Mrs. Jane Akinyi Oyare-Olago was born and raised in Kisumu. A professional counsellor and former teacher, who currently serves in the Kisumu County Public Service Board, where she chairs the Committee of Finance and Information Assets, an assignment that she does well. This position requires maintenance of accurate and complete records. Jane exemplifies qualities such as: highly focused, a good listener, organized, calm and peaceful person. She is results-oriented, efficient at achieving set goals and maintains confidentiality.
Jane’s educational and professional background journey began by her attending Rae Girls’ Primary (1966-1972) then Rae Girls’ Secondary School (1973-1976) in Nyakach Sub County. After a short stint at St. Joseph’s Mission Hospital, Nyabondo in 1977-1978 for a Diploma Course as a Community Nurse, she realized she preferred teaching. She started off as Untrained Teacher for two terms (6 months) before proceeding to Maseno Teachers Training College in 1980 and graduated in 1982 as a P1 Teacher. She taught in public schools under the Teacher’s Service Commission in Kisumu, Kwale, Mombasa and Nairobi Counties (1982-1995). She later moved on to teach in private schools in Nairobi from 1995-2002. Having a thirst for further education, she joined the University of Nairobi (UoN) in 2001 and graduated with Bachelor of Arts degree in Counseling Psychology in 2005.
Following her graduation, her professional journey took a new twist. Jane started off by serving as a volunteer Counselor at the MSF Belgium HIV program at Kibera for 4 months and was later employed at the Gender Violence Recovery Centre (GVRC) – Nairobi Women’s Hospital, as a Counseling Psychologist where she worked from 2005 to 2014.
Jane gained massive experience in counseling survivors of Gender Based Violence (GBV), handling clients with Mental Health, Social and Emotional challenges and carrying out community sensitizations on the Management of GBV, Advocacy, Counseling Supervision and Capacity Building to Health professionals and mentoring various Organizations and Institutions including the Kenya Police Force, Southern Sudan, TJRC, Secondary School heads, University Students and in Disaster-stricken areas of Post-Election Violence (2007). She also trained on Child Rights and protection, Prevention of Mother-To-Child Transmission (PMTCT) and HIV (Adherence, Counselling & Testing).
Currently she’s holding a volunteer position as a non-Executive Director and Board member at Anabaptist Peace Missions International (APMI) – Nairobi, A Centre of discipleship where one engages as an Educationist. She previously chaired the Board at Hope Foundation for African Women (HFAW) from 2015-2018. Jane also worked with Local Capacities for Peace International (LCPI) in 2015, an NGO dealing with Peacebuilding initiatives. Jane has attended several professional Workshops, Seminars and Conferences, both locally and Internationally in Cooperate governance organized by professional bodies like ESAMI in ICPAK, IHRM and CHRM, which strengthens her knowledge in Human Resource Management.
Jane obtained her Master degree in Armed Conflict and Peace Studies from The University of Nairobi in 2011. She taught from 2013-2015 as a Part-time Lecturer at St. Pauls’ University (Town Campus) on Criminology and Psychology. From there she got employed at the UoN as the Students’ Counselor, doubling up as the Assistant Dean of Students – Kikuyu Campus, until her retirement from the Government in June, 2018. Having a passion in Education, she is currently studying for her PhD at the Department of African Women Studies at the UoN, an area where she has authored and published several articles on women studies.