Yohannes Wolday has spent nearly 20 years working at Mercy Corps in a variety of roles in several different countries and regions.

The first 6 years of his career with Mercy Corps were in his home country, Eritrea, where he managed multiple programs including nutrition, education and community development.

He’s currently the country director for Mercy Corps Kenya and is based in Nairobi. He works with a team of more than 100 people who support Kenyans affected by poverty and conflict to be healthy and productive and to drive peace and development of their communities.

His favorite aspect of the job is the team he works with — they’re a team that constantly innovates, develops and implements solutions for the challenges that Kenyans face.

Prior to taking the country director role, he was the director of global field programming based in the global headquarters in Portland. He supported program operations across more than 40 countries. In his other work at Mercy Corps, he started a youth employment program with five African countries and worked in Afghanistan for three years developing and supporting a variety of programs.

Between 2009 and 2014, Mr. Wolday worked at the Nike Foundation, where he led their adolescent girls’ economic empowerment portfolio.

He received his bachelor’s degree at the University of Asmara in Eritrea, where he majored in sociology and anthropology.

His hobbies include hiking, camping and enjoying the wilderness with his wife, son and daughter.