What Green String Network does

Green String Network (GSN) is a non-profit organization founded in 2016 and headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya. GSN develops and disseminates healing-centered peacebuilding programs across East Africa, operating in Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, and Ethiopia. Its foundational offering is the Well-being and Resilience (WebR) Framework — a methodology integrating neurobiology, psychology, restorative justice, conflict transformation, peacebuilding, and traditional practices into a peer-support healing circle model. GSN employs a cascade delivery model in which Resource Facilitators train Circle Keepers, who then facilitate ongoing healing circles independently in their communities. Across nine years, the organization has trained 17,251 community members and reached more than 148,000 people, reporting a 68% wellbeing improvement rate at $30 per person.

GSN's product portfolio comprises seven country- and context-specific HEART programs (Kumekucha, Kumekucha Quest, Muamko Mypa, Quraca Nabadda, Arise and Shine, Yegarachin, and Ustawi), each adapted for a distinct cultural and operational context. The flagship digital offering is Ustawi, a virtual peer-support platform that combines mental well-being with livelihoods through storytelling and animation. Supporting services include organizational well-being assessments, WebR Encounters training programs (1–2 day introductions and 5-day immersives), and an Applied Community Mental Health Certification being developed with Tangaza University. The organization maintains a content library of more than 1,500 watercolor paintings by regional artists, used as a core element of healing circle curricula.

GSN operates a hybrid revenue model with three streams: institutional grants from development donors (USAID, UK Aid, European Union, US Department of State, UNODC, IOM, and the Vitol Foundation), individual donations through crowdfunding platforms (GlobalGiving and DonorSee), and fee-for-service organizational well-being services for NGOs and institutions. Community programs delivered through local partner organizations — including SOYDEN in Somalia, Samba Sports Youth Agenda in Kenya, and additional partners in South Sudan and Ethiopia — are free to end beneficiaries, while GSN's core team provides technical expertise, training, and curriculum. The core team numbers approximately 18 staff.

Name

Green String Network

Legal name

Green String Network

Website

https://green-string.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2016

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Green String Network is a non-profit organization that delivers healing-centered peacebuilding programs across East Africa. It trains community Circle Keepers through a cascade model and operates the Ustawi virtual platform to address collective trauma in Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, and Ethiopia.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Community Mental Health and Peacebuilding Services

NAICS

Social Assistance (624), Civic and Social Organizations (813410)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300)

akta.pro primary industry

Humanitarian-Development-Peace Nexus & Resilience Programming (BPADAEAK)

akta.pro secondary industries

Disaster Recovery, Reconstruction & Resilience Programs (BPAGAAAK), Health & Support Communities (BPAMABAL), Student Support Hotlines & Digital Wellbeing Tools (EDAJAIAL)

Keywords

• Community healing programs
• Mental health support
• Trauma-informed care
• Peacebuilding services
• Peer support circles

Headquarters

HQ city

Nairobi

HQ country

Kenya

HQ region

Africa

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Grants and Development Funding: Primary funding from international development organizations and government donors including USAID, UK Aid, European Union, UN agencies (UNODC, IOM), and foundations such as Vitol Foundation. Funding supports specific programs in different countries.
2. Individual Donations: Crowdfunding through GlobalGiving and DonorSee platforms. Direct M-Pesa and bank transfer options available for supporters.
3. Organizational Well-being Services: Fee-for-service organizational assessments, WebR Encounters (1-2 day introductions and 5-day immersives), team building, trauma-informed practices, debriefings, and professional supervision for organizations.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Green String Network designs and delivers healing-centered community programs and organizational well-being services for populations affected by conflict, displacement, and collective trauma in East Africa. Offerings are anchored by the proprietary Well-being and Resilience (WebR) Framework and operationalized through trained community Circle Keepers, the Ustawi virtual peer support platform, and contextualized painting- and storytelling-based curricula across Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, and Ethiopia.

