Mercy Ndanu Musembi Musembi

Mercy Ndanu Musembi is a Kenyan WASH professional and Mastercard Foundation Scholar pursuing an MSc in Water Science, Policy and Management at the University of Oxford and is a member of Kellogg College. She is passionate about advancing equitable water and sanitation access to underserved communities.

She graduated with First Class Honours in Civil Engineering from the Technical University of Kenya and a Distinction in Project Management Diploma from the Kenya Institute of Management. As a WASH Engineer, she has been involved in transformative WASH projects such as the West Nairobi and Lake Victoria Water and Sanitation Programmes. While working in these programmes, she noted policy and management gaps that sparked her interest in understanding the factors that shape decision-making regarding WASH access and learning how to formulate and implement effective policies, water management practices, and institutional frameworks into WASH projects to ensure sustainability and equitable access.

Alongside her engineering career, Mercy trains and mentors STEM students as a Graduate Teaching Assistant at the Technical University of Kenya, fostering empowerment and equity in male-dominated fields. She is also an education researcher, having contributed to the KEMI research journal on impacts of gender-responsive climate education in Africa. She is an alumna of the Future Female Leaders in Energy–Africa fellowship, where she gained skills in leadership development and explored energy systems and sustainable innovations across African contexts. Following the fellowship, she advocated for the integration of solar energy into WASH facilities, helping to lower operational costs while cutting carbon emissions.

At Oxford, Mercy is eager to engage with peers from around the world and learn about global water challenges and solutions. She plans to return to Africa as a policy advisor, where she will address water-sector policy challenges using the knowledge and skills gained.

She enjoys exploring Africa’s landscapes and reading African Literature.