Nancy Interviewed for Enspire Oxford
March 2026
Today we’re looking back to when our founder Nancy was interviewed by Enspire Oxford the University of Oxford’s entrepreneurship hub. Enspire connects all of the entrepreneurial initiatives and resources found within the University in one place.
We’ve included a few extracts from the interview below. Please visit the Enspire website to read the interview in full.
What is your background? What made you decide to get involved in supporting entrepreneurs?
I was born in Kenya, the thirteenth child of an extraordinary mother, Irene, who was determined to give her children the opportunities she never had. I gained a degree in education from Egerton University, Kenya, before moving to the UK to work in the public sector in Oxford Social Services helping to tackle domestic violence and subsequently in the Thames Valley Police Service training senior police officers in leadership, equality and diversity. I set up and ran a successful training consultancy for five years with clients in the public and sectors. I decided on this because I was good at training and could see opportunities to provide an excellent service to a wide variety of clients. I used my entrepreneurial skills to found a charity to help break the cycle of poverty in my Kenyan community.
What is your definition of entrepreneurship?
Having a clear idea to meet a need and, through determination and hard work, staying focused on achieving the desired outcome despite setbacks, challenges and often the negativity of others. For 21 years since setting up the charity I have had to challenge and convince funders that small charities working at grass roots level with communities in sub-Saharan Africa can have a big impact, more so than the internationally well known charities.
How and when did you know your idea was good enough to develop it?
It first began in 2001 when my mother found an abandoned baby on her farm and there was no agency to care for him. Nobody else was doing anything in this poor rural Kenyan community to support orphaned and vulnerable children and give them hope for the future. I knew I had to take action as nobody else would. Over time as needs grew, so did my response to meeting those needs.
Since the early beginnings of providing care and a daily meal, this project has grown to provide education at purpose built day care centres, support for secondary school education, a programme for gifted vulnerable children so they can receive the quality of education appropriate to their ability, guidance on improving farming techniques for food security to combat the climate change challenges, empowering community members through support in setting up sustainable income generating projects, building a medical centre for affordable and good quality healthcare and setting up a programme for young people to learn what life is like in the wider world.
This story is listed in: Achievements, Press
