Dr Utheri Kanayo

Academic researcher, co-founded the first Afrocentric school in East Africa, Children In Freedom School.

Dr Utheri Kanayo studied Education at Undergraduate and Master’s level at Kenyatta and Nairobi universities. She won a full scholarship in 2005 to pursue a PhD in Education at Newnham College, University of Cambridge, UK.

She worked as an academic researcher at The Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge, and later as a Research Manager for Camfed International. 

In 2018, three years after her return to Kenya, Utheri co-founded the first Afrocentric school in East Africa, Children In Freedom School (CIFS). CIFS has grown to be a gifted and talented centre, dually grounding children to embrace their Africaness, and become global leaders.

She is a Metis fellow, and an ALA Anzisha Education Accelerator fellow. Utheri started as the Beacon Rep in Kenya in 2016, and then became the Regional Representative until 2022 as the programme expanded.

She is now the Special Africa Advisor for Beacon and also a Home Country Mentor.