As a high school principal in Kenya in the early 2000s, Catherine Wanjohi thought she had seen it all—until a student’s mother came to school one day and said she must “sell her body to keep her children in school.”
The mother’s story was all too common: More than 41% of Kenyan women report having suffered physical or sexual violence from their spouse or partner, according to a recent Demographic and Health Survey report. According to the report, lack of education and financial stability can make women even more vulnerable to these risks resulting in devastating mental and physical consequences.
Catherine felt compelled to find a way to help this mother and other women in the same situation. This led her to create Life Bloom Services International, a nonprofit with the mission to create a world where vulnerable women and children, survivors of human trafficking and sexual exploitation, were free and safe to live the lives they deserved.
While she could not completely eradicate this violence, Catherine committed to do everything she could to change the paths for as many people as possible. She began by offering counseling focused on helping women embark on their healing journeys and reducing their risk factors. This included providing education in income-generating skills, such as baking and tailoring, as well as guidance on how to start a small business. Counseling provided critical support by addressing the pain these women endured, but after initial healing, they were still at risk of returning to old cycles.
Catherine felt it wasn’t enough. “I felt like there was something missing,” she said. “I kept asking myself, after counseling, after healing these women, then what?”
She realized that what they needed were tools to approach life differently and set a new path for themselves—not just immediately, but for the long haul. The answer was coaching. During a trip to the United States in 2009, Catherine first experienced coaching following a conference in the Bay Area in California called “The Women at the Well.” After sharing her story and her work supporting women who had suffered abuse, Catherine was recommended for the upcoming Women Leaders for the World (WLW) training, organized by the Global Women Leadership Network (GWLN). She returned to California in December 2009 for this intensive leadership coaching program, where she was paired with renowned coaches for six months following the in-person training. Through this experience, Catherine gained greater clarity around her vision for supporting women and children through Life Bloom, sparking a deep commitment to bring this vision to life.
She returned to Kenya and immediately integrated life skills training and transformative leadership coaching into Life Bloom’s programs. Catherine joined the International Coaching Federation (ICF) and became an ICF-credentialed coach in 2021.
“There is a gift called the gift of coaching,” said Catherine. “Initially, I had the gift of counseling and before that, the gift of teaching when I was a high school principal. I came to realize that combined with the gift of coaching, the three could become a very powerful force in people’s lives.”
In 2023, the ICF Foundation provided pro bono coaching to Life Bloom staff through its Ignite Initiative. Catherine and a team of coaches from the ICF-Kenya Chapter took advantage of this opportunity to offer coaching sessions to grassroots community leaders from various organizations, as well as to the Life Bloom team. Over six months, 16 leaders and staff members participated in a total of 43 virtual coaching sessions led by 11 ICF Kenya Chapter coaches.
These sessions equipped community leaders with the tools to enhance their program outcomes, boost productivity, and achieve personal success. Of those initial 16 community leaders, Catherine’s coaching with Life Bloom helped individuals focus their current talents, learn new skills, and build a path toward a more hopeful future.
One such leader, Damaris Wihaki, who works with Life Bloom, states she was able to identify her potential and create awareness in herself. “[Catherine’s coaching] has helped me to actively support the girls I mentor in the community,” shared Damaris.
Now, after the Ignite Initiative, Catherine continues to adopt an all-inclusive approach to make coaching accessible to those who need it most but often lack easy access. This year alone, Catherine has provided coaching to 69 grassroots-based clients.
“As a community development expert, taking the gift of coaching to the grassroots leadership was my desire for many years,” said Catherine. “We needed a real and complete definition of the term leader, especially for the grassroot community leaders. Coaching helped us learn and then show that it’s not about you. It’s not only about the other person. It’s about all people being leaders in their own ways.”
Through this offering, Life Bloom is able to provide even more complete holistic solutions to prevent human trafficking and keep women and children safe by equipping local leaders to be more effective in finding systemic solutions to these mainly culturally anchored challenges, in addition to their work with individuals. As Life Bloom celebrates its 20th anniversary this year, the organization has positively impacted over 13,688 women, men, and children across the counties of Nakuru, Narok, and Nairobi in Kenya.
“I firmly believe that this is my purpose,” said Catherine. “We will have better communities, happier people, hope in our world and leave this world a better place for generations to come.
