01
Skills that go unseen
There is no shared route to training or recognition. Experienced professionals have no way to show what they know, and employers have no way to verify it. Experience counts for little on paper.
Domestic Professionals Association of Kenya
Domestic work is a profession. We are building the proof.
DPAK organises, trains and certifies the nannies, housekeepers, cooks, caregivers and gardeners who hold Kenyan homes together, and runs a member-owned Sacco that builds their financial future.
500+ members 300 Sacco members Chapters across Kenya
Vetted · Trained · Certified
Members at the ACT Project convening · Nairobi
01 — The gap
A workforce of 2.2 million, still treated as unskilled.
Domestic workers hold up households across Kenya. Yet the sector remains informal, undervalued and unprotected. Three gaps keep the work precarious.
02
A job behind closed doors
Work happens inside other people's homes, often without a contract, a peer network or anyone to turn to when something goes wrong. Isolation makes people easier to exploit.
03
No financial floor
Irregular pay and no savings habit leave families one emergency away from debt. Formal financial services rarely reach domestic workers, so income never becomes security.
Our response
We built two institutions under one roof: an association that organises and certifies, and a Sacco that turns income into assets.
02 — The ecosystem
One membership. Two pillars.
The Association builds the profession. The Sacco builds the financial future. Members move between both, so skills and savings grow together.
Pillar 01 · Association
The Association
A national community of domestic professionals with training, certification, advocacy and a voice in the policies that shape their work.
CPD training
D.P.A. certification
Rights & advocacy
Peer chapters
Explore the Association
Pillar 02 · Sacco
The Sacco
A member-owned savings and credit cooperative, founded in 2022 so domestic workers can save safely, borrow affordably and build a financial record of their own.
Savings
Affordable credit
Financial literacy
Member-owned
Inside the Sacco
Since 2022
The numbers behind the network.
Small, regular contributions from domestic workers have built a shared financial base, and a track record that lenders and partners can see.
500+
Association members
Domestic professionals organised, trained and connected.
300
Sacco members
Savers and borrowers in the member-owned cooperative.
KES 7M
Deposits mobilised
Member savings held with the Sacco.
KES 14M
Loans disbursed
Credit extended to members since 2022.
2028 targets: 1,800 Association members · 1,000 Sacco members · KES 20M in deposits
See the roadmap
03 — Programmes
Support for the whole career.
From a first training to a first loan, each programme answers a different part of the same problem: domestic work should be a career, not a last resort.
01
Professional development
Structured training, refresher courses and recognition of prior learning, so experience finally counts.
02Certification & standards
Vetting, assessment and the D.P.A. seal that lets an employer hire with confidence.
03Advocacy & rights
Contracts, fair pay and a collective voice in the policies that govern domestic work.
04Financial inclusion
Savings discipline, affordable credit and financial education through DPAK Sacco.
Fridah · DPAK member
Member story
“I used to negotiate from a place of fear. Now I have a certificate, a savings plan and a voice.”
Fridah, domestic professional
Before DPAK
- KSh 7,000 a month
- No contract or recognition
- No savings to fall back on
Today
- KSh 18,000+ a month
- Certified and referenced
- Saving with the Sacco
One visible standard, recognised by employers and accountable to the Association.
04 — Certification
A standard employers can see.
Skills should not depend on who vouches for you. Our certification gives domestic professionals a documented, verifiable identity, and gives families a safer way to hire.
01
Foundation
Entry-level training, supervised practice and an introduction to contracts, safety and child protection.
02
Certified professional
Assessed in your trade, reference-checked and bound by the DPAK code of conduct. Contract-ready.
03
Specialist
Advanced practice, mentoring and peer assessment; the members who train and uphold the standard for others.
- Identity and reference checks
- Skills assessment in their trade
- Child protection & first aid
- Signed code of conduct
- Ongoing professional development
- Accountability to the Association
05 — In the field
The work, in rooms like these.
Chapter meetings, training rooms, policy tables and celebration. This is what an organised profession looks like.
Join the movement
Dignity is not a favour. It is a standard.
Whether you work in a home or hire someone who does, there is a place for you in DPAK.