gwuma

Kelvin Gwuma is a Kenya youth leader running SAIDE Community library in Chavakali Vihiga county. He is a digital literacy champion, working with local schools and partners to advance reading culture and digital skills among local learners. One of the most successful programs he has created is the One Hour Reading culture through which SAIDE works with more than 30 local schools to advance literacy.

He has worked extensively with partners like American Friends of Kenya(AFK), Worldreader, Population Service International Kenya (PSI-K), Uzima Foundation, Foundation for Sustainable Development (FSD), and many others. Worldreader’s Library E-reading Activities Project(LEAP) remains one of his most successful endeavors. In addition to the above roles, he presently volunteers at American friends of Kenya and is also a member of the digital opportunity trust board presently.

Mr Fredrick Wawire Otike

Fredrick is the University Librarian at Dedan Kimathi University of Technology, a position that he has held since 2011. He holds a Masters of Philosophy Degree in Information sciences from Moi University and a Bachelors Degree in Education (Arts) from Kenyatta University. His main area of research interest is on reading, reading culture and also on information literacy. He has published several research papers on these areas. As a librarian, he has equally published and presented papers on library management and practices. Other than being a librarian, he has lectured in various Universities and Colleges in Kenya. Currently, he has enrolled for his Doctorate Degree in Literary studies.

Scholarstica Kukutia

My names are Scholarstica Kukutia from the Loita hills on the border of Kenya and Tanzania, Narok county in the Republic of Kenya. I am a member of the Oltoilo le maa Kenya participatory video group. I have been working to support the women’s movement for gender equality and human rights. I am also a member of Insight Share, thus working with the camera.

Mary Wangui Kinyanjui

Mary is a public librarian who works for the Kenya National Library Service – Kibera Branch. She is an international trainer, mentor, coach, and tech-savvy. She trains on the use of Mobile devices to improve the livelihoods of the community members. Mary is a risk-taker and turns challenges into opportunities. She has started several programs that benefit the community, like free basic computer training, entrepreneurship training, mentorship and coaching training for the youths, talents, and fun exhibitions, to mention but a few. Mary is also a trailblazer, leading change to help grow the impact of public libraries on the African continent through a networked and connected group of high-performing librarians. Kibera library has the following training programs: Digital, entrepreneurship, online working, mentorship, teacher/librarian training, and encourage children to be inspired, readers. Mary advocates for ‘Capacity building to foster new ICT – based services to meet the community needs’. The library is using ICT to equalize opportunities for all within the informal settlement. Mary is a radical librarian looking towards positive change within the community, providing services to support sustainable development goals (SDGs). She holds a Master’s Degree in Information Sciences.

Dr Phillip Wilkinson

Phil Wilkinson is a Senior Lecturer in Communication at Bournemouth University in the UK. He has a background in computer science and now specialises in areas of digital communications, digital pedagogies, and media literacy. His current focus is on the role of technology in education and the capacity for technology to both overcome and reinforce inequalities. (https://staffprofiles.bournemouth.ac.uk/display/pwilkinson)

Dr Beatrice Masibo Busolo

Dr Beatrice Masibo Busolo is a literature Lecturer at the School of Humanities and Social Sciences Department of Languages, Linguistics and Literature at Pwani University in Kenya. Her responsibilities include Academic Leader- Master’s Literature with a specific interest in Gender and Woman Studies.