Disability Inclusive Youth Counselor at TechnoServe Kenya

Duties & Responsibilities:

Support Inclusive Program Implementation

• Collaborate with the Gender and Youth Coordinator, Enterprise Development Advisors, and local partners to ensure disability inclusion is integrated across all program activities.
• Provide technical and practical input to tailor program delivery for accessibility and relevance to youth with disabilities.

Promote Disability Inclusion in the Blue Economy

• Champion the participation of young persons with disabilities in Blue Economy value chains such as fisheries, ecotourism, seaweed farming, mangrove restoration, and plastic recycling.
• Advocate for inclusive business practices among local enterprises, cooperatives, and training institutions.

Community Engagement and Stakeholder Collaboration

• Serve as a liaison between the program and community-based Organizations of Persons with Disabilities (OPDs), local leaders, and other key stakeholders.
• Build and maintain strong relationships that foster trust, collaboration, and accountability around disability inclusion.

Awareness-Raising and Training

• Conduct sensitization sessions and training workshops to raise awareness of disability rights, inclusive practices, and accessibility standards.
• Co-facilitate learning activities with implementing partners and youth groups to build local capacity for inclusion.

Mentorship and Role Modelling

• Act as a peer mentor to other youth with disabilities, motivating them to pursue leadership, entrepreneurship, and skills development opportunities.
• Demonstrate the value and impact of inclusion by sharing personal experiences and success stories.

Monitoring, Feedback, and Learning

• Track and report on disability inclusion efforts within the program, identifying both progress and challenges.
• Gather feedback from PWD participants and use it to inform continuous improvements in program design and implementation.
• Review or co-develop communication and learning materials to ensure they are accessible (e.g., easy-to-read, Braille, audio, sign language-supported).
• Advocate for and help coordinate reasonable accommodations for trainings and public events.

Required Skills, Knowledge, Experience, and Abilities:

• Must be a young adult with a lived experience of disability.
• Direct or indirect experience working in the Blue Economy sector (e.g., fisheries, ecotourism, mangrove restoration, apiculture, seaweed farming, plastic recycling).
• Demonstrated experience in engaging with youth entrepreneurs, persons with disabilities, or marginalized communities.
• Strong commitment to advancing disability inclusion, and representation at the grassroots level.
• Proven ability to build and maintain relationships with a wide range of stakeholders, including organizations of Persons with Disability, private sector actors, community leaders, and implementing partners.
• Must be a local resident of the county that is Lamu ,Tana River ,Kilifi and Mombasa Counties, where the program is being implemented, and have a deep understanding of the community context.