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Joan is a proactive communications and sustainability professional with a dynamic personality and exceptional interpersonal abilities. She is a Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI) Fellow in sustainability and the circular economy, with experience in helping people to think sustainably and helping corporations to utilise environmentally-friendly practices in their business operations, in addition to developing strategies using design thinking processes. She is passionate about public health, and holds a master of science degree in environmental health with research work in the area of antimicrobial resistance, and works towards building sustainable communities.

I have never been a risk-taker. I always imagined a straightforward professional career where I would work my way up the ladder slowly but surely. However, against my reticent nature and the strong suggestions of family and friends, I decided to quit my stable finance job in the USA to relocate to Kenya to be a full-time entrepreneur. I had a mental block about all advice against my decision. I felt that “they didn’t understand” because they were either old or didn’t know what they were talking about.

I have run and sat on the boards of large businesses and led positive changes from within, and I currently lead the Van Woustraat Trust nonprofit.

I have in the past worked across several continents and seen, learnt and grown. Working for VWT has opened my perspective to a whole other world, a world of giving. I am humbled to be part of this generous organization that believes in the good of people and their future. My background ensures that what can be donated will be donated in a fair, effective, and transparent way. I am very enthusiastic to learn new things every day and to keep growing with VWT.

Rita Field-Marsham is a corporate lawyer and public-interest lawyer. She’s also the founder and CEO of The Field-Marsham Foundation and Knowledge Empowering Youth (KEY), a nonprofit that provides turnkey libraries to schools in Kenya. She’s a director of the Andre De Grasse Family Foundation and the Kenya Scholar Athlete Program (KenSAP), which since inception has facilitated over 200 of Kenya’s highest achieving but neediest students gain admission to U.S. elite universities such as Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Stanford, and M.I.T. Rita joined the MPESA Academy Board of Governors in 2016. Before moving to Canada in 2004, Rita practiced law in Kenya’s private, public and legal-aid sectors. She is the mother of three girls.