No big launch, no shortcuts: How Lily Nanga-Kitala quietly built her way to a global business award

By  Wanja Mbuthia

Nation Media Group

What you need to know:

• Kenyan  Lily Nanga-Kitala has won the 2026 International Business Plan Competition after beating finalists from the US and Bulgaria.
• She started building her business 17 years ago after leaving employment to raise her children and trying several ventures.

"This was recognition of something I have been building quietly for 17 years," Lily Nanga-Kitala says, almost to herself, during an interview at Nation Centre. It is a fitting way to sum up a journey that began not with a business plan, but with a mother simply looking for a decent school for her children.

On August 14, 2026, the Kenyan entrepreneur was named the winner of the 2026 International Business Plan Competition, beating finalists from the United States and Bulgaria to stand as the only Kenyan, and the only African, in the final. The announcement was made virtually on the third day of the Nehemiah Business Summit, where entrepreneurs from three continents had presented their business plans and vision. The $10,000 (Sh1.3 million) first-place prize and a certificate followed later, presented to her at the Tribe Hotel in Nairobi.

Lily grew up between Kitale and Nairobi. Her father worked as a doctor in the city, but she also spent time on the family farm in Kitale with her grandmother. She attended Mukumu Girls before joining Kenyatta University in 1990 to study education. After graduating in 1993, she was posted to Asumbi Teachers' Training College as a tutor, where she stayed for a year.

Homeschooling

"I didn't feel like that was what I was cut out for," she says. "I finished university at 21, and some of the students were 28 and 30, which means most of my students were older than me."

She applied for jobs as a private school teacher and was lucky to land a position at Makini School, then a relatively new private institution.

"I stayed there for about five years, learning from a very progressive director. In retrospect, the school formed the foundation of what I do now," she reflects with a subtle smile.

She got married, and in 1998, she and her husband agreed that she would stop working to care for their children.

"We then acquired a piece of land in Kitengela and built a house, then eventually moved."

“At the time, Kitengela was a dusty outpost, with limited water, few facilities, and schools were hard to come by. I had two children at the time, one already attending an international kindergarten in Nairobi. I did not feel very content with the options available in the neighbourhood, and so I decided to act," she reflects.

She started small, renting a duplex and teaching her daughter, her second-born, while a friend brought over their two-year-old and a neighbour brought their child too, bringing her total to three children.

"I didn't behave like I was homeschooling. I went in full force; employed a cook, a teacher and myself. I was in between the office and transport, since I had a four-wheel drive that I used to pick the children up in," she quips.

She had two levels of children. Her daughter was in Class Two, so she employed a primary teacher for that level, while the other two were in baby class, so she hired another teacher. Plus herself, a cook and a watchman, it was a school in everything but name.

This was in 2009, and within a year they had about 15 children; by the second year, more than 15; and by the third year, over 100. People were moving into Kitengela and looking for quality education for their children.

For the first five years, the institution was fully financed by her husband, Thomas Kitala, who sadly passed away in 2024. He had a good job and supported the dream, and the money that would have gone towards sending their own children to expensive schools in Nairobi went into supporting theirs instead. The fees from the extra children, combined with what the family put in, were enough to keep it running. They did not take any financing for five years, and did not take anything out of the school for close to ten years, continuing to live their regular lives.

This, however, was not the first business she had ever attempted. "Before we moved to Kitengela, and when we agreed that I would quit employment to focus on the kids, I tried to run a hotel, I did airport transport, I tried interior design and even did cleaning services, but none of this picked up well. I think I was born an educator," she says.

"Ninety per cent of my work, even as I tried my hand at other businesses, was staying with the children, since my husband was working in Tanzania," she says.

By 2012, the school had grown to about 500 children, and they started financing for the first time, buying buses. The bank came to them because money was being sent to the account and salaries were being paid through it, but the discipline remained: they never blurred the line between what belonged to the institution and what was theirs.

First place winner

Today, Stepping Stones Schools has a population of about 1,500 learners across three campuses in Kitengela. The kindergarten, primary school and junior secondary each sit on their own site. The entire institution sits on about three acres, and they have acquired another seven acres next door for a sports centre, something like a mini Wadi Degla, that will be used by the school, other schools and the community.

The institution has four pillars: academic rigour, Christian character, wellness and belonging, and future-ready learning. It also has a Learning Support Unit (LSU) for differently abled children, with 30 learners and five staff members, including three qualified special needs teachers.

When Lily entered the International Business Plan Competition (IBPC), she was not expecting to win. She had gone through the Nehemiah training in Kenya as part of Cohort 15, a programme that teaches Christian entrepreneurs to run their businesses well, covering everything from personal identity to branding to understanding what stage a business is at. She was coached, trained and challenged to think about her business differently.

"For the competition, I submitted a business plan and a video presentation. I competed against someone from Cameroon who backed out, leaving me as the only African representative. I then competed against the US representative and a representative from Bulgaria," she reflects.

"The $10,000 prize I received was welcome, but the recognition meant more. As the first-place winner, I have been invited to return the following year as a keynote speaker for the competition," she beams.

Asked what keeps her going despite the challenges, Lily says she does not dwell on the difficulties, speaking about her students and alumni with equal pride.

"There is a boy from the class of 2019 who went on to become one of only two finalists from Africa to be taken into MIT. My own daughter, who was student number one, has just graduated as a doctor with the National Health Service (NHS) in England," she notes, a sparkle in her eyes.

The school has more than 180 employees, and Lily is conscious of the impact that has on the community.

"If every Kenyan would give just employment to ten people, we wouldn't be talking about employment issues," she says.

Lily is clear about where her school is headed. They are at the profitability stage and need to reach sustainability before they scale, which means not rushing to open other branches just because opportunities present themselves.

She is content to build the systems that will allow the institution to run without her.

"This is what I want to be my legacy: to build and sustain something that will outlive me. A business cannot be dependent on me, yet I'm calling myself an entrepreneur."

"I know that building something meaningful takes time, discipline and a willingness to keep going, even when nobody is watching," she offers, leaning back in her seat after the interview.