A New Generation of Kenyan Public Servants Thrives with Deliberate and Meaningful Support
by Abigail Kajumba
PSELF Alumni of the first cohort sit with H.E. Madam Sirleaf following an intimate discussion on leadership and the great responsibility of youth in public service as ethical leaders of the next generation.
A prosperous and equitable Africa, fostered by good governance and transformational public services, is the mission that first drew me to Emerging Public Leaders. That vision felt vividly alive in Nairobi this week, as we gathered with our partners the Public Service Commission and Emerging Leaders Foundation Africa to celebrate the launch of the Public Service Emerging Leaders Fellowship (PSELF) Impact Assessment Report and the Fellows whose work it highlights.
When PSELF was launched in 2022, our shared goal was to equip young civil servants with the skills, values and confidence to serve, and to show that deliberate investment in early‑career leaders changes how government works for citizens. The evaluation focuses on the first cohort, a single group of 51 entry level officers between 18 and 35, selected on merit from across Kenya’s ministries, departments and agencies, with careful attention to gender, county and institutional diversity. This cohort shows what can happen when you take talented young public servants seriously, invest in their growth and connect them to a strong community of peers and mentors.
Behind the findings are human stories. A young officer sits with citizens to map their experience of a licensing process, then works with colleagues to remove small barriers that once made people feel humiliated or powerless. Another introduces a simple way of logging decisions in her unit, so that colleagues and citizens can see who decided what and on what basis, turning transparency into a daily habit. A third, facing resistance to a reform she believes in, reaches out to PSELF peers in other ministries, returns with a stronger strategy and the reassurance that she is not alone. Many Fellows began the programme unsure of their own leadership abilities; they completed it with stronger confidence, clearer values and a deeper commitment to public service.
The cohort itself reflects the future Kenya is building: early‑career officers drawn from across the country, with women and men represented in near equal numbers. Women’s achievements in particular demonstrate how inclusive leadership strengthens institutions, increases fairness and builds trust. Across ministries and counties, Fellows are now mentoring younger staff and quietly changing what it feels like to arrive in the public service as a new officer, turning PSELF from a one‑year experience into a lasting community of practice. Taken together, we are now proud to have supported two cohorts of PSELF Fellows in Kenya, around 115 emerging public leaders, with many more bright, committed officers eager to join future cohorts if partners step forward to sustain and expand this work.
This week’s launch was also a moment to honour the leaders and partners who made this journey possible. It was an extraordinary privilege to be in the presence of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Nobel Peace Prize laureate, former President of Liberia and co‑founder of Emerging Public Leaders, as she connected the path from the President’s Young Professionals Program in Monrovia in 2009 to PSELF in Nairobi today and reminded us why a pan‑African network of public service leaders matters so much. I was equally proud to stand with Emmanuel Lubembe, Emerging Public Leaders’ new Board Chair from Kenya, and our co‑founder, Betsy Williams, whose conviction that public service is the “secret sauce of any successful country” continues to inspire everyone involved in this work.
None of this would have been possible without the steadfast support of our partners: the Public Service Commission of Kenya, Emerging Leaders Foundation Africa, the Chandler Institute of Governance, the Hewlett Foundation and others who believed in this vision early and have walked with us over many years. For Emerging Public Leaders, this report is both a celebration and a call to action. To public institutions, funders and reform‑minded leaders across the region, my invitation is simple: join us in sustaining and expanding this work, so that many more cohorts of PSELF Fellows can serve. Together, we can help make ethical, effective, citizen‑centred public leadership the norm across Africa.
