Our Team

Dr. Salah Abdi Sheikh bold activist who has led various democracy and justice initiatives as an active citizen since 1997. He is the author of 'Blood on the Runway: The Wagalla Masacre of 1984(2007). He has actively advocated for justice reparations for the victims and survivors of Wagalla Masacre through an informal network-' Truth be Told. He is known for his courage to speak truth to power since the Moi era to date. His resilience and courage saw him organize the 1000 kilometres Walk of Hope in 2015 from Tana River in Garissa to Dawa River in Mandera to promote peace, unity, literacy and self-reliance amongst the very marginalized communities of Northern self-reliance.

Dr. Salah is a distinguished scholar, who has taught both professional and academic courses across various institutions. He is the founding Dean, School of Business and Technology at Umma University and was at the centre of setting up Garissa University. He is currently the Managing Partner at Josiah Salah & Associates and has over 15 years of experience in Audit, Tax, and Advisory services. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce (Finance) and a Master of Business Administration of Business (Finance) from the University of Nairobi, as well as a PhD in Business Administration (Finance) from Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT).

He has previously served on the Boards of Garissa University and the Kenya Forest Service (KFS), contributing his expertise in governance and financial oversight. Dr. Salah is a member of the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Kenya (ICPAK). His leadership combines deep financial acumen, institutional governance experience, and a strong commitment to ethical accountability and public service.

Purity Jebor is a passionate gender equality advocate and gender transformation with extensive work on public policy locally and internationally. She's currently serving as the Gender Justice and Women's Rights Programme Officer at Oxfam Kenya. She brings extensive experience in advancing gender economic rights, social inclusion, safe programming and feminist leadership within civil society and public spaces.

Her work focuses on driving care transformation reforms in Kenya, with a strong commitment to ensuring care economy is valued and mainstreamed in public and private policy frameworks. Purity's advocacy seeks to position gender justice as a central pillar in achieving gender-responsive economic development.

Before joining Oxfam, Purity served as the Youth Coordinator at the Collaborative Centre for Gender and Development (CCGD), where she led initiatives on youth mainstreaming, institutional strengthening, and civic participation as well as, coordinated the EASCOF – Kenyan chapter. Purity has also led efforts in strengthening regional civil society networks, including moderating and maintaining the East African Civil Society Online Platform, which enhances collaboration and promotes the protection of civic spaces across the region. She also provided capacity support to and incubated several youth-serving organizations in Kenya and East Africa positioning them for leadership in socio-economic and political spaces.

Her work has continued contributing to the global, national and county gender transformations through research and member of technical working group and member of National steering committees. As a two-time awardee on National accountability champion, Purity has continued using her experience in influencing for good governance.

She holds a bachelor's degree in social work from St. Paul's University and a master's degree in public policy and administration from Kenyatta University. Her academic background has enabled her to complement practices to policy development.

Mr. George Morara is a human rights and governance specialist with over 30 years of experience in advancing constitutionalism, democratic governance, and human rights protection in Kenya and across Africa. He is a distinguished human rights expert and previously served as a Commissioner and Vice Chairperson of the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR), where he also chaired the Finance, Human Resource, and Administration Committee. In this role, he strengthened institutional systems for transparency and the protection of civic freedoms.

He has extensive experience in election monitoring and management, having coordinated nationwide observation of Kenya's 2013 and 2017 General Elections. His work involved briefing major observer missions, including the European Union, African Union, Commonwealth, Carter Centre, and East African Community, among others.

Regionally, Mr. Morara has led high-level advocacy on constitutionalism and good governance within the South-South cooperation context, working with State and Non-State actors in countries like Brazil, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Ghana, and Rwanda. He has also consulted widely for government agencies, civil society, and international organizations, contributing to human rights-based approaches in policy and institutional reforms.

He holds a Bachelor of Arts (Hons.) from the University of Toronto and a Master of Arts (Political Science) from the University of Windsor, Canada, with advanced-level training in legal studies and education.

Mr. Morara is deeply committed to promoting accountable governance, diversity, and the protection of human dignity in national and international spaces.

Florence is a bold global campaigner for women's rights. Florence uses her expertise in storytelling and advocacy to influence public discourse and inspire policy reform that upholds women's dignity and agency. She is a global policy strategist with 20+ years of experience translating research and data into high-impact advocacy, diplomacy, and scalable social impact across Africa, Asia, and global multilateral platforms. Her work sits at the intersection of evidence, policy, and power, bridging data-driven insights with high-level decision-making to ensure research meaningfully influences public policy, funding priorities, and global agendas.

She has led and scaled multi-country advocacy and stakeholder ecosystems linked to UN-affiliated initiatives, governments, foundations, and civil society networks in Africa. She was seconded by Data2x in the office of the women's rights advisor to the President of Kenya for 2 and half years where she contributed to advisories that had an impact on carework and SGBV. She holds a Masters degree in Leadership and Policy as we well as a Bachelor's Degree in Development Communication. She led the Africa Woman project for 5 years that cut across eight African countries and that sort to promote the voices of African women in global platforms like the G8 summit at Gleneagles. She has been instrumental in training faith leaders to advocate for SRHR across various African States She has developed the duty bearers' book on matters SGBV and child protection as well as leading the 25 conversations in 25 schools in Africa that interrogated the role of the ACRWC of matters safeguarding based on the Maputo protocol. Florence innovative campaigning has seen her organize the first women run in Kenya focusing on SGBV. She also organized the first femicide vigil that laid the foundation for policy, administrative and legal processes on femicide in Kenya.

