Dr. Mohamed Salimu Seif is a distinguished security and diplomacy professional with over two decades of service in Kenya’s intelligence sector. He rose from Senior Intelligence Analyst in 1999 to serve as Director of the External Division of NIS until his retirement in May 2023. He holds a PhD in Diplomacy and International Studies from the University of Nairobi, with research on post-conflict reconstruction, and brings extensive expertise in governance, risk management, and international relations to board leadership.

Ruth Kagia is currently a High-Level Envoy and Advisor for Education. She works as an international development consultant and advisor with several agencies, including GPE and the World Bank.

Between 2014-September 2022 Ruth Kagia served as the Senior Advisor/Deputy Chief of Staff in the Executive Office of the President of Kenya. In this role she led the management of the President’s flagship and international development cooperation programs and engagements. She concurrently served as the Head of the Presidential Policy and Strategy Unit in which role she led a team of technical experts to anchor, incubate and coordinate the President’s priority programs.

Prior to rejoining Government in 2014, Ms. Kagia worked at the World Bank from 1990-2013 during which she held various positions including as World Bank Global Director for Education (2002- 2008). In this capacity she led the establishment of the Global Partnership for Education (at that time known as the Fast-Track Initiative), currently the largest global fund dedicated to transforming education in lower-income countries. In 2008-2012 she served as World Bank Country Director for Southern Africa (South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Swaziland, Lesotho and for part of that time Mauritius and Madagascar as well). Before joining the World Bank, Mrs. Kagia worked with the Kenya Government in teaching, education management, and research.

Ms Kagia holds degrees from the Universities of Nairobi, Kenya, Harvard Graduate School of Education, USA, and the Commonwealth University, UK.

Ambassador David Gacheru is a seasoned diplomat and was recently the Deputy Head of Mission at the Embassy of Kenya in Washington DC, USA, a post he has held since August 2015. Prior to the diplomatic service, Amb. Gacheru held several positions in the private sector including more than 30 years with private sector health institutions across the United States including posts at INOVA Health Care in Virgina, the University of  Massachusetts Healthcare system, and St. Luke’s/Roosevelt Hospital in New York.

Amb. Gacheru’s portfolio includes facilitating foreign direct investment into Kenya; maintaining the relationship between Kenya and the U.S.’s development, trade and investment-focused institutions; engaging multilateral institutions and facilitating the smooth operation of their activities in Kenya; managing Kenya’s relationships with U.S. corporations; scaling up linkages and networks to market Kenya’s products in the United States; and showcasing opportunities to trade and invest in Kenya. In addition, Amb. Gacheru has facilitated people-to-people exchanges through partnerships with educational institutions in Kenya and the United States.

Ambassador Gacheru holds an MBA in Financial Accounting from Anna Maria Paxton, a BSC in Nuclear Medicine as a certified nuclear medicine technologist and clinical medicine and administrative certifications from Jersey City and Pace Universities in New Jersey and New York, respectively.

Dr. Jacinta Maweu, PhD is a Philosophy and Media studies expert with 18 years of teaching and research experience at the University level. Dr. Jacinta is a Ryoichi Sasakawa Young Leaders Fellowship Fund (SYLLF) Fellow at the University of Nairobi and an Africa Peacebuilding Network (APN) Fellow of the Social Science Research Council. She is currently a founder and Chairperson of the Peace and Development Researchers Association (PADRA) which brings together Social Science and Research Council (SSRC) fellows in Kenya to network and do collaborative research on peace, development and related pressing societal issues. She has been involved in various International collaborative research projects on climate change, media and democracy.

Dr. Maweu is mentor and trainer of early career researchers and a member of the selection and advisory board of the SSRC. She also holds several roles as the Secretary General, Africa Peace Research and Education Association (AFPREA) and a member of the Executive Council of International Peace Research Association (IPRA). Her research interests include: political mis/disinformation, media and conflict/peacebuilding, media and democracy, elections, political philosophy, intercultural philosophy, political economy and climate change, critical and creative thinking, traditional logic, philosophy and society, philosophy and gender, environmental philosophy, metaphysics, media ethics, media and human rights and philosophy of education. She has over 40 publications in refereed journals, book chapters and book volumes.

Brigadier (Rtd) Dr. Robert. G Kabage, PhD, EBS is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) OF Mashariki Research and Policy Centre (MRPC).He is a distinguished peace, conflict and security management expert, an accomplished practitioner and academic with national, continental and international expertise. Until his retirement in 2016, he diligently served the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) for over 35 years. Between 1999 and 2001, Brigadier (Rtd) Dr. Kabage was deployed as a Peacekeeper in Sierra Leone in charge of the Demobilization, Disarmament and Reintegration (DDR) program. From 2008 to 2011, he was posted as a Defense Attaché, at the Kenya Mission to the United Nations (KMUN) in New York. He later served as the Director of the International Peace Support Training Center (IPSTC) between 2012 and 2015. Upon his retirement, the KDF seconded him to the African Union Commission (AUC) as the Senior Monitoring and Evaluation Officer (M&E) at the Peace Support Operations Division (PSOD), Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, from 2016 to 2020.

For his exemplary service in KDF, he was awarded the Elder of the Order of the Burning Spear (EBS) of Kenya in 2013, in recognition for his efforts in developing and maintaining internal institutional cohesion, creating partnerships with external agencies such as the United Nations, the African Union and other potential peace support partners; delivering peace support operations training to East Africa Standby Force, and meticulous management of the International Peace Support Training Centre (IPSTC) budget.

He was also awarded a United Nations Medal for his exemplary performance as a peacekeeper in the UN Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL), where he was recognized for his leadership as a Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration (DDR) officer, for conducting successful intensive sensitization programmes, establishing and operationalizing DDR centres in the remote rebel-held areas of the country. On the academic front, Brigadier (Rtd) Dr. Kabage holds a PhD in Peace and Conflict Studies from Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology (MMUST), Kenya. He also has a Master of Science degree in Governance, Peace and Security (Security Management option), and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Peace and Conflict Studies from Africa Nazarene University, Kenya. He holds two Diplomas in Strategic Studies and International Relations, both from the University of Nairobi. He also holds a Diploma in Stores Management and Stock Control from London College. He has been a Peace and Security Management lecturer at Laikipia and Egerton Universities in Kenya.

Until his current appointment as Chief Executive Officer of Mashariki Research and Policy Centre (MRPC), Dr. Kabage was the Executive Director of The Global Centre for Policy and Strategy (GLOCEPS), from February 2022 to February 2024, where he contributed to its growth, to be one of the leading think tanks in Kenya with regional and international influence.

Dr. Kabage is well-published with his research interests focused on the African Peace and Security Architecture (APSA) Framework, peacekeeping, transnational crimes, national and regional security, border defence and community policing strategies. His recent article is titled “Upsurge in violent extremism across Africa: Capacity building deficit to addressing radicalization”.

Dr. Kabage has consulted for various institutions such as the African Union Peace Support Operations Division (AU PSOD), the Eastern Africa Standby Force (EASF), the International Peace Support Training Centre (IPSTC), the African Peace Support Trainers Association (APSTA) and the National Defence University, Kenya (NDU- K).