Charles Kihia Mwangi (Kenya)
I am 37 years old with over 10 years work experience managing the funds of private businesses and donor-funded environmental conservation projects in Kenya. I am also knowledgeable and experienced in business development, HR and Employment legislation, project management and market analysis. I hold an MBA (Strategic Management) degree, Bachelors of Science in Agriculture (Animal Science Major), CPA (K), CPS (K), CCP (K), CIFA (Part II) and am currently pursuing a Master of Science degree in Financial Engineering.
I was born in the slopes of Mount Kenya, Central province the now so called Nyeri County in Kenya; Nyeri County is rich with agriculture related activities and thus saw myself spending much of my young age attending to coffee, zero grazed dairy cows. Charles is a Christian and a member of the Presbyterian Church of East Africa. I am the third born in our family of Eight: My parents were both primary teachers and thus valued education, Charles is married and a proud father of a daughter and a son and has worked in senior management and leadership levels at private companies with more than 200 workforce size and has immensely contributed to implementation of various renewable energy projects i.e. biogas, solar and improved cook stoves with funding from international donors (EU, USADF, HIVOs, Energia Kenya, Practical Action). Charles has also trainings in project management, operations management, monitoring and evaluation, human resources and first aid.
My journey with International Institute of Global Leadership (IIGL) started in year 2015, the course has laid the foundations for my leadership and I will continue to reference the material on a regular basis. In particular, my appreciation to Deborah, the student team and the organization as a whole, IIGL course gracefully guides individuals through all phases of leadership. IIGL brings a plethora of experience, sincerity, and ingenuity to the participants. IIGL takes an interest in each individual’s learning and provides opportunities for practice and reflection. Progressively the lessons from the IIGL leadership platform are something I practice daily; that leadership needs to be practiced, that it can be learned, and should be shared. The beauty of this is that these practices set up a positive feedback loop. If you practice well you see an immediate positive impact, which makes you more determined to practice, which leads to more noticeable results, and so on and so forth.
Through the IIGL course, Charles founded Mamwaki Energy Solutions Company; this desire to be an entrepreneur was derived from the need to produce alternative fuel to traditional fuel sources (kerosene, charcoal and wood) that are not clean, expensive, can no longer sustain energy demand and are sourced from unsustainable supplies. Charles desire is to re-use sludge from sanitation waste and develop valuable and affordable bio-products in form of round ball fuel briquettes that can be marketed and sold to households, small eateries and farmers utilizing chicken brooders. Through Mamwaki Energy Solutions Company Limited, Charles will contribute much towards achieving the SDG related to poverty reduction and climate change. Charles passion and experience in supporting clean energy projects and motivating end-users to adopt clean energy products is a definite plus to this campaign.