By: Hannah Johnson
When we consider international law, human rights, and global justice, it is usually in the context of advocacy, humanitarian intervention, or prosecution of bad actors. One area of law with considerable impact on human rights that is often overlooked is corporate law. Corporate lawyers play a significant role in supporting nonprofits, NGOs, and grassroots organizations as they strive to challenge inequality and advance justice, empowerment, and transformation for millions across the globe.
As part of my international internship experience, over recent weeks I have worked closely with Patrick Karanja, Managing Partner of Eddah & Karanja Company Advocates in Nairobi, Kenya, on a variety of projects, one of which involved corporate governance and legal compliance assistance for Daraja Academy, a nonprofit girls’ secondary school in Nanyuki that provides free education for girls from poor urban families and marginalized communities throughout Kenya for whom education otherwise would be out of reach. I had the opportunity to assist in restructuring the nonprofit governance, in reviewing policies, and in supporting legal compliance for the organization responsible for the school. As a result, I have seen how vision, strategy, and governance structures fit together and enable effective administration, fundraising, and operations, helping to change the future for hundreds of girls and their communities through education.
Education in Kenya is far from a guarantee, especially for girls, and most especially girls in poorer or more remote communities. School fees are expensive. Many families cannot afford them, and it is not unusual to find parents sending their children to work for others in exchange for payment of their school fees. Many other children simply do not get the opportunity at all, especially if they are girls; many communities do not see the value in educating a girl, considering it a waste when she could just marry at an early age and lift the financial burden from her family. Girls that do make it to secondary school often still have to deal with lack of support from their villages or tribes, and sometimes from their own families. Still, they persevere in the hope that there is more to life than the limitations their mothers and grandmothers have lived with for generations. For girls in Kenya, education is a lifeline to escape child marriage, female genital mutilation (FGM), gender-based violence (GBV), poverty, and systemic inequality. It gives girls access to personal development and empowerment by enabling them to learn, have a career, and become leaders in their communities without losing the chance to marry and have a family with a spouse of their choosing and at a time of their choice.
Every girl pursuing education at Daraja Academy and similar schools has a story, has dreams, and has overcome a variety of challenges for a chance at a better future. Like other women throughout Kenya, they may face poverty, GBV, FGM, and early marriages within their communities; one graduate I spoke with during a visit to Daraja said her spot opened because another girl chose at the last minute to get married rather than to take her chance for education. She was twelve years old. Every year, the school must turn away potential students from all over Kenya; the current corporate restructuring and legal compliance strengthening is part of an initiative to expand and reinforce the foundations of the non-profit in order to broaden their operations, scale their impact, and open doors for as many girls as possible through life-transforming access to secondary education.
We shape the future with even the smallest actions we take now. Drafting a data protection policy or articles of association may be the most impersonal way to touch someone’s life, but do not underestimate the difference it makes in realizing dreams and transforming communities, one girl at a time. Education is foundational to the preservation of rights and justice in a nation, and for girls in Kenya, it bolsters their hope that the future will be brighter and freer than they could have imagined. The future of human rights and justice in Kenya will be in the hands of those God will raise up in each generation. Schools like Daraja Academy are critical tools for preparing leaders and giving girls the confidence to become change-makers.
Corporate law may not be particularly glamourous. It does not catch the public eye or impress the world the way advocacy or publicized trials do. But in cases such as this, the quiet work of ensuring efficient, effective administrative structure and legal compliance builds a framework that enables others to change the world.
This post was written by a student at Regent University School of Law. The views expressed in this post do not necessarily reflect those of Regent University, Regent Law School, or the Center for Global Justice.