01People
Healthcare, education and opportunity for individuals and families.
Who we are · Our founder
Dr Jayen Patel
Founder, Valor to Virtue · Since 2017Dr Jayen Patel founded Valor to Virtue in 2017. Its name brings together the two themes the work is built on: valor — bravery, courage and strength — and virtue, the moral excellence and goodness to step up and do good.
Valor to Virtue's first story began with a conversation. Dindi Mbingi's father, a security guard, sat down with the founder and told him about his son — a top student who could not afford university. In 2018 Valor to Virtue began funding Dindi's studies — his fees, accommodation and living costs — and he went on to study at the University of Nairobi.
Since then the work has grown into conservation, education and health — mainly in Kilifi County, and in Diani, Vipingo, Watamu and Laikipia, with past support in Thailand, Panama, Uganda and the USA — always built around the same idea: backing the people who show the courage to step up and do good.
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How we started
It began with one story.
Everyone we meet, everything we see and interact with, has a story. A story that may start one way but often shifts and changes, merging with other stories and dipping in and out of others. Valor to Virtue is here to tell those stories.
We support the people and projects that work tirelessly to show the courage to step up and do good and to make the world a better place. Valor to Virtue so far has been able to support several incredible organisations and individuals, such as Dindi Mbingi, a young man from Kawangware, Kenya, who with a little help from us is studying at the University of Nairobi to become a doctor. Or Cura for the World who fight for the poor and neglected, unable to fight for themselves.
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01A very young Dindi with his mother and older brother. -
02Dindi and some of his siblings ready for school. -
03Dindi and his older brother graduating. -
04Dindi at university with his peers. -
05Dindi on university campus, ready to study.
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What we believe
A healthier planet begins with healthier communities.
For humans to thrive, we need to allow our natural world to thrive.
The health of individuals and communities is strongly interlinked and reliant on the health of our planet — for humans to thrive we need to also allow our natural world to thrive. This is why our work also encompasses conservation. In addition to supporting humanitarian programmes, Valor to Virtue is working hard to protect the beautiful wildlife and ecosystems found in Kenya. Specifically, the unique Kenyan coastline, from the highly biodiverse coastal forests to the endangered sea turtles that nest on Kenya's beaches.
Our values
What guides every project.
Valor and virtue — courage and goodness — are the themes behind every person and project we support.
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02Nature
Protecting and restoring the ecosystems and wildlife of the Kenyan coast.
03Partnership
Working with organisations and communities who share our purpose.
04Impact
Practical action designed for long-term, measurable change.
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What we've done
Our decade at a glance.
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2017
Founded
Valor to Virtue is set up with three focus areas: conservation, education and health.
Read the report -
2018
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2019
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2020
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2021
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2022
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2023
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2024
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2025
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2026