Dr. Irene Ngunjiri is the Lead of the Strathmore University Water Governance and Innovation Hub. She holds a PhD in Regional and Urban Governance from the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa, a Master of Business Administration and a first-class honours degree in Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Nairobi.

She is a Certified Public Accountant of Kenya (CPA) k. Previously, she has been the Deputy Registrar Academic Affairs and Lecturer at Strathmore University. Recently, she was a teaching assistant in the School of Architecture and Planning at the University of the Witwatersrand and supervised theses in the Master of Science in Urban Housing. She is a reviewer of the Journal of African Studies. She has been awarded various research and study grants from various institutions.

Dr. Ngunjiri was the convener of the Lunch Box research dissemination sessions for PhD students at the School of Architecture and Planning in the University of the Witwatersrand for two years. She participated in the Mukuru SPA research project funded by International Development Research Centre (IDRC) alongside partners Slum Dwellers International (SDI and SPARC), Akiba Mashinani Trust, University of California Berkley and County Government of Nairobi.

Her research experience has been in water governance in urban informal settlements in Kenya and South Africa. She was a Project associate in the Miji Bora Project funded by Western Indian Ocean Marine Science Association (WIOMSA).

She is currently working on a number of research and consultancy projects including World Resources Institute (WRI) Faith and Sustainability leadership transition project, The role of incentives in the Ability to Leverage Financing to the WASH Sector by WASHFIN among others.

Research interests

Water and sanitation governance.

Climate change and sustainability.

WASH financing.

Outside academia and research she is an outdoor enthusiast, an avid reader and a Toastmaster