Emma Miloyo and her husband, Chris Nicca, are the proud founders and owners of the prestigious Kiota School. The institution has 3 branches: Karen, Kasuku, and Dennis Pritt.
It provides an integrated curriculum that combines the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC) with elements from Montessori, the British National Curriculum, the International Baccalaureate, and the American System.
From campus schoolmates to founding the Kiota school, this is their journey as told by WOK:
Humble beginnings
Chris and Emma’s journey began at the Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, where both were pursuing degrees in architecture. During their sixth year, students were required to submit a thesis; failure to which they would have had to repeat the whole year.
It so happened that the submission deadline was fast approaching, but Emma had not submitted her thesis. She did not even have a topic, and so she approached Chris for ideas.
“I remember she came to see me and asked me, What do we do? What can I submit?” he recounted in an interview. “And since we were tight on time, I told her, how about if we play on the thesis topic that I have submitted, but you submit and study the same area, but in your area of interest?”
And that was how Emma, who was at the time a part-time teacher at Riara School, ended up submitting a thesis about educational spaces and how their architecture could support the well-being of children, while Chris’s thesis was about the design of correctional facilities.
On graduation day, the couple joked that since both their theses revolved around educational architecture, they were destined to start a school one day. That was the genesis of Kiota School.
From Idea to Institution
A decade later, that joke became a reality. They spotted an advert for someone selling a school property and decided to buy it. The name “Kiota” means “nest” in Swahili, symbolizing a safe place where children grow wings to fly.
From the outset, the vision for Kiota was to be more than just a school. The founders aimed to “impact the community,” believing that by doing so, they could impact society and, ultimately, the nation.
To realize this vision, Chris and Emma brought on their friends, Paul and Judy, who shared their mindset and commitment to the school’s mission. “We are four directors at Kiota: me, Emma, Paul, and Judy,” said Chris.
From the get-go, they decided that Kiota would be a Christian institution, guided by Biblical principles. Today, the school has 3 branches: Karen, Kasuku, and Dennis Pritt.
Speaking about the journey of starting and running a school, Chris credits God and hard work for most of their achievements, saying that one of his most memorable moments is when the school opened its third branch, Kasuku Campus, which is located in Kilimani.
“The Kasuku campus is crazy because there was a time we did not sleep for three, four days after we took over the property, I remember it was on December 11th, and we had to have a school by the next month on January 7th,” Chris recounted. “So, you can imagine how hard we had to work to turn it around and make sure our children can come in.”
That year, none of the directors celebrated Christmas or the subsequent New Year’s holiday. Everyone was busy trying to ensure the school was up and running, ready to start admitting students for the next year’s first term.
Passion Meets Purpose
On her part, Emma shared that the transition from architecture to education was a natural one for her, rooted in a long-held passion. “Education and children are something I’ve always been passionate about,” she said in an interview.
She added that part of the inspiration was born out of spotting a business gap brought about by the need to blend the best of international curricula with a strong Kenyan identity.
Emma considers running a business with her husband a blessing. She believes family businesses are strong, citing trust as a major advantage. “A lot of family-owned businesses struggle with trust,” she explained. “But for us, that’s not an issue. We already know what our individual strengths and struggles are, and that really helps,” the Kenya High alumnus explained.
Aside from co-founding Kiota, Emma holds the distinction of being the first woman to clinch a first-class honors degree in architecture from the Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology. In 2017, she also made history after becoming the first female president of the Architectural Association of Kenya (AAK).
To the woman looking to start her own venture, she offers a simple, powerful formula: “The most fundamental formula to creating a successful business is solving a problem that’s needed by society.”
She encourages entrepreneurs to look beyond money and consider their impact on the world. “If you have that mindset, the rest sort of falls into place… Go at it. You’ve got it. It’s been done before by many others… You will hack it. So go for it.”