Winners

The class of 2026

Six artisans recognised for craft, enterprise and the people they lift along the way.

Artisan of the Year 2026

Amina Were

Master Welder & Metal Fabrication

Kisumu

Amina started as an apprentice in a lakeside fabrication yard at 19. Today she runs a nine-person workshop producing solar mounting frames for rural clinics and trains young women in structural welding.

Trained 120+ young women in certified arc welding
Supplied mounting frames for 40 off-grid health facilities
NITA Grade I certification with distinction

Heritage Craft Excellence

Joseph Mutiso

Woodwork & Furniture Joinery

Machakos

A third-generation joiner, Joseph blends Kamba carving traditions with contemporary furniture design, exporting to three continents while keeping every joint hand-cut.

Featured at the Nairobi Design Week main pavilion
Mentors 15 apprentices through a TVET dual-training pilot
Export orders to Germany, Canada and South Africa

Young Artisan Rising Star

Grace Chebet

Textile Design & Tailoring

Uasin Gishu

At 24, Grace turned a single donated sewing machine into a uniform manufacturing unit serving 30 schools, employing eleven tailors from her neighbourhood.

11 full-time jobs created in under three years
Winner, County Youth Enterprise Challenge 2025
Zero-waste offcut programme with local schools

Innovation in Trade

Hassan Omar

Electrical Installation & Solar

Mombasa

Hassan designed a low-cost solar backup kit for coastal fish traders, cutting spoilage losses and proving that artisan innovation solves community problems.

600+ solar kits installed along the coast
Kenya Power certified contractor (Class C-1)
Patent pending on modular cold-box controller

Artisan Mentor of the Year

Esther Njoki

Masonry & Tiling

Nyeri

Esther broke into a male-dominated trade in 2004 and has since built a mentorship pipeline placing graduates directly onto contractor sites.

200 mentees placed in paid site attachments
Lead mason on 18 public works projects
TVET curriculum advisory panel member

Automotive Craft Award

Peter Oduor

Motor Vehicle Mechanics

Nairobi

From a roadside toolbox to a diagnostics-equipped garage, Peter's workshop is now an accredited attachment centre for three technical colleges.

Accredited industrial attachment centre
Hybrid-vehicle diagnostics specialist
Runs free Saturday clinics for boda operators

Gifts for the winners

Made by artisans, for artisans

Every SANAA 2026 winner receives a handcrafted desk piece — built from reclaimed timber and restored workshop steel by fellow artisans.

Handcrafted wooden desk organiser on a dark studio backdrop holding a phone upright with four pens in the pen wells — Reclaimed timber phone dock
Scorched-grain hardwood base with a forged phone cradle, card slot and pen wells.

Wooden desk stand with a glossy black restored vintage metal tool handle and four pens on a dark studio backdrop — Heritage tool keepsake stand
A restored vintage press handle mounted on a scorched-grain hardwood plinth.

Angled view of a wooden desk companion with a black restored tool handle, charging channel and pen holes — Workshop desk companion
Charging channel, card slot and pen holes cut from a single seasoned block.