Sustainable Livelihoods
Natural resource management, climate-smart agriculture, value chain development, and our LEA-SASA and YES-LEA models create food security, income diversification, and youth entrepreneurship that break cycles of poverty.
TEESTI
Transforming Communities. Restoring Dignity. Building Tomorrow.
Empowering communities across Kenya to achieve sustainable livelihoods, climate justice, and lasting social transformation.
Community-led impact across Kenya
We work alongside local leaders, families, and change-makers to build pathways out of poverty, protect the environment, and keep every voice heard in the pursuit of justice and dignity.
Who We Are
TEESTI: Eruaki's Environmental & Social Transformation Initiative
A community-driven organization catalyzing change across Meru, Tharaka-Nithi, Embu, Laikipia, and Isiolo. We believe every community holds the power to transform itself, and we walk alongside local leaders to restore dignity, justice, and sustainable livelihoods.
Our Vision
Free, happy communities living in dignity.
Our Mission
TEESTI exists to facilitate initiatives that improve community livelihoods.
We build capacity, strengthen systems, and create lasting change through participatory development so communities lead their own transformation journey.
What We Do
We don't just deliver programs-we build capacity for lasting change.
Through participatory development, communities lead their own transformation. Our thematic areas keep dignity, justice, and ecological stewardship at the center.
Governance & Justice
Climate and social justice advocacy, legal access support, and civic education equip communities to demand accountability, safeguard rights for youth, women, and persons with disabilities, and influence policies that protect people and planet.
Institutional Strengthening
Organizational excellence, strategic partnerships, capacity building, and resource mobilization ensure transparent, sustainable systems that communities can trust for lasting impact.
Our Programs
Pathways that unlock economic, social, and environmental resilience.
Each program blends knowledge, finance, advocacy, and skills so households can access opportunity, protect the land, and build futures they own.
LEA-SASA: Economic Freedom for All
Community-led savings groups open credit and entrepreneurship for people excluded from banking. Over 50 youth and women groups build financial literacy, table banking strength, and business skills that create community wealth.
Savings services, table banking, and youth festivals cultivate confidence, assets, and opportunity.
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Our flagship Livelihoods and Economic Advancement Savings Services Associations (LEA-SASA) model creates financial inclusion for those traditionally excluded from banking. Through community-led savings groups, members access credit, start businesses, and build assets that transform their economic future. In partnership with leading financial inclusion organizations, we facilitate table banking initiatives that allow members to save collectively and access loans without the burden of traditional banking requirements or collateral. Youth festivals and career fairs identify hidden talents, connect young people to mentors, and celebrate community skills while building confidence, capability, and community wealth.
YES-LEA: Unlocking Youth Potential & Digital Empowerment
Leadership, talent development, and entrepreneurship training pair with free ICT hubs in Mutuati and Antubetwe Kiongo. Youth learn digital skills, mentor one another, and access tools to thrive in the modern economy.
Hubs host online libraries, peer-led learning, and safe spaces for skills exchange.
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The Youth Empowerment Support, Leadership and Economic Advancement (YES-LEA) program identifies, nurtures, and protects youth talents while providing leadership training, entrepreneurship support, and economic opportunities. ICT hubs in Mutuati and Antubetwe Kiongo offer free computer classes, online libraries, and peer-led learning where youth teach one another graphic design, coding, and digital skills. The hubs are safe spaces that combine mentorship, practical training, and access to tools so young people can thrive in today’s economy.
Climate Justice Initiative: Restoring Balance with Nature
100+ community groups blend indigenous knowledge with climate-smart farming, renewable energy, and water harvesting. Drought-resistant seedlings and advocacy build resilient households and protected ecosystems.
Action spans solar and biogas adoption, community forest stewardship, and pro-environment policy advocacy.
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We mobilize communities to become agents of environmental restoration and climate resilience. Over 100 groups train on indigenous farming practices, climate-smart agriculture, renewable energy, and water harvesting. In drought-prone areas, farmers access seedlings for drought-resistant crops, transforming food security. The initiative promotes solar and biogas adoption, community forest stewardship, and advocacy for pro-environment policies that protect vulnerable households and ecosystems.
