Personal Statement Mitchel Apiyo

My name is Mitchel Apiyo.
I am a lawyer by profession, member of the Law Society of Kenya

and I currently work at Geoner Systems Limited as the Legal Operations Manager. I have
volunteered with FIDA Kenya since 2020. In 2014, while pursuing my LLB degree. I joined the
university’s Legal Aid Clinic as a paralegal. In 2016 I was elected the Vice Chairperson of the
Kenya Law Students Society where I was tasked with the responsibility of leading over 2000
students and organizing mentorship programmes. I also co-founded a charity based
organization in 2017 called the Wings of Hope Foundation that aims to empower young girls
through donation of sanitary towels to ensure that they do not drop out of school and also offer
mentoring initiatives. I have embraced on this journey to help the youth know that they have
their space in leadership.
It is increasingly becoming a well-known act that influence is the new currency for success. As
such, I am well aware that influence and leadership are intertwined, where one cannot exist
without the other. Amassing influence is therefore, in my opinion the surest way of achieving
ones leadership goals because essentially people can only be motivated to follow a person who
possesses some degree of influence. It is with this knowledge in mind that I have therefore
endeavoured to build my influence over the influence over the years in order to develop into a
leader within both my profession and my community. This has seen me take on various
leadership responsibilities in school, professionally at work and in the community.
In High School I held two main leadership responsibilities- I was both the swimming club captain
and the library prefect. Being a prefect came with a lot of weighty responsibilities. I had to
carefully use my influence to guide others towards exercising thoughtful and balance
leadership. As the swimming club captain, I had to motivate my teammates towards achieving
success in the various national and inter county competitions that we would take part in. Even
at the University, I found myself in a leadership position as I was elected the Vice Chairperson
of the Kenya Law Students Society.
Professionally, I have consistently exercised my leadership skills throughout my career. As the

Legal Operations Manager at Geoner Systems Limited, I oversee and guide over sixty staff
members on matters welfare, human resource and legal concerns. Within the community,
however is where I have most enjoyed exerting my influence as a leader for reasons that it has
helped me to contribute to the betterment of the society in my own little way. I am the
Organizing Secretary and a Mentor at the Wings of Hope Foundation. As a mentor, I have been
able to guide young people in terms of professional, career and academic mentoring as well as
financial support specifically with respect to sanitary towels. In addition, I am a member of the
Kilimani Rotary Club which aims at supporting low income families by donating clothes, food
and some financial support.
My short-term career goal is to come back home an incorporate a leadership training

programme at my organization. I would like to contribute the knowledge and experience
gained in this programme. After two years, I am confident that I will be promoted to key
leadership position which will give me the opportunity to promote more practical ideal
structure for implementation of decision making. In the longer term, with the experience and
network created my previous position, I plan to incorporate my own consultancy firm, which
will help in nurturing young leaders in Kenya. In this new role, I will work closely with the local
authority for smoother implementation of my projects. Additionally, my firm will organize
webinars and conferences where I will invite keynote speakers from other African countries as
well as European countries to give talk on leadership and development. The ripple effect of this
will be to deepen the African-EU partnership and contribute to a better bilateral relationship
between the two.
“A leader is like a shepherd. He stays behind the flock….- Nelson Mandela.” From this I have
always learned that exceptional leaders are excellent motivation and pushers who lead from
behind and put others first. What attracted me to Young African Leaders Programme is he
programmes ability to churn out responsible and transparent leaders based on the alumnus. If
given the opportunity of being part of the 2023 cohort, I will act as a connecting chain between
my formed network and future YALP fellows. Become a strategic contact to other persons and
engage the knowledge and skills learned in order to enhance the Africa- EU partnership.
Each one of us has a different conception of what leadership is and it is usually shaped by the
people we know and meet. Being a part of the Young African Leaders Programme will expose
me to a larger network where my leadership capability will be cultivated more for my country
and the world at large. As a Young African Leaders Programme beneficiary, I will continuously
acquire deeper knowledge in the chosen field , nourish my capacity as well as expand my
network to become a competent leader, who will greatly contribute to the development of the
Africa-EU partnership.
In conclusion, it takes time and effort to make critical changes in the leadership styles especially
in African countries. This is fuelled by vices such as corruption, nepotism and fraud which takes
the centre piece in our Leadership and Governance. It is less of servant leadership and more of
master leadership. The corrupt are the ones holding public offices and leadership positions. The
youth can hardly raise the heft fees required for them to run for office and in the event they
raise the sums then they lack the financial muscles required to campaign for elective leadership
positions. Armed with the knowledge and skills gained from the Young African Leaders
Programme, I am certain that I will be a voice for a more sustainable, transparent and equally
competitive, yet achievable with the assistance of formal training style of transformative
leadership.
Sincerely.
Apiyo Mitchel

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Personal Statement Mitchel Apiyo

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My name is Mitchel Apiyo.

I am a lawyer by profession, member of the Law Society of Kenya

Professionally, I have consistently exercised my leadership skills throughout my career. As the

My short-term career goal is to come back home an incorporate a leadership training

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