Esther Passaris

The Honorable Esther Muthoni Passaris, OGW is a Kenyan Member of Parliament representing the capital, Nairobi County, since August 2017 and a Member of the Pan African Parliament since 2023. She is an accomplished businesswoman, political leader, and social entrepreneur, having been awarded the Guinness Stout Effort Award in 1995 for empowering deaf persons at Sharper Images, her first company. In 2002, Hon. Passaris established Adopt-A-Light Ltd; the pioneer lighting and outdoor advertising company through which she is credited with revolutionizing the outdoor advertising scene and successfully introducing the concept of Public Private Partnership (PPP) in Kenya by implementing a project to install lighting infrastructure in the streets of Nairobi and in informal settlements. In recognition of this groundbreaking effort, the then President of Kenya H.E Mwai Kibaki conferred Hon Passaris the title of Order of the Grand Warrior (OGW) in 2005. In 2009, she was honored with the Habitat Business Award by UN-HABITAT for the same feat. Previously, Hon. Passaris served in the Health Committee, the Public Investments Committee and the Special Funds Account Committee. She is currently a member of the Lands Committee and the Housing, Urban Development and Public Works Committee. Hon Passaris is also a founding member of the Kenya Parliamentary Caucus on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) & Business and an active member of the Kenyan chapter of the African Parliamentarians Against Corruption. Internationally, Hon Passaris is the Chapter Chair, Eastern and Southern Africa at UNITE Parliamentarians Network for Global Health as well as a member of the Global Parliamentary Alliance for Health, Rights and Development (GPA) and European Parliamentary Forum for Sexual & Reproductive Rights (EPF). In June 2019, she was appointed to the Political Bureau of the Africa Forum for Urban Safety (AFUS) as an Executive Member to develop and implement urban safety and crime prevention policies and programs in East Africa. In recognition of her dedication to poverty eradication through business incubation, Hon. Passaris was nominated to become Senator for Kenya to the World Business Angels Investments Forum (WBAF). Another notable international recognition includes the "Exceptional Women of Excellence Award” conferred at the Women Economic Forum 2019 in New Delhi, India. Since 2019, Hon Passaris has been an active member of the Kenya-China Parliamentary Friendship Group. In 2020, she convened and was elected Chairperson of the Kenya-Israel Parliamentary Friendship Group and was recently inducted to the World Hellenic Inter-Parliamentary Association (W.H.I.A) as one of only two African MPs of Greek origin. Hon Passaris holds a Bachelor's Degree in International Business Administration from United States International University (USIU - Africa) and is a Vital Voices (VV) Fellow.