bold idea
Break cycles of poverty in Kenya for children in low-income rural communities by increasing access to high-quality and affordable early childhood education.
organization overview
Pendo International Projects aims to improve access to quality, affordable early childhood education (ECE) for low-income rural communities in Kenya through an innovative social franchising approach. It built and operates a best practice Montessori ECE school, which provides a proven model that significantly improves educational outcomes for children. Pendo’s goal is to establish new ECE centers and support women entrepreneurs to start or grow their own ECE enterprises. Its social franchise model provides a standardized package of essential ECE services at scale, boosts small and standalone ECE schools, provides consistency, and increases access to affordable high-quality ECE schools.
Personal Bio
As founder and CEO of Pendo International Projects, Ciro Muiruri leads the organization’s Canadian and Kenyan teams and engages with external stakeholders. Born into intergenerational poverty in one of Kenya’s largest slums, Ciro was orphaned by AIDS and experienced firsthand the extreme challenges of accessing affordable high-quality early childhood education (ECE) in low-income communities. She began her career in affordable education at the age of 21 while working for an international NGO, where she led a team that established the first ECE center for deaf children in Kibera, Africa’s largest slum. Five years later, she established Blossom Montessori School just outside of Nairobi, and in 2019 she established Pendo School in rural Kenya. A speaker and human rights activist, Ciro also serves as a board member for different organizations in Kenya and Canada.
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