Sarah Maranga is a Kenyan professional with over 10 years of experience in community development, monitoring and evaluation, program management, and fundraising. She holds a Master's degree in Gender and Development from the University of Nairobi and is currently a Program Officer at Hotcourses Foundation, managing a child sponsorship program, and at WajibuWetu Initiative, implementing oral health projects in schools. She has strong skills in project design, data analysis, reporting, stakeholder engagement, and financial management. In her roles, she has improved education and health outcomes for children in informal settlements.

1. SARAH MARANGA
P.O BOX 69-00618, Nairobi Kenya
+254 721 355080
sarahmaranga@gmail.com
Profile
Sarah is a self-motivated, results-driven professional with a background and expertise in
community development, monitoring & evaluation, program management, report writing,
research, data analysis and fundraising.
Sarah is passionate about development work and has taken it upon herself to participate in
work that elevates the lives of those that are less fortunate, particularly children and the youth.
She has vast experience in implementing community health projects in informal settlements
and in learning institutions located In Nairobi and Kiambu counties.
She also has experience advocating for children’s rights and supporting communities to
develop sustainable livelihoods in a bid to eradicate poverty.
She is a member of the Rotaract club, a service, leadership and community service
organization.
Education
May 2015-To Date University of Nairobi
Master of Arts in Gender & Development
2006-2010 University of Nairobi
B.A -Sociology and Communication
(2nd Class Honors, upper division)
Key Qualifications & Competencies
 Concepts development, program design and proposal-writing for fund-raising.
 Research and report writing.
 Analyzing complex data and summarizing it into usable information.
 Knowledge and advocacy skills related to children’s rights.
 Working in a multi-cultural environment.
 Working in Nairobi’s informal settlements. Possesses good contextual knowledge of the
communities’ local issues, priorities as well as their social-cultural constraints and
realities.
 Ability to analyze and synthesize information, & communicate concisely and
persuasively both verbally and in writing in English and Kiswahili.
 Public relations and event management.
 Computer proficiency.
Professional Experience
Jun 2012– To Date Program Officer Hotcourses Foundation/Lea Toto
Program

2. Lea Toto Community Outreach Program is a home-based care program in Nairobi’s informal
settlements improving the quality of life of children living with and affected by HIV/AIDS. It
provides medical attention, prevention, education, counselling and self-help skills. Hotcourses
Foundation UK, in partnership with the Lea Toto Program, provides education support by
sponsoring 300 needy HIV positive children in the program. My main duty is managing the
sponsorship program.
Responsibilities:
Monitoring and evaluation
 Monitor and manage activity budgets.
 Monitor projects’ progress toward objectives for donor accountability.
 Conduct field monitoring visits to schools where the children attend to monitor their
attendance and progress.
 Evaluate school fees structures to ensure they are valid and investigating schools that
present fraudulent ones.
 Document best practices, lessons learned and implementation issues.
 Research and collect content about the project's achievements.
 Maintain contact with children over 18 years, who have been exited from the program,
to monitor their education/ career progress as they transition from paediatric to adult
health care.
Livelihood Promotion
I assist to manage two self-help groups of women in Kariobangi and Dandora who make and
supply soap and candles. These women, who are HIV positive as well, find it challenging to
provide their children with food and education. My main duty is to identify income generating
activities, make technical decisions related to number of beneficiaries, implementation tools
and partners. I also conduct business development training for the groups.
Report-writing
 Send regular updates to sponsors regarding the children's progress.
 Plan, implement and maintain records of field activities.
 Prepare monthly, quarterly and annual reports relating to the project; assist in
preparation of annual work plans and progress reports as per donor requirements.
Program management
 Enhance stake-holder management. Liaise with relevant partners, stakeholders and
collaborators at activity level.
 Develop relevant materials to support field activities and ensure data accuracy and
completeness.
 Recruit children into the sponsorship program by conducting interviews and research
to determine the neediest and most deserving ones.
 Maintain a database of all the sponsored children, updating their profiles and archiving
those that exit the program.
 Establish and enforce policies that regulate the children’s conduct.
 Provide administrative and logistics support to all initiatives and projects.
 Conducting community assessment for use in project design, evaluation and
implementation.
Financial management

3.  Assist in formulation of programme budgets.
 On-going analysis of programme costs and ensuring that they do not exceed the budget.
 Preparing presentations to management and donors to communicate performance.
Other duties:
 Organize visits to Kenya by the sponsors from the UK and accompany them to the
schools where the children they sponsor attend.
 Run workshops as directed.
 Making recommendations on process improvement
 Recommending different strategies deduced from feedback from the different
stakeholders.
 Organize mentorship and life-skills activities for the children.
 Guide and counsel the young adults on various issues including career guidance.
 Train Community Health Workers on how to conduct field visits.
 Conducting client surveys to evaluate programme effectiveness and close any gaps that
may arise from the research.
Achievements
 The number of children we sponsor has increased by 20% in the past year as a result of
the stringent M & E measures I have set up. These measures have seen us reduce the
number of fraudulent cases and identify the caregivers who have been colluding with
schools to inflate the fees.
 The school drop-out rate has reduced significantly because I regularly visit the children
in school to closely monitor their attendance and identify any challenges they might be
facing.
In the past 3 years, many children have successfully graduated from various colleges
and are now productive members of the society. I also follow up on them and invite
them to participate in mentorship activities to pay it forward.
 I introduced policies that enhanced caregiver participation and encourage self-reliance.
For instance, any exercise books required are bought by the caregivers; this is to
reduce their over-dependence on the program. In addition, caregivers now have to
collect and present the children’s report books at the end of each term. This enhances
the participation and interest of caregivers in their children’s education.
Jan 2014 – To Date Program Officer WajibuWetu Initiative
A group of like-minded young professionals and I started this organization where I work part-
time, on voluntary basis. It focuses on improving children’s oral health through interventions
involving dental health education of the community. Through a campaign dubbed 'Saving the
Smile Campaign' we initiate tooth-brushing programs in schools. We install tooth paste
dispensers in classrooms so that children can brush their teeth at least once a day while at
school under the supervision of the teachers and the health club officials. We also organize
dental clinics, in partnership with County Health Officials, in impoverished areas.
Main Responsibilities:
Monitoring & Evaluation
 Manage the design and implementation of the WajibuWetu Initiative M&E system, by
working closely with other staff, consultants and partners.
 Provide progress updates to the Program Director, donors and key stakeholders.
 Ensure proper project tracking and record keeping, monitoring cash flow
requirements.

