Who We Are
Partners in sustainable school meals
Our story began with a simple but urgent need: children were arriving at school too hungry to learn.
Feeding Futures was founded by Vanessa Bennett and Peterson Githinji after seeing first-hand how hunger was affecting children’s education, health and opportunity in rural Kenya. What began as a response to immediate need has grown into a long-term model that helps school communities create self-sustaining meal programmes through partnership, training and local ownership.
Feeding Futures began with an unlikely friendship between Vanessa Bennett in the UK and Peterson Githinji in Kenya.
Our Story
Peterson was the Head Teacher of a rural school in Kenya and Vanessa was the mother of three young children thousands of miles away in the UK, having worked in Medical Physics in the NHS and previously for a small consultancy with Ministries of Health in Sub-Saharan Africa. When talking with Peterson, Vanessa heard how children at his school often went hungry because parents could not feed them adequately. Some children even fainted at school from hunger.
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Three years later in 2010, with a little money from family and friends, Vanessa and Peterson eventually found a way to start feeding the children in his school and Feeding Futures began.
Two years in, they realised they could not continue feeding several hundred children indefinitely. Vitally, they also understood that it was more valuable and dignified for parents if they could be helped to provide for their own children.
Feeding Futures needed to find a way to make school meals self-sustaining.
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As Feeding Futures became more familiar with the area of school feeding programmes, we realised that whether a programme was run by a huge NGO or a tiny charity, none had a model which was self-sustaining for communities.
With so many children going hungry at school, even in areas of Kenya where agriculture can be practised, Feeding Futures became dedicated to developing a model for sustainable school meals.
This meant looking beyond the immediate provision of food and asking a deeper question: how could school communities be equipped to provide meals for their own children long term?
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One of the first steps towards this was employing an agronomist as our first member of staff, offering training to parents on how to get more from their land.
Feeding Futures has spent years testing and refining its approach, working with three communities and wanting to be absolutely sure that the model is robust, transferable and genuinely sustainable.
It took over a decade, but Feeding Futures finally had irrefutable evidence that the model works.
Through school kitchens, water-harvesting systems, food storage, school farms, agriculture training and community partnership, Feeding Futures now supports schools to feed children today while helping families build the skills and systems needed to continue those meals into the future.
Meet Our Team
Vanessa Bennett
Co Founder, CEO UKVanessa lives near Chichester on the south coast of England and is Co-Founder and CEO (UK) of Feeding Futures.
Before founding Feeding Futures, Vanessa worked in medical physics within the NHS and later as a Debt Coach for CAP. In 2010, together with her friend Peterson Githinji, she co-founded Feeding Futures after seeing first-hand the impact of hunger on children's education in rural Kenya.
Vanessa is focused on helping communities build a future where children can learn, families can prosper and school meal programmes continue without outside support. She is particularly interested in sustainable development, education, agriculture and sharing the Feeding Futures model more widely wherever possible.
Vanessa is married to Paul and has three grown-up children. She enjoys walking along the coast and in the countryside with Chester, the family dog, gardening, travelling and attempting to learn Swahili.
Peterson Githinji
Co Founder, Executive Chair (Kenya)
Purity Kariuki
Trustee and Treasurer
Andrew Njenga
Trustee in Kenya
Ethel Sibanda
Trustee, Safeguarding LeadEthel is a dynamic leader bringing close to 25 years of experience in international development and Monitoring & Evaluation Learning (MEL) in agri-food systems. She has specific sector experience in Agriculture, Food and Nutrition security: market systems development and private sector development; Climate adaptation, mitigation, and resilience: climate-smart agriculture. Her experience covers managing a portfolio of programmes, including complex multi-country, multi-year programmes. She brings experience and expertise in project management, business development, and board membership.
Joanne Kondabéka
Chair of TrusteesJoanne has over 25 years' experience working in the charity sector, both as a trustee, church leader and as the founder and CEO of Chichester District Foodbank. She is presently CEO of Pregnancy Option Centre and runs JSK Consultancy helping charities take their next steps. She is also a councillor in Chichester City Council.
Joanne brings experience in governance, community development, operational management, strategic leadership, training and project management. She has a particular interest in projects that provide long term solutions to end poverty and injustice.
Jon Bennetts
Trustee, Growth & Partnerships Lead
Dave Berry
TrusteeDave brings experience in education, project leadership, property management and community development, with a particular interest in practical projects that create lasting change.
Over the years, Dave has supported young people through education and sport, led volunteer programmes and contributed to heritage projects across the Portsmouth area. His interest in the environment and the natural world continues to shape both his personal life and the projects he supports.
Gemima Kamau
Trustee in Kenya
Nderitu Nyaga
Development Support and Livestock Consultant
Pauline Wangari
Office Manager, Nakuru, Kenya
Ruth Lancey
Fundraising & Communications Manager