Izel Jepchirchir Kipruto

Izel Jepchirchir Kipruto has over six years’ experience in conducting large scale citizen-led learning assessments in East Africa. Currently, Izel Jepchirchir Kipruto is a Communications Officer at Twaweza East Africa, where she focuses on enabling children to learn, citizens to exercise agency, and governments to be more open and responsive in Tanzania, Kenya, and Uganda. At Twaweza, Izel assists in the planning, implementation, and coordination of large network with more than 50 researchers, as well as Civil Society partners in 158 districts, and over 10,000 education volunteers. She supports the communication function with a focus on enhancing dissemination of Twaweza’s value adding outputs, raising the visibility of its impact and driving the organization’s branding initiatives. Izel is the founder of Nafasi; an initiative that supports and mentors high school students from humble backgrounds with access to complete secondary level education. Izel sits on the Board of Management of Simotwet Secondary School and is also chairperson of the Academic Committee. Izel holds a Bachelor’s degree in Education Arts and is currently an MA Development Studies candidate at Mount Kenya University. In 2016, Izel represented Kenya in the World Bank Global Youth Forum on Education in Washington, DC. Upon completion of the Mandela Washington Fellowship, Izel plans to utilize knowledge, skills, experiences and networks gained to motivate her education volunteers to be active citizens in their communities. Izel also plans to roll out Kijiji, an initiative that seeks to connect all villages in Kenya with internet connectivity.