Faith Kisinga Gitonga

Former Advisory Council Member

Faith Kisinga Gitonga is an advocate of the High Court of Kenya with special interest in civil society and the development of an enabling environment for civil society organizations (CSOs). Her experience working with CSOs spans over ten years and includes facilitating initiatives on policy issues relating to civil society growth and action, bringing on board her skills, experience, and knowledge of the civil society sector and laws. She has been engaged in the process of formulating and lobbying for the Public Benefit Organisations (PBO) Act since 2009. She is currently involved in giving advice and support to a wide range of stakeholders on the PBO Act and various aspects of NGO Law Reform in Kenya.

Ms. Gitonga has also provided technical support and advice to ICNL’s Africa Civil Society Support Initiative, a program aimed to strengthen the capacities of civil society in Africa to counter increasingly restrictive legal environments. As ICNL’s Civic Freedom Monitor Partner in Kenya, she has provided ICNL with updates on key issues affecting the legal environment for civil society in Kenya since 2010. In 2009, she served as a research fellow at ICNL in Washington, DC.

Faith has wide experience in cross-sector mobilization and has facilitated several multisectoral initiatives, including Pact Kenya’s (currently ACT’s) program on Government-CSOs collaboration, which brought together representatives from CSOs and the Government and led to the development of principles for Government-CSO collaboration. She also played an instrumental role in planning and coordinating a successful cross-sectoral campaign aimed at securing a conducive legislative tax framework for local resource mobilization in Kenya. The campaign resulted in the Charity Regulations of 2007, which guide tax deductions for donations to non-profit organizations.

Faith has a Masters in International Studies from the Institute for Diplomacy and International Studies, University of Nairobi.