You’re allowed to be fulfilled and happy in your career choices

Mendi Njonjo, Regional Director at Hivos East Africa.

When I wake up, I centre myself, drink that vital cup of coffee, and run through my plans for the day. I then have another cup of coffee and make my way to work. Once at the office, I spend the first 30 minutes or so reading the papers. I’m a pretty fast reader so I can quickly get caught up on the dailies. I also use this time to touch base with colleagues as needed. Some of it will be to get progress reports, to understand where we may be ‘stuck’ and may need to put some organisational muscle and resources into resolving a situation, and basically working through my to-do list. As I have a regional remit, this could be in the Kenyan, Ugandan or Tanzanian offices. If not in the office, say I’m out meeting partners, or the people on whose behalf we work, I always try and ensure that I’m learning as much as possible. So I’ll probably be asking questions, making connections where possible, and seeing how it all ties back to either inform or improve our programmes.

As the regional director for Hivos in East Africa, my primary goal is making sure that our social objectives are met. Hivos is a social and environmental justice foundation that works to promote a just and fair world. Our tag line is “People Unlimited” as we believe that when people are given a chance to live in freedom and dignity, they are able to live a life that contributes to the greater good of humanity.  For our social objectives to be met, I need to ensure that our people at Hivos are working optimally, and that I help unlock barriers, and even better promote things that enable us to achieve our purpose. The job also requires ensuring that we are working to develop good and suitable programming, that the organisation is truly fit for purpose. We’re both a grant making and implementing foundation, so it’s also ensuring that everything is done to specs. 

I honestly believe that a just and sustainable Kenya is possible, and indeed, mandatory for all Kenyans regardless of ethnic, religious, gender, sexual orientation, regional background etc. This keeps me motivated to go to work each day. If you look at our country, one of the biggest tragedies is the fact that we continuously fail to harness our most valuable resource – our human capital. You see women continuously being locked out of the workplace, of politics, and of leadership. You see youth, unbelievably smart and talented youth, unable to realise their ambitions to earn a decent and honest living. I abhor this wanton waste and squander of human capital. I therefore come to work ready to work with my fantastic team and partners to try and ensure that we’re working towards a Kenya that values its people.  

For career, just as in life, you must have crystal clarity on the life that you want to live. I find that a lot of the time, we falter because we don’t have clarity on what a fulfilling life looks like. You must put in the work, in terms of figuring this out, and then again, on honing your craft. And when I’m giving advice, what I tell people (especially young women) is if you dream big, plan well, and work very, very hard, then the world is yours for the taking.

Stuck in a career rut? Just because you decided to do a certain job doesn’t mean that you have to do it all your life. While acknowledging that in a country with high unemployment rates, it may sound risky and disingenuous to ask people to reach for fulfilment in their careers, I still honestly believe that this is something that we could strive towards. Depending on your risk threshold, and personal obligations, it’s never too late to dip a toe, by trying out a new project at work that’s more in line with your interests. Or you could also jump headfirst into the next phase of your life in a total career change. You’re allowed to be fulfilled and, dare I say happy, in your career choices.

My proudest achievements are in my personal life, and that I try to be the best version of myself for my loved ones. That I am someone to be counted on, someone who loves them fearlessly, and that I never take them for granted.

In the evening before going to sleep, I’ll try and do my work-related research and reading. If you are to be effective in any field, I believe that you must keep reading, scouting and scanning to see what others have written about your subject area. Then, and only then, can you hope to achieve greatness by “standing on the shoulders of giants.”

I’m an evening person, with my favourite part of the day being after dusk. My trifecta would be a rainy full moon night as I’m a nyctophile (a person who loves the night), selenophile (a person who loves the moon), and pluviophile (a person who loves the rain). I’m truly firing on all cylinders at this time, and I tend to do my most productive work then.

I have a solid circle of friends who are family, and family that are friends. Outside work, I’ll typically tend to spend my down time with them, and I draw a lot of my energy and inspiration from them. I am a voracious reader of fiction and non-fiction. My go-to read is the American writer, feminist and civil rights activist Audre Lorde. She’s as topical now as she was when she was alive, with some of her insights like “Your silence will not protect you” being as relevant for Kenya today, as they were when she wrote them. I tend to read books simultaneously, and right now I’m reading Seeing Like a State by James Scott and Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari. My goal for 2020 is to make time for cycling, which I love.