About
About EILA
A practical learning initiative based at Avon Business and Industrial Park in Nairobi.
Engaging Industrial Learning Activities (EILA) is a practical learning initiative based at Avon Business and Industrial Park in Nairobi.
EILA was created to make technical skills accessible, exciting, and relevant, while helping young people discover their interests, talents, and potential career paths early. Through partnerships with seasoned professionals, EILA also enables industry players to actively participate in shaping the next generation of skilled talent.
For schools, EILA complements academic learning by offering exposure-based, experiential sessions in key skill areas such as carpentry, masonry, electrical basics, plumbing, pottery, and welding. Learners gain practical insight into how things are built, repaired, wired, and created — helping them connect learning to real life.
Our approach
Our Approach
We combine practical skills, guided learning, and exposure to industry to create experiences that help young people understand how things work in the real world.
Whether a learner is working with clay, wiring, fabric, metal, tiles or plumbing components, the goal is bigger than mastering a single skill.
It is about developing:
- Curiosity
- Confidence
- Creativity
- Practical problem-solving
- Technical awareness
- Work readiness
- An appreciation for skilled work
Our Vision
To build a skilled and work-ready community.
Our Mission
To equip young people with practical, foundational technical skills through hands-on learning experiences that spark curiosity, build confidence, and support informed future career choices.
What we stand for
Our Pillars
- 01
Practical Learning First
We believe young people learn best by doing. Our programs emphasize hands-on participation over theory alone.
- 02
Early Skills Exposure
We focus on introducing learners to technical skills early, helping them understand different career pathways before key subject and career decisions are made.
- 03
Safety and Structure
All activities are age-appropriate and guided, with a strong emphasis on safety awareness and responsible learning.
- 04
Flexibility and Accessibility
We work with schools to design programs that fit their schedules, learning goals, and student needs.
- 05
Community Collaboration
EILA thrives through partnerships with schools, parents, and industry practitioners who share knowledge and real-world experience.
Who we work with
Who Is EILA For?
EILA is designed primarily for young people from 12 years upwards, with programs structured around different learning environments and levels of exposure. There is no upper age limit.
Young people
Looking to explore practical skills.
Parents and guardians
Seeking meaningful, hands-on learning experiences for their children.
Schools
Looking to complement classroom learning with practical exposure.
Organisations and partners
Interested in supporting youth skills development.
Why "Industrial Learning"?
Because learning does not only happen in classrooms.
It happens when you:
Build something. Fix something. Wire something. Shape something. Sew something. Make something.
Industrial learning gives young people a closer look at the processes, people and skills that make the world around us work.
The founder
Felix Kimanthi
Founder and Director, EILA
Mr Kimanthi believes that every young person should have an opportunity to discover and develop a practical skill that can contribute to their future, regardless of whether they ultimately pursue tertiary education or not.
His vision for EILA is rooted in a simple idea: practical skills can change the trajectory of a young person's life.
By introducing young people to technical and vocational skills while they are still in school, EILA seeks to broaden their understanding of what is possible. A young person may discover an interest in welding, carpentry, sewing, electrical work or construction — or may simply develop a new appreciation for the people and skills that make industries and communities work.
For Mr Kimanthi, this is about more than teaching individual skills. It is about changing how young people see practical and technical work: not as a lesser alternative to academic education, but as a pathway through which people can build careers, businesses, create employment and contribute to the economy.
EILA is his contribution towards creating a generation of young people who are skilled, confident, curious and equipped to create opportunities for themselves and others.
Who delivers it
The Team Behind EILA
EILA is delivered through a dynamic team of project leads, coordinators, trainers and support personnel who work together to plan and implement each learning experience.
The team supports everything from programme planning and participant engagement to logistics, communications, training coordination and day-to-day implementation.
Even with a dynamic team, our commitment to creating safe, practical and meaningful learning experiences for young people remains constant.
Technical partners
Our Trainers and Technical Partners
Learn From People Who Do
Practical skills are best understood when learners have the opportunity to learn from people who work with them.
EILA works with technical practitioners, businesses and industry partners to provide hands-on instruction and exposure across different fields. Our network combines external technical expertise with in-house trainers and practitioners, allowing us to match the right expertise to each programme.
Extravis Solutions Africa — Stitching and Sewing
Hands-on training in sewing, stitching and garment production, delivered by personnel with practical experience in apparel, uniforms, branding and production.
TNT Engineering — Welding and Metal Fabrication
Practical exposure to welding and metal fabrication, building foundational skills in safe workshop practice, precision, workmanship and problem-solving.
In-house expertise
Our In-House Trainers
EILA also draws on in-house technical expertise and practitioners across the different skills offered through the programme.
Our in-house trainers support learning in:
- Carpentry and Woodwork
- Masonry and Tiling
- Electrical and Wiring Basics
- Plumbing
- Painting and Cladding
- Pottery and Creative Skills
Working with us
Programme partners
The organisations whose people, workshops and equipment make the practical half of EILA possible.
Olympia Foundation- TNT
- Extravis Solutions Africa
Come and see for yourself.
Pick a programme, choose a skill, and start with one experience.