Product overview

Green String Network is a social movement organization that offers a portfolio of healing-centered programs and services rather than a single software product. The core offering is the Well-being and Resilience (WebR) Framework, which underpins all programs. The main programs include: Kumekucha (original Kenya program), Kumekucha Quest (youth-focused), Ustawi (virtual peer support circles platform), Muamko Mypa (police/prison), Arise and Shine (South Sudan), Yegarachin (Ethiopia), and Quraca Nabadda (Somalia). Supporting services include organizational well-being assessments, WebR encounters (training programs), and the Applied Community Mental Health Certification. Programs use culturally-grounded healing circles, storytelling, and watercolor art as core methodologies. The Ustawi digital platform provides virtual healing circles, while other programs are primarily in-person community-based interventions.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Ustawi: Virtual peer support circles platform meaning 'to thrive' in Kiswahili, providing culturally and contextually relevant virtual community-led holistic care for well-being of individuals, families, communities, and institutions in challenging contexts.
• Kumekucha
• Muamko Mypa
• Arise and Shine
• Yegarachin
• Kumekucha Quest
• Quraca Nabadda

Products and services

• Ustawi Virtual Peer Support Circles Platform Virtual peer support circles platform providing culturally and contextually relevant, community-led holistic care for well-being of individuals, families, communities, and institutions in fragile contexts. Integrates mental health support with livelihoods through virtual healing circles and storytelling via animation.
• Kumekucha Quest Youth Program Youth-led consortium of Kenyan community-based organizations targeting 10-24 year olds, using music, storytelling, and arts as mediums for emotional regulation and coping with emotional distress to address conflict, injustice, and trauma impacts.
• Muamko Mpya Police and Prison Service Program Tailored version of Kumekucha designed for the Kenyan National Police Service and Kenyan Prison Service, focused on addressing the cycle of violence, trauma, resilience, and healing for police officers exposed to high stress levels.
• Arise and Shine South Sudan Program Social healing program offering tailored support to South Sudanese communities based on their unique context and needs, addressing collective trauma from natural disasters and inter-communal violence.
• Yegarachin Ethiopia Program Social healing program designed to promote community healing and social reconciliation within Ethiopia's diverse cultural landscape, using community-wide small group dialogues organized by local leaders.
• Quraca Nabadda Somalia Program Somali social healing program named after the Acacia tree (Tree of Peace), under which Somalis traditionally met to resolve disputes. Uses watercolor paintings to make the cycle of violence culturally relevant through storytelling.
• Kumekucha Original Kenya Program First program in Kenya (2017-2019), implementing a healing-centered peacebuilding approach for the prevention of violent extremism along Kenya's coast and in Nairobi, areas selected as local recruiting zones for al-Shabaab.
• Community Healing Circles GSN's flagship program bringing together small groups for culturally-grounded, facilitated dialogues that create safe spaces for sharing experiences, building mutual understanding, and catalyzing personal and collective healing.
• Organizational Well-being Assessments Comprehensive participatory assessments focused on psychological safety, social connectedness, collective resilience, and opportunities for growth and healing using surveys, interviews, process reviews, and metrics.
• Well-being Support Services Services including mental health assessments, healing-centered individual and group sessions, support groups, Trauma Release Exercise (TRE) sessions, team building, and training programs for mental health professionals and community leaders.
• WebR Encounters Training Programs Programs offering 1-2 Day WebR Introduction for foundational knowledge in trauma-organized settings, and 5-Day Immersive Program for deep exploration of healing-centered practices and customized action plans.
• Applied Community Mental Health Certification 12-month Certification in Applied Community-Initiated Care delivered jointly with Tangaza University to expand availability of community-based mental health support and establish standardized best practices. Circle Keepers complete 72 required training hours, 120 practice hours, 5 graded assessments, 10 hours mentoring, and 48 hours peer supervision.

Quantifiable outcome

• 68% wellbeing improvement rates at $30 per person
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core, supporting and key.

• SOYDENcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerImplementation of Quraca Nabadda (Tree of Peace) program in Somalia. SOYDEN collaborates on co-designing and implementing the healing-centered peacebuilding program using culturally relevant approaches including watercolor paintings by Somali artist Alif.
• Samba Sports Youth AgendacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-design and implementation of Kumekucha Quest youth program in Kwale and Mombasa, Kenya. Also hosts the network's Innovation and Learning Studio.
• Tangaza UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDeveloping Diploma and Certificate in Applied Community Mental Health (coming soon), providing academic accreditation for Circle Keeper certification program.
• PactsupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborating on Yegarachin (Ethiopia) and Quraca Nabadda programs.
• OnkoutkeyTechnology or IntegrationFintech partner collaborating on Ustawi platform, combining healing-centered peer support with virtual business training and financial tools for young people. Recognized as WEF Top Innovator.
• GlobalGivingsupportingChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorOnline fundraising platform for individual donations to support GSN programs.
• DonorSeesupportingChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorProject-based crowdfunding platform for individual donations.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves2 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• International Alert: One of the world's leading peacebuilding NGOs working on conflict transformation and security-sector reform. Directly comparable to GSN's Muamko Mpya program (police/prison healing) and Kumekucha PVE work, with similar European-donor funding model and community-level methodology.
• TPO Uganda: Transcultural Psychosocial Organization Uganda—NGO specializing in mental health and psychosocial support for conflict-affected populations in the Great Lakes region. Comparable to GSN's trauma healing methodology, overlapping East African geography, and similar donor base for community-based MHPSS programming.
• Friendship Bench: Zimbabwe-originated community-led mental health program that trains grandmothers to deliver problem-solving therapy on park benches. Highly comparable methodology (lay community providers, peer support, task-shifting), similar African context, and a globally scaled digital platform that GSN's Ustawi resembles.
• BasicNeeds: International NGO working on mental health and epilepsy in low- and middle-income countries through community-based programs and partnerships. Comparable to GSN in its community mental health focus, partnerships with local organizations, and focus on populations in fragile contexts across Africa and Asia.
• Search for Common Ground: Global peacebuilding NGO that works to transform conflict through community-led approaches across multiple African and Asian contexts. Most comparable to GSN in combining peacebuilding with community mental health/psychosocial support, with similar geographic overlap in East Africa and shared donor base (USAID, EU, UK Aid).
• Peace Direct: INGO that funds and amplifies local peacebuilders in conflict-affected countries. Directly comparable to GSN's network-partner model (SOYDEN, Samba Sports Youth Agenda, Pact collaborators) and similar focus on building local capacity rather than direct service delivery.
• StrongMinds: Non-profit that provides community-led mental health treatment for depression and PTSD in sub-Saharan Africa (Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Kenya). Directly comparable to GSN in its task-shifting model that trains non-clinicians to deliver mental health support at scale, with similar per-person unit economics.

Broad incumbents

• International Medical Corps: Global humanitarian organization providing mental health and psychosocial support in conflict-affected settings. Comparable to GSN in serving conflict-affected populations with MHPSS, overlapping donor base, and similar geographic reach—though IMC operates as a much broader emergency response organization.
• Mercy Corps: Large humanitarian and development organization with overlapping mental health/psychosocial support and peacebuilding programs in East Africa. Comparable donor ecosystem (USAID, EU, UK Aid) and similar geographies, but operates as a broad portfolio rather than GSN's specialized healing-centered focus.

Others

• CBM Global: Disability-inclusive development organization with East African programming. Indirectly comparable through GSN Board Chair Wambui Mwicigi Muya's parallel role chairing CBMKenya; both share a community-based, rights-centered approach to working with marginalized populations in fragile contexts.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/GSNAfrica
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/green-string-network
• Facebookfacebook.com/GSNAfrica

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles15 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Green String Network