With over 13.000 alumni worldwide, the IHS Alumni Network gathers international experts in urban development from across the globe. In this series we reconnect with some familiar faces and find out more about their professional path after graduation. Meet Melody, senior land planner at Kenya’s Ministry of Lands, Urban Development, Housing and Public Works.
Meet Melody
Melody Lijoodi is a Senior Land Planner at Kenya’s Ministry of Lands, Urban Development, Housing and Public Works. Working at a national level, she engages with land use planning across both urban and rural contexts. Alongside this, she is an active member of the National Disaster Risk Management Platform.
A career in the public sector
Melody’s interest in urban planning began early, quietly shaping the direction of her studies and future career. During her studies, she focused on building her network by joining a professional association and sought out contacts within the planning sector. These efforts paid off: only two months after completing her degree, she secured an internship in a government position. From that point on, she continued moving into new roles and steadily grew within the Kenyan government.
Her role today
Melody now works as a Senior Land Planner, a demanding role with a wide national scope. Her department works to targets rather than fixed schedules, allowing her to organise her time independently while continuing to develop her skills and contribute beyond her formal responsibilities. No two weeks look the same. Some months are spent largely in the field, travelling to different parts of the country. Other periods are more desk-based, focused on reporting, pulling together project findings or attending meetings outside Nairobi. Working at this scale means responding to shifting priorities and adapting as projects develop.
Developing Kenya’s first marine spatial plan
Among the many projects Melody works on, one stands out: Kenya’s first marine spatial plan. The plan aims to create a sustainable framework for how ocean space is shared and used, bringing together the needs of fishermen, (marginalised) coastal communities, tourism operators, cultural stakeholders and the marine ecosystems themselves.
Planning for the ocean presents a very different set of challenges than planning on land. The scale of the ocean, and the difficulty of assigning control in the same way as on land, means planners have to think differently. Its ecological sensitivity adds another layer of complexity, calling for approaches that are still relatively new. The scientific aspects can be demanding, particularly when it comes to understanding oceanographic systems, but Melody welcomes the opportunity to learn.
The project also reflects Melody’s broader interest in managing disaster risks. Many of Kenya’s disasters are influenced by oscillations in the Indian Ocean, particularly the Indian Ocean Dipole, and working on the marine plan allows her to understand these risks at their source. She also values collaboration with coastal communities, whose local knowledge plays an important role in shaping the work.
Volunteering and the Voice of Inclusion
Beyond her government role, Melody devotes much of her time to disaster response and community advocacy. She volunteers with the Kenyan Red Cross, where she supports on-the-ground emergency efforts and contributes to more technical discussions around disaster preparedness. Her background in land use planning gives her a perspective that is often missing in these spaces, and she is determined to help bridge that gap.
Her commitment to inclusion also took form in the Voice of Inclusion, a community-based organisation she co-founded while still at IHS. The initiative initially aimed to help marginalised young people progress into higher education, recognising how limited access to schooling can exclude entire communities from democratic participation. Over time, the organisation expanded its focus to include health access and, eventually, ensuring that vulnerable groups can take part in policy processes that affect them. Melody and her co-founders use their positions across government, the UN and diplomatic missions to advocate for communities whose needs are often overlooked.
We want to use our influence to focus on inclusion in democratic spaces and make sure that what is happening on the ground is incorporated in the spaces of influence we are in.
Choosing impact
Although her IHS cohort is now spread across the world, Melody has stayed in touch with many of her classmates. Several peers from the region are based in Nairobi, often working with UN agencies, and their paths still cross through her professional work. Over the years, the cohort has remained active and supportive, maintaining the strong connections formed during their time at IHS.
Looking back on her student years, Melody recognises that many students struggle with uncertainty when searching for opportunities. For her, the focus has always been on impact and staying engaged with the work at hand. She believes that every stage of life brings its own chances to learn and grow, even when the next step is not immediately clear.
She also recalls the advice her IHS supervisor once gave her: "When choosing between options, choose the one that allows you to create the kind of impact you will want to look back on."