4.  Develop and refine data collection instruments (both quantitative and qualitative), and
maintain a results database to aggregate data.
 Compile project reports highlighting project impact against indicators.
 Conduct grantee site visits as needed to conduct financial compliance and project
review.
 Evaluate program accomplishments; create program reports and updates with the
Program Facilitators.
 Participate in the general administration of the WajibuWetu Initiative funding.
 Collaborate with the Program Facilitators in the creation and monitoring of the annual
budgets.
 Conduct field visits to schools to monitor the project’s progress.
Report-writing
 Provide monthly program and project reports.
 Write reports on project launches documenting the challenges
 Attend meetings of the WajibuWetu Initiative Board of Directors and the Programs and
Strategic Planning board Committee and prepare reports.
Stakeholder management
 Facilitate partnership between WajibuWetu Initiative, the government and the public.
Meet with Education officials, County Government representatives and school heads to
obtain the relevant documents and liaison required to set-up a project in a school.
 Conduct community mobilization.
Resource Mobilization and Budgeting
 Participate in concepts development and proposals for fund-raising.
 Meet with representatives of oral & dental health companies to solicit sponsorship.
 Preparing budgets by identifying viable projects, projecting how much they will cost
and how to finance them.
Training
 Train volunteers who accompany us to schools on how to conduct the tooth-brushing
demos and use the tooth-paste dispensers.
 Train program facilitators on the on the program guidelines to adhere to.
Project planning and implementation
 Choose schools to set up the project and prepare project-cycle schedules.
 Maintain an updated data-base of volunteers and their contacts.
 Assist in the organization and facilitation of capacity building activities e.g. workshops,
trainings or information dissemination.
Achievements
So far, we have successfully managed to set-up tooth-brushing projects in five schools in
Kiambu County reaching over 1000 needy students. These students now brush their teeth
everyday, which they could not afford to before. Consequently, this has improved their oral
health and confidence.
Sept 2010-Dec 2010 Research Assistant
I undertook research work for Miss Sophie Ngugi, a Masters student at the University of
Nairobi. Her thesis was based on the challenges women with disabilities face as they seek

5. sexual and reproductive health services. My main duty was to interview the women and report
the findings.
Responsibilities:
 Collect and analyze data.
 Prepare interview questions.
 Recruit and interview subjects.
 Maintain accurate records of interviews, safeguarding the confidentiality of subjects, as
necessary.
Sept 2009-Dec 2009 Intern-Public Relations Dept. Ministry of Tourism
Duties:
 Undertaking daily press reviews and preparing press recaps.
 Writing articles and editing; contributed to the official Ministerial newsletter, The
Tourism Bulletin and the Kenya Today newspaper.
 Mantainig a media database.Inviting media to cover events and press conferences.
 Preparing press releases.
 Updating ministerial website with latest news.
 Coverage of ministerial functions and preparing reports.
 Public relations and other administrative duties.
Other Activities
Rotaract Club
I am a member of the Rotaract Club of Nairobi East where I currently serve as the Community
Service Director. Our main objective this year is “engaging the community more in our
community service projects to enhance development and encourage positive change in the
communities”. This is in line with the Rotary theme for the year “Light up Rotary”. I have
managed to partner with the Rotary Club of Edmonton, Canada who gave us funds to distribute
shoes and sanitary towels to needy students in Misori Primary, Mfangano Island, Kenya. I have
also managed to organize monthly visits to a children’s home in Huruma, Nairobi. Through my
experience working with the Lea Toto Program, I saw a need to start a sustainable economic
project to assist the caregivers, provide food and education to the children. Our Rotaract Club
has partnered with The Mukuru Self Help Group and assisted them purchase a candle-making
machine to enable them start a candle making project.
WOSWA
I have proven leadership skills including managing and motivating others. While in campus, I
served on an elected post as the Main Campus Representative in the Women Students Welfare
Association (WOSWA), University of Nairobi. This is the umbrella body in charge of over
10,000 female students. As the representative, I was in charge of creating networking
platforms, advocating for the female students’ rights by establishing initiatives that protected
them and running mentorship programs for all the female students in the Main Campus.
Interests
 Traveling
 Reading novels and online articles.

6. Referees
Sophie Ngugi Jill Sowerby Dennis Githui
Women Protection &, Program Manager Executive Director
Empowerment Coordinator Hotcourses Foundation WajibuWetu Initiative
International Rescue Committee +254 722350151 +254 721337650
+254 720 660789 jill.sowerby@hotcourses.com dgithui@wajibuwetuinitiative.org
sophie06@gmail.com

7. Referees
Sophie Ngugi Jill Sowerby Dennis Githui
Women Protection &, Program Manager Executive Director
Empowerment Coordinator Hotcourses Foundation WajibuWetu Initiative
International Rescue Committee +254 722350151 +254 721337650
+254 720 660789 jill.sowerby@hotcourses.com dgithui@wajibuwetuinitiative.org
sophie06@gmail.com