About Us – OotuFund

Our Mission

Community-Led. Evidence-Based. Human-Centred.

OotuFund's Phase 1 pilot delivers $40/month, unconditionally, to households in Laikipia County, Kenya — 70% of every dollar we raise goes straight to that transfer. We don't prescribe how it's spent.

That design isn't a guess: it follows Haushofer & Shapiro's landmark GiveDirectly study (38% rise in food security, 58% improvement in psychological wellbeing) and a review of 200+ unconditional cash transfer studies worldwide.

Unconditional cash transfers that respect human dignity
Financial literacy and inclusion for long-term resilience
Climate justice initiatives that protect vulnerable communities
Community ownership in every program design

Explore Our Programs

Reticulated giraffe on the Laikipia landscape, Kenya — the community OotuFund serves.

Our Values

What We Stand For

Our values guide every decision — from program design to how we speak about the communities we work with.

🤲

Dignity First

Every person deserves respect, choice, and agency. We reject savior narratives and embrace partnership.

🧭

Local Ownership

Communities lead. We provide resources and infrastructure, never directions.

📊

Evidence-Based

Our $40/month transfer size and cash-first design come from 200+ published UCT studies — not internal guesswork.

♻️

Climate Justice

Laikipia's pastoral communities face droughts they didn't cause. Unrestricted cash lets a household rebuild a herd or switch income sources on its own timeline, not ours.

🔓

Transparency

We publish the exact split — 70% direct transfers, 12% platform, 10% monitoring & evaluation, 8% operations — and flag every figure that's a plan versus a result.

🤝

Partnership

We build ecosystems — connecting diaspora, governments, donors, and local leaders.

Our Vision

Laikipia first — proof before scale.

We're not asking anyone to trust a continent-wide promise. We're starting with one county, one $40 transfer, and an external evaluation of a 12-month pilot — then scaling only what the evidence backs.

Our Approach

Cash as the foundation. Community as the engine.

Cash transfers return $2.60 in local economic activity for every $1 given (Egger et al., 2022). We pair that with financial literacy, livelihood support, and climate programs designed around what Laikipia households actually tell us they need.

Who We Serve

Communities at the Centre

Phase 1 targets households in Nanyuki sub-county, Laikipia — the profiles below are who the $40/month transfer is designed to reach first.

👩‍👧‍👦

Families

Low-income households facing food insecurity, school dropouts, and health costs. Cash gives them choice and stability.

🌾

Smallholder Farmers

Farmers adapting to climate shocks, market volatility, and lack of credit. We support resilience and diversification.

💼

Entrepreneurs

Micro and small business owners who need capital, skills, and networks to grow and create local jobs.

🧕

Women

Women disproportionately face financial exclusion. Our programs specifically address gender-based barriers to economic participation.

🎓

Youth

Young people navigating unemployment and lack of capital. We invest in their skills, businesses, and futures.

🏘️

Diaspora

Africans living abroad who want to invest meaningfully in their home communities beyond informal remittances.

Our Leadership

People Driving Change

Four people building the Laikipia pilot — from the Kundi platform's audit trail to the FPIC consent process every household goes through.

Matu Mureithi

Founder

Visionary leader driving UCT implementation across East Africa, with a focus on dignity, trust, and local ownership.

Alex Kamau

Advocate

Community advocate championing social justice and equality, grounding every OotuFund programme in lived community experience.

Bernard Khabule

Finance

Financial strategist ensuring transparent, accountable fund management — so every dollar is traceable from donor to community member.

Josephine Waruguru

Humanitarian

Expert in humanitarian protection and community safeguarding, ensuring OotuFund's work centres the dignity and safety of every community member.

"We are not experts on other people's lives. They are."

— OotuFund founding principle

Partners & Networks

Building an Ecosystem, Not Just Programs

We partner with organizations that share our commitment to community-led development and evidence-based impact.

🌐

GiveDirectly Network

🏦

African Development Bank

📱

Kundi Platform

🎓

University Partners

Ready to Support Community-Led Change?

Every contribution puts resources directly into the hands of communities — with no conditions, no paternalism, and full trust.

Partner With Us Partner With Us

Trusting Communities to Build Their Own Futures