Ng’ethe Githinji “Diggs” is the Center Manager and Source Person for Landmark in Kenya, Ng’ethe has spent more than two decades helping people across East Africa create breakthroughs in their lives while quietly building one of Landmark’s most remarkable success stories.
What makes his work extraordinary isn’t just the number of people who have participated—it’s the environments where that transformation is taking place, from thriving business communities to one of the world’s largest refugee camps.
Building Something From Nothing
When Landmark first began operating in Kenya, there was no large corporate infrastructure behind it. Programs were created, organized, and sustained almost entirely by the commitment of local graduates and leaders.
For nearly 30 years, that community has continued to grow.
As Ng’ethe proudly points out:
“From nothing, you create everything.”
Today, Landmark Kenya serves participants not only from Kenya but from countries throughout East, West, Central, and Southern Africa.
A Continent of Extraordinary Diversity
One of the unique challenges of leading Landmark programs across Africa is that there is no single “African experience.”
Participants come from:
- Dozens of countries
- Hundreds of cultural traditions
- Multiple languages
- Vastly different economic realities
- Communities ranging from major cities to remote villages and refugee settlements
Since programs moved online during the pandemic, people who never would have had access before have begun participating—from Sierra Leone and Cameroon to Madagascar, South Sudan, Somalia, and beyond.
Each new country brings new opportunities—and new ways of making Landmark’s work accessible.
Transformation in Kakuma Refugee Camp
Perhaps the most moving part of the conversation centers on Kakuma Refugee Camp, home to nearly 300,000 refugees representing multiple generations of displaced families.
Many participants have lived their entire lives in the camp.
Ng’ethe explains that one of the most powerful shifts Landmark provides is helping people distinguish between who they are and the labels they’ve been given.
“I’m not who I am because I’m a refugee. Refugee is a title somebody gave me.”
Today, dozens of refugee participants are leading community projects inside Kakuma—creating opportunities for education, leadership, and empowerment where many once saw only limitation.
Transformation Begins With Individuals
Throughout the interview, Ng’ethe returns to a simple conviction:
If individuals become empowered, communities change.
Whether working with entrepreneurs, business leaders, teachers, young adults, or refugees, the work begins the same way—helping people discover they are capable of creating futures beyond the circumstances they inherited.
Each participant becomes a potential catalyst for change within their own family, neighborhood, workplace, or nation.
An African Story Told by Africans
Ng’ethe is also passionate about changing how the world sees Africa.
Too often, he says, global conversations focus only on poverty, corruption, or conflict while overlooking the innovation, resilience, leadership, and creativity found throughout the continent.
He hopes more people will recognize that Africans themselves have built Landmark’s work across the continent for nearly three decades.
And he invites those who can contribute—not out of charity, but out of partnership—to help expand the possibility of transformation even further.
A Vision for Every Nation
When asked about his long-term vision, Ng’ethe doesn’t describe buildings or organizational growth.
Instead, he describes a future where Landmark’s work is available in every country across Africa, empowering people to become leaders within their own communities.
His stand is simple:
“Altering lives and empowering communities in Africa.”
It’s a vision measured not by organizational success, but by lives transformed.
A Legacy Beyond One Person
When asked how he hopes to be remembered, Ng’ethe’s answer reflects the spirit of the entire conversation.
Rather than focusing on his own accomplishments, he hopes people remember the work itself—and everyone who helped make it possible.
He dreams of a future with “a thousand Diggs all over Africa”—leaders committed to creating possibility, one conversation and one community at a time.
✨ Listen to the full episode to hear Ng’ethe Githinji share the remarkable story of Landmark’s growth across Africa and the extraordinary people creating transformation in communities throughout the continent.
✨ Join us live! Be part of future Landmark Difference Makers interviews. Visit Our Events Page to attend live recordings and connect with people making an extraordinary difference around the world.