Kingsley Melita Kipury

Kingsley Melita Kipury is a policy and development strategist from Kenya, currently pursuing a Master of Public Policy at the University of Oxford. He is a Mastercard Foundation Scholar and a member of Mansfield College. Kingsley wants to rewrite the rules of economic inclusion by placing marginalised communities, youth, women, and micro-entrepreneurs at the centre of development.

His career spans government, NGOs, and the private sector across East and Southern Africa, with a focus on creating transformative socio-economic outcomes. As a public sector leader implementing Kenya’s Affordable Housing Programme, he facilitated market access worth USD 80 million for artisans in the jua kali informal sector by designing and scaling a grassroots subcontracting policy that integrated micro-entrepreneurs into formal supply chains. Previously, as Director of Strategy and Partnerships in the Executive Office of the President, he co-designed Kenya’s first publicly funded SME credit guarantee scheme, unlocking USD 90 million for entrepreneurs traditionally considered too risky, and presented trade reform proposals at the East African Community cabinet in Arusha. Kingsley has also championed pan-African youth development as Chief Operations Officer at enke: Make Your Mark, an award-winning social enterprise in South Africa, and has funded young entrepreneurs across the continent through the Äänit Prize and Jasiri growth funds. Beyond his professional career, he contributes to social and cultural development as a member of the Book Bunk Advisory Board, supporting the restoration of Nairobi’s most iconic libraries into vibrant community public spaces and sites of heritage, public art, cultural exchange and knowledge production.

Kingsley graduated with a Bachelor of Business Science in Economics and Management from Monash University, where he received a Scholarship for Academic Excellence and graduated on the Dean’s List. He also holds a Certificate in Social Entrepreneurship from the Gordon Institute of Business Science, University of Pretoria, where he was awarded the PP Vilakazi Award for demonstrated leadership. He is an alumnus of the Young African Leadership Initiative, an affiliate of the Aspen Global Leadership Network. After completing his studies at Oxford, Kingsley intends to lead transformational development work that restores dignity and opportunity to the marginalised majority across Africa.