GROOTS Kenya is a national movement of grassroots, women-led, community-based organizations and self-help groups in Kenya. We were founded in 1995, after the fourth UN Conference on Women in Beijing, China. Our aim is to address the lack of visibility of grassroots women in development processes and decision-making forums that affect them and their communities.

We operate using a unique model, the “champions’ model”, which involves a grassroots, community-led development process: Grassroots, women-led organizations, and groups take charge of their development by defining the problem, conceptualizing the solutions, designing and implementing interventions, and tracking change. We understand that no one can truly understand the needs of grassroots women better than they can. In this bottom-up model, an intentional effort is made to promote women’s voices and their personal and collective agency. The champions’ model challenges institutions and structures that disempower grassroots communities as agents of change.

GROOTS Kenya’s secretariat provides technical and nontechnical support to the grassroots movement. Over the years, our efforts have resulted in the recognition of many grassroots women as change agents at the local, national, regional, and international levels.