Andrew Odete is an award-winning advocate, celebrated for his impactful work in combatting child labour, forced labour and human trafficking across Eastern Africa.

Mr. Odete is a partner at Odete and Company Advocates and co-director at The Policy Hive (Africa). He brings to TISA particular expertise and insights on: International Labour Standards and Labour Rights, Gender, International Criminal Justice, Child Protection, Human Rights in Value Chains, Just Energy Transition, Corporate Social Responsibility, Business and Human Rights, and issues of Accountability in Trade and Investment Treaties.

Mr. Odete has previously led initiatives for the International Labour Organization (ILO), focusing on International Labour Standards, Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work, Child Labour, Forced Labour, Trafficking in Persons, Modern Slavery, and the enhancement of working conditions throughout East Africa. He has also overseen policy, advocacy, and capacity-building programs in a range of countries—Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi, Rwanda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Malawi, South Africa, and Ethiopia, and with the UN, AU, EAC Secretariat, ICC and the European Commission (EC) —working alongside organizations such as Hivos International, the Danish Institute for Human Rights, Fairtrade Africa, the Kenya Human Rights Commission, and the Children's Legal Action Network. Apart from his wide experience amassed from service on boards of directors of regional and national institutions and organizations, Mr. Odete has previously been honored for his work, including, as: recipient of ILO Regional Champion Against Child Labour, Forced Labour and Trafficking in Persons Award (November 2024), member of UNESCO Experts Working Group on Education for Sustainability (2018), Eco-Fair Trade Global Ambassador (2011 – 2013) and inaugural chair of the East African Good Governance and Human Rights Platform (2012), among others.

Diana is a lawyer and a bold leader with a wealth of experience in governance and policy advocacy. Her career spans over 16 years. She leads a team of changemakers at TISA as the Executive Director. In this role, she also serves as the Convenor of the Okoa Uchumi Campaign, a civil society and citizen coalition driving public debt and public finance accountability and justice in Kenya.

A Pan-African feminist, Diana has extensive expertise in constitutionalism, social accountability, human rights, diversity and inclusion, economic rights, and development. She is widely recognised for her strong legislative advocacy skills. She regularly provides commentary on good governance, public finance management, public debt, taxation, and the rule of law in Kenya.

Diana has spearheaded major public finance reforms in Kenya in response to the country's growing debt burden and the need to protect small-scale traders. She is also a passionate advocate for the decentralisation of power and resources. Over the past two years, she has led initiatives aimed at strengthening active citizenship and movement-building to enhance public accountability. She is a respected public commentator and analyst on democratic governance in Kenya. She is also highly skilled in movement-building and coalition management at local, national, and regional levels. Her work is driven by a deep commitment to supporting vulnerable and marginalised communities.

She serves on the Board of the African Forum and Network on Debt and Development (AFRODAD), a Pan-African organisation dedicated to influencing African governments to develop and implement policies that promote sustainable development and eradicate poverty. She also serves as the Chair of The Initiative for Equality and Non-Discrimination. Previously, she worked with Amnesty International and the Kenya Human Rights Commission.

Diana is widely recognised for her contributions to democracy and equality initiatives. Her work has advanced the rights of women, sexual and gender minorities, indigenous communities, and stateless persons in Kenya and beyond.

Alexander Riithi serves as the Head of Programs at TISA, bringing with him a wealth of experience spanning over 15 years in the design and implementation of impactful programs and projects across diverse fields. His remarkable journey, rooted in public financial management and community development, reflects a steadfast commitment to fostering transparency, equity, and sustainable progress.

Before joining TISA, Alexander made significant contributions as a Principal Economist at Kenya's National Treasury. His tenure there was marked by key achievements in public financial management reforms, including the development of the budget costing tool and Kenya's Budget Transparency Portal, which have enhanced accountability and accessibility of public finance information. Alexander also played a pivotal role in drafting the Budget Manuals for both national and county governments, providing a framework for efficient and transparent budgeting processes.

Alexander's influence extended to the successful design and implementation of major programs like the Kenya Devolution Support Programme and Governance for Enabling Service Delivery in Kenya, both under the World Bank's performance-for-results framework. His responsibilities included managing partnerships with leading international organizations such as the World Bank, IMF East Afritac, UNICEF, JICA, and CABRI, where he showcased expertise in securing funding, drafting co-financing proposals, and managing grants for public finance reforms.

Beyond public finance reforms, Alexander has made substantial contributions to evidence-based policy research and drafting, particularly in taxation and budget policy. His inputs have shaped critical policy documents such as the Budget Review and Outlook Paper and the Budget Policy Statement over several years.

Alexander's commitment to grassroots development is equally noteworthy. Early in his career, he worked with TechnoServe on the Banana Commercialization Project in Saba Saba, Murang'a County. Here, he empowered small-scale farmers to transform bananas from an underutilized crop into a viable economic opportunity. By implementing the Market Services Centre Model, Alexander helped improve livelihoods, a legacy still evident today.

A staunch advocate for inclusivity, Alexander champions the principle of leaving no one behind. His work in gender-responsive and child-sensitive budgeting within Kenya's budget-making process underscores his dedication to upholding human rights and promoting equity.

Alexander holds a Master of Science in Agricultural and Applied Economics and a Bachelor of Science in Agribusiness Management. Known for his excellent communication skills and results-driven approach, Alexander is committed to empowering communities and advancing social accountability in governance. His published papers are available on AgeconSearch

His inspiring journey is a testament to the power of combining expertise with a deep commitment to making a difference, both at the grassroots and national levels.