Ojok Okello

Chief Executive Officer

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Grassroots power. I have never seen it shine brighter than in 2025 for Okere community. It has grown far beyond any one of us. I love that moment when rural people realize they can solve their own problems by coming together, neighbor to neighbor, and recognizing that they are the resource.

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In 2025, Okere City directly impacted up to 10,000 rural dwellers in Otuke District through our priority areas – local economic development, educational provision, primary health care, environmental conservation, arts and cultural development.

 

Our educational projects advance knowledge and skills access to 1,800 children, youth and adult learners. We created 25 new dignified jobs, bringing the number of jobs we have created in the past 5 years to 300.  Our community got two first grades (our first) emerging as the best performing school in the Primary Leaving Examination (PLE) results released by the Ministry of Education and Sports.

 

We established a demonstration irrigation garden providing 100 households with access to fertile land and water for sustainable agricultural practice. This is in addition to giving 150 farmers access to regenerative agricultural extension services and farm inputs. 

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We exported our first shea butter! Yes, we loaded 20MT container with shea butter and it landed in the Port of New York for Bansk Beauty who will launch body butters with our nilotica shea butter used as a base product in formulations. 

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That is history in the making. What moves me most is that this impact is rising organically from the ground up. It is driven by thousands of people who believe that change begins when local communities stand side by side and partner with companies and organizations who value their efforts. 

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Talking of partners, we would like to extend our sincerest gratitude to Azurit Foundation, Wisdom Fund, and Overseas Resources Foundation, who joined our portfolio of partners in 2025. You truly made our work more exciting and impactful.