3rd National Conference on Career Guidance & Development

Dr. Mercy Maina serves as the Director of Learning, Research and Development at the College of Career Guidance and Development (CCGD) Kenya, where she leads curriculum design, instructional development, and academic delivery for the KNQA Level 6 Diploma in Career Guidance and Development, co-awarded with ABMA Education UK. She also serves as the Head of Standards at the Career Development Association of Kenya (CDAK) and as the Training Coordinator at the Career Guidance Institute (CGI). Across these complementary leadership roles, she works to strengthen career guidance systems in Kenya by advancing professional standards, developing competency-based training programmes, and building practitioner capacity across the education, training, and labour market sectors.

Dr. Maina has provided technical leadership and consultancy for national and international organizations, including the International Labour Organization (ILO PROSPECTS), UNESCO, and Danish Church Aid (DCA), leading initiatives focused on career guidance systems development, workforce transition, and practitioner capacity building.

An accomplished researcher and thought leader, Dr. Maina has authored and presented scholarly and professional papers at both national and international forums, including the Kenya National Qualifications Authority (KNQA), Global Career Month, and the Career Development Institute (CDI–UK). Her work continues to influence policy, professional practice, and the development of high-quality career guidance systems in Kenya and beyond.

Ruth Nthenya Mailu is the Director of Local Placements, Internships and Attachments at the National Employment Authority (NEA), where she leads the design, promotion, and implementation of national employment policies and active labour market programmes. With over 19 years of experience in public service, she has built a career centred on connecting people to sustainable livelihoods and strengthening the institutions that make that possible.

In this role, Ruth oversees career guidance, internship, and placement services for youth and job seekers, while championing programmes that build employability and entrepreneurial skills among young people and women. She is a strong advocate for inclusive employment creation, leading initiatives that expand economic opportunities for minorities, marginalized groups, and persons with disabilities. Ruth also ensures institutional compliance with the National Employment Act, 2026, the Labour Institutions Act, 2007, the Employment Act, and other local and international employment policies and regulations, safeguarding fair and lawful labour practices across the programmes under her purview.

Ruth holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) in Human Resources Management and is a certified practitioner in Labour Market Information Usage—credentials that inform her evidence-based, data-driven approach to employment policy and programme design. Known as a strategic leader, she combines deep technical expertise in labour market systems with a people-centred commitment to equity, skills development, and inclusive economic growth.

Throughout her nearly two-decade career in public service, Ruth has remained focused on building employment systems that work for everyone—from first-time job seekers navigating career choices to entrepreneurs building new enterprises, and from mainstream job markets to the communities too often left out of them.

Dr Andrea M Lane is a faculty member of UNICAF. She has previously worked in academia in the UK, Austria, Dubai, and China and was a social entrepreneur based in China. She is a qualitative researcher with interests in entrepreneurial ecosystems and career management in Higher Education. Andrea holds a PhD from Newcastle University (UK), an MA in Education from the University of Bath (UK), and a Master in East Asian Studies from the University of Bristol (UK). Her expertise is in management.

Rev. Dr. Phidel Adah Baraza is an educator, disability advocate, and specialist in Special Needs Education. She serves as Deputy Head of Christian Education and Discipleship at CITAM, lectures part-time at Pan Africa Christian University, and leads Beauty Out of Mire (BOOM) Trust, supporting children and youth with Neurodevelopmental Disorders. She is the International Women's Think Tank Honorary Ambassador for African Children and Youth with NDDs and an ICETE Impact Team Lead on Neuro-Physical Disability. She holds a PhD in Education with a focus on Child Development and Neurodevelopmental Disorders (NDDs).

Nicki Moore is an international consultant in the field of career development. Previously, as Senior Lecturer and researcher in Career Development at the International Centre for Guidance Studies at the University of Derby, she had responsibility for the Centre's programme of continuing professional development. As a researcher and writer, Nicki contributes to industry sector publications and books. She has worked on a variety of projects, including serving as the lead evaluator for the Gatsby Benchmark pilot in the Northeast of England and project managing several transnational EU projects.

Nicki is particularly interested in the career development and transitions of children and young people. She is a NICEC Fellow and a Fellow of the CDI. She is a member of the NICEC Board, where she leads on marketing and communications. She is currently co-authoring a book on career development in childhood and teaches on the Level 6 Diploma in Career Guidance and Development in Kenya.

Chris Webb RCDP is a Career Consultant, Freelance Writer, Trainer, Podcaster and Speaker, with over a decade of experience delivering careers support in UK schools, colleges, universities and adult guidance settings. A co-creator of the Foresee Framework, Chris has spent the last 3 years writing, speaking, consulting and delivering training on the subject of AI in the Career Development space.

Nelson Komba, PMP®, AMPRSK is a strategic communications and youth employment professional with extensive experience in career guidance, employability, alumni engagement, and mentorship. As the Communications, Alumni and Mentorship Manager at Generation Kenya, he leads initiatives that connect young people to employment opportunities through strategic partnerships, employer engagement, mentorship programmes, and impactful communications. His work focuses on strengthening pathways from education to employment and promoting evidence-based approaches to youth workforce development.

Nelson has championed key youth-focused partnerships, including the Generation Kenya and Coursera partnership, which is currently upskilling 1,000 young people through access to industry-relevant digital and professional courses. He has also designed and delivered stakeholder engagements, mentorship initiatives, and knowledge-sharing programmes that bring together employers, government, development partners, training institutions, and young people. He is passionate about developing practical and scalable solutions that improve career guidance and employability outcomes, particularly for youth who are not in employment, education, or training.

Dr Katie Wray has been a Lecturer in Enterprise & Innovation for the Science, Agriculture & Engineering Faculty at Newcastle University, UK since 2011. She recognises that graduates are going to be leading and creating in a complex and uncertain world. To support them, innovation and entrepreneurial development is embedded across the University's learning and teaching activities. Katie oversees the strategic development of enterprise and entrepreneurship across the schools of Engineering, Natural and Environmental Sciences, Computing, Mathematics, Statistics and Physics and at their international campus in Singapore. Her role is to design, develop and engage students and staff in the Faculty into innovation and entrepreneurial development activities. In addition to her curriculum development, teaching and research commitments, she has developed commercialisation programmes for early-career researchers and initiated the unique pre-accelerator programme, which is part of the University's START UP offer.

Katie's passion, research and scholarship lies in supporting students to find their individual contribution to economic and social development and to create value and wealth from their knowledge and education. This has taken Katie across Europe, the USA and to Africa and India to work with educators, students and entrepreneurs.