Education & Integral Development: Building Tomorrow's Leaders
Mentorship, public-private partnerships, and learner-centered support keep vulnerable children in school and ready for work. 5,000+ young people trained through 100+ soft-skills sessions in Tharaka Nithi and Embu.
Bridging academics to employment with communication, teamwork, and career readiness.
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We support learning across formal, informal, and non-formal settings. Mentorship in schools, public-private partnerships, and learner-centered approaches ensure vulnerable children stay in school and transition successfully. In higher learning institutions across Tharaka Nithi and Embu, over 5,000 young people have received soft-skills training—communication, teamwork, problem-solving, emotional intelligence, and professional ethics—bridging academics to employment and entrepreneurship.
Our Impact
Social, economic, and environmental wellbeing-built together.
Every action restores dignity first. Communities identify priorities, co-design solutions, and steward long-term change so livelihoods, justice, and the earth thrive in tandem.
See How to Get Involved
Our Core Values
Love
We enter communities with compassion, honoring each person's dignity and humanity.
Respect
We value local knowledge, listen before speaking, and treat communities as equal partners.
Integrity
Transparency and honesty guide every decision; we keep our commitments and steward resources responsibly.
Accountability
We stay answerable to the people we serve, sharing results openly and learning from misses and wins alike.
Innovation
We embrace creative solutions and test new approaches that help communities thrive.
Agility
We adapt quickly to changing needs and opportunities while staying rooted in our mission.
Collaboration
We build partnerships across sectors and celebrate others' wins to amplify impact.
Cooperation
We work side by side with communities, partners, and peers to move farther together.
Sustainability
We design programs to last by building capacity, protecting natural resources, and strengthening systems for future generations.
Our Story
Joseph M'Eruaki's journey from teacher to climate justice champion.
The year was 1990. A young Form 6 graduate named Joseph M'Eruaki stepped into his first teaching position at Mutuati Secondary School. He saw bright minds and eager students—but also forests disappearing, soils eroding, rivers drying, and families going hungry on land that once fed generations. Something did not add up.
He saw communities struggling and traditional knowledge fading faster than the forests. That realization sparked a journey to walk with farmers, listen to elders, and protect the wisdom and ecosystems that sustain livelihoods.
From Observation to Action
Joseph could not teach in a classroom while the world outside was falling apart. He walked degraded lands, listened to elders describe forests that once covered the hills, and saw traditional knowledge fading. After studying forestry at Moi University, he joined Kamurugu Agricultural Development Initiatives in 1994—not as a boss, but as a partner—coordinating programs and witnessing communities transform when given tools, not instructions.
The United Nations Noticed
By 2002, his work created ripples across Kenya, earning him UN Kenya Person of the Year. Training across East and Southern Africa showed the same truth: people want dignity, harmony with nature, and to stop choosing between feeding their families and protecting the environment—a life worth living in a place worth protecting.
From Parliament to People
In 2013, Joseph became Member of Parliament for Igembe North, helping draft the Wildlife Conservation and Management Bill, Forest Conservation and Management Bill, Climate Change Bill, and Community Land Bill. Laws mattered, but he knew communities—not policies alone—transform lives.
The Vision Takes Root
After decades walking with farmers, training organizers, and watching forests regenerate, he saw women gain economic voice and youth discover their potential. Each success planted a question: what if these victories could become systematic transformation? In 2023, that question became TEESTI.
Photo Gallery
Stories of community, resilience, and joy in motion.
A glimpse into the moments that power TEESTI's work across five counties: harvests, youth leadership, and collective action.
Women training together on a farm field
Farmers proudly holding harvested pumpkins
Community members seated in a field with a trainer
TEESTI CEO among key leader and community shareholders
Community crowd meeting at TEESTI office
Partners
Get Involved
Support sustainable livelihoods, climate justice, and community leadership.
Your gift trains farmers, launches youth businesses, provides legal support, builds water systems, and powers women's savings groups across Kenya.