From Finding His Voice to Leading Change: Erick Sande Named Head of Programmes at UDPK

Include360 congratulates Erick Sande, who has taken up the role of Head of Programmes at the United Disabled Persons of Kenya (UDPK), the umbrella body of organisations of persons with disabilities in Kenya.

"I accept this opportunity with gratitude, humility, and a profound sense of responsibility," he says. "For me, this is not simply a new leadership role; it is an opportunity to deepen my contribution to a cause that is both professional and deeply personal."

Telling his story for the first time

Erick's journey into leadership began with his own voice. During a leadership development programme at the Emerging Leaders Foundation Africa (ELF-Africa), he shared his stammering story for the first time.

"I spoke about the struggles, fears, and experiences that had unfortunately been my identity from childhood into adulthood," he recalls. That session on self-awareness, he says, "became a turning point, giving me a foundation on which to build my confidence and embrace my story."

A flyer at a festival

His first encounter with UDPK came at the People's Dialogue Festival. Exploring the exhibitions, he picked up a flyer at the UDPK booth that read: advancing disability rights through representative organisations of persons with disabilities.

At the time, he was already organising young people who stammer in his community, challenging the negative attitudes and stereotypes they faced. "UDPK's work resonated with me," he says. He took the flyer home, followed the organisation online and kept learning about its work.

From the stammering community to the wider movement

While living in his home county, Busia, he saw a call on UDPK's Facebook page for the Bridge CRPD-SDGs training, led by the International Disability Alliance (IDA). He applied and was selected.

The training introduced him to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and to a rights-based approach to the dignity, inclusion and participation of persons with disabilities in all their diversity.

"It was a turning point," he says. His advocacy grew beyond the stammering community into the broader disability rights movement, with a growing appreciation of where disability, human rights and development meet.

He went on to the U.S. Department of State's Professional Fellows Program, hosted at the University of Alaska Anchorage. Around the same time, he joined the UDPK Secretariat in Homa Bay County, supporting an initiative on inclusive labour markets for workers and producers with disabilities.

"UDPK has since become more than a workplace for me," he says. "It has been a space for growth, learning, confidence, and purpose."

The people who shaped him

Erick names Dr Samuel Kabue and Wakili Wilson Macharia among the leaders in the disability rights movement who have inspired him.

He credits his mentor, Esther Mkamori: "It has been a privilege learning and working alongside you." And to his colleagues at UDPK: "Thank you for the passion, solidarity, and commitment you bring to this work. Let us keep the fire burning!"

"That boy is a big part of why I do this work"

For Erick, the new role connects directly to his younger self: "a timid boy, withdrawn into his own cocoon, afraid to navigate the world and struggling with the reality of being alienated by the very community to which he belonged."

"I know what it means to struggle to be heard, to have your confidence diminished by societal attitudes, miss out on every opportunity, and to face barriers that make belonging feel out of reach," he says. "This is why I remain committed to UDPK's work."

From a young person finding the courage to tell his story to a leadership role in the movement, his journey, he says, is a reminder "that our lived experiences can become powerful drivers of change."

"Here's to amplifying voices, challenging barriers, strengthening the disability rights movement, and building a society where no one is left behind and everyone can thrive with dignity."

Congratulations, Erick. We look forward to the work ahead.