As founder and CEO of Pendo International Projects, Ciro Muiruri leads the organization’s Canadian and Kenyan teams and engages with external stakeholders. Born into intergenerational poverty in one of Kenya’s largest slums, Ciro was orphaned by AIDS and experienced firsthand the extreme challenges of accessing affordable high-quality early childhood education (ECE) in low-income communities. She began her career in affordable education at the age of 21 while working for an international NGO, where she led a team that established the first ECE center for deaf children in Kibera, Africa’s largest slum.

Five years later, she established Blossom Montessori School just outside of Nairobi, and in 2019 she established Pendo School in rural Kenya. A speaker and human rights activist, Ciro also serves as a board member for different organizations in Kenya and Canada.