Biography

Dinah Makena Nyaga is a community development practitioner with a Bachelor’s degree in International Relations and Diplomacy from Zetech University. She is passionate about sustainable development, youth empowerment, child welfare, mentorship, and community-led development. Dinah believes that empowering communities to identify their own strengths and lead their own development is the foundation for creating sustainable and lasting change.

Dinah has gained valuable experience through volunteer and internship opportunities in both the nonprofit and public sectors. She volunteered with Helena Hand of Compassion, where she supported advocacy, communication, and public engagement initiatives aimed at improving the lives of vulnerable populations. She also completed an internship with the County Government of Kiambu, where she gained practical experience in public administration, governance, and service delivery.

As a CorpsAfrica Volunteer serving in Kenya, Dinah lived and worked alongside a rural community, facilitating Community-Led Development (CLD) processes that placed community members at the centre of identifying challenges and developing solutions. She supported the community in mobilising local resources, strengthening leadership structures, and implementing sustainable initiatives that promoted improved livelihoods and resilience.

Through her service, she worked with children, young people, and high school students by facilitating mentorship, educational, and empowerment activities that encouraged personal growth, leadership development, and active participation in community transformation. She also supported youth engagement initiatives that created spaces for young people to build confidence, learn from one another, develop skills, and contribute meaningfully to local development efforts. Her experience strengthened her commitment to people-centred approaches and demonstrated the impact that empowered individuals and communities can create when given the opportunity to lead change.

Outside her professional work, Dinah enjoys reading, learning about different cultures and languages, travelling, and conducting research on global policies and community development. She is excited to be part of this cohort because it provides an opportunity to learn from diverse professionals, exchange ideas, strengthen her leadership and technical skills, and collaborate with individuals who share her commitment to creating sustainable impact. She looks forward to contributing her experiences while continuing to learn and grow as a development practitioner dedicated to empowering communities and transforming lives.