Nelson Ochieng Owange is a seasoned humanitarian and development leader with over 15 years of experience driving transformative change across the Horn of Africa. Currently pursuing a PhD in Management and Leadership at the Management University of Africa, his doctoral research centres on Inclusive Leadership, Private Sector Vaccine Delivery, and Veterinary Vaccine Adoption in Northern Kenya, work that sits at the frontier of leadership science and public health systems in fragile contexts.
Nelson holds an MSc in Veterinary Epidemiology and Economics and a Bachelor of Veterinary Medicine, both from the University of Nairobi, a rare academic combination that has shaped his distinctive lens: rigorous science, systems thinking, and deep field fluency.
His career spans complex humanitarian and development programming across Kenya, South Sudan, Uganda, Ethiopia, Somalia, Somaliland, and Malawi, working in some of the world’s most demanding environments, arid and semi-arid frontiers marked by conflict, climate shocks, and chronic food insecurity.
As Director of Programs at Mercy Corps Kenya and South Sudan, Nelson has led country-level portfolios worth up to $165 million, directing integrated programming across food security, market systems development, peacebuilding, climate change adaptation, gender transformation, and governance. He has served as Interim Country Director for both Kenya and Uganda, providing executive leadership for organisations during critical transition periods.
As Chief of Party for the USAID-funded Kenya Feed the Future Livestock Market Systems Activity, Nelson led a $14.2 million, five-year programme across five arid and semi-arid counties, strengthening rangeland governance, expanding economic opportunities, and pioneering adolescent girl resilience programming amid drought and conflict. His thought leadership on resilience of adolescent girls in the face of system constraints, drought, and conflict has influenced programming across the region.
Nelson brings deep donor relationship experience, having led pre-positioning and proposal development with USAID BHA, Feed the Future, FCDO, EU/ECHO, SDC, AFD, BPRM, NORAD, the Gates Foundation, and a wide range of private and institutional funders.
A published researcher, Nelson has authored peer-reviewed papers on Rift Valley Fever epidemiology in Kenya and presented at international conferences including the 2014 EcoHealth International Conference in Montreal and the 2022 Stockholm Forum on Peace and Development. His published works appear in Preventive Veterinary Medicine and the Onderstepoort Journal of Veterinary Research.
Nelson is a passionate advocate for localization, centring the perspectives and agency of communities most affected by crisis. He is a gender champion, a Market Systems Development practitioner, and a certified leader through Mercy Corps’ Next Generation II Leadership Program and Portland State University’s Emerging Leaders Program.
Today, Nelson channels this expertise into leadership coaching and mentorship, helping individuals and organisations unlock their full potential to create lasting, people-centred change.