#WeLeadComms: Carolyne N’junge

Today’s #WeLeadComms honoree, Kenya-based Carolyne Njung’e, is a Communications and Advocacy leader who uses storytelling to advance dignity, accountability, and systems change. Since 2016, her work across development and humanitarian settings in Kenya, Tanzania, and Rwanda has focused on amplifying community voices, fostering inclusive development, strengthening partnerships, and designing sustainable, scalable systems that improve livelihoods and create lasting impact.

Today, working in and alongside refugee and host communities in Kakuma Refugee Camp in Kenya, she designs communication strategies that ensure people are not merely recipients of aid, but informed participants and decision-makers shaping the solutions that affect their lives.

Carolyne bridges communities and institutions by translating complex humanitarian information into accessible, culturally relevant messages that build trust and inspire action. She has supported cross-cutting initiatives spanning protection, youth empowerment, education, health and nutrition, food assistance and livelihoods, and peacebuilding, using participatory media, dialogue spaces, and digital platforms to strengthen resilience and inclusion.

She currently leads multi-donor communication and community engagement portfolios for UNHCR, WFP, UNICEF, ECHO, and LEGO-funded projects, coordinating advocacy and behavior change campaigns that have reached over 200,000 refugees and host community members. She also chairs the Kakuma Communicating with Communities (CwC) Working Group, convening 35+ government, UN, NGO, and community-led organizations to align messaging, strengthen accountability, and elevate community voices across the humanitarian ecosystem.

Previously, she co-founded Candi Fresh Kenya, where she led advocacy, storytelling, brand strategy, and partnerships to position youth as leaders within the local food economy. Her advocacy efforts helped secure over $15,000 in competitive grants from Sinapis and Tony Elumelu Foundation, attracted national visibility, and created 80+ jobs during the COVID-19 Pandemic, strengthening street food enterprises and more sustainable local food systems.

Carolyne believes ethical storytelling can shift narratives from vulnerability to agency. She is committed to shaping communications and advocacy approaches that elevate community leadership and influence more accountable, people-centered systems across Africa.

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