Willice Onyango

Executive Director, The Youth Cafe, Kenya

Executive Director Willice Onyango has over ten years of experience designing and leading innovative cross-sectoral youth development programs in Africa that feature youth-led research, learning, and adaptation. Willice has led diverse global teams of up to 53 staff and portfolios totaling over $20 million. He has an over 10-year track record of trailblazing youth-led development, having previously served as a global youth representative to the UN High-Level Panel of Eminent Persons on Post 2015 that was co-chaired by British Prime minister, Liberian and Indonesian presidents, and as a member of International Youth Council. Consequently, he has been invited to speak at numerous international forums spanning 28 countries, including the 68th UN General Assembly, World Bank Youth Forum, and AU Heads of States Summit, among others, on youth, development, and democracy. He is an alumnus of the prestigious One Young World, International Young Leaders Assembly, and Kettering Foundation Deliberative Democracy Exchange. He completed Civic Leadership Institute at Kansas State University, the U.S.A, as a Mandela Washington Fellow and is an MSc (Entrepreneurship and Innovations Management) candidate at the University of Nairobi. He is also Bachelor of Law (LL. B) student at University of Nairobi. Willice sits on several local and international boards.


He is the author of the Kenya Youth Manifesto. This non-partisan publication unified the aspirations of the ordinary Kenyan youth into a common philosophy leading to the publication and launch of the first-ever Kenya Youth Manifesto. In addition, he is the author of several book chapters, including the latest one titled Securitizing Youth, which Rutgers University Press recently published based on the UN Security Resolution No. 2250 on the role of young people in global peace and security. He is a published columnist with The Star Newspaper, World Economic Forum, The Standard Newspaper, Huffington Post, and Open Democracy, among other platforms.



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