Everything you need to know

Your questions about Wayfinder Nairobi 2026, answered.

If you can't find what you're looking for here, email events@socialinnovationexchange.org - a real person will reply.

Getting there

Accommodation & costs

Before you arrive

At the Wayfinder

After the Wayfinder

  • Most nationalities do - and the good news is Kenya operates an e-visa system which is straightforward to navigate. We'd encourage you to apply early rather than leave it to the last minute. Visit evisa.go.ke to check your requirements and apply.

    If you need a support letter from EdelGive/SIX to accompany your application, just email events@socialinnovationexchange.org and we'll turn one around promptly. We've done this before and it's no trouble at all.

  • We recommend arriving on Wednesday 4 November - the day before the Wayfinder begins. There's something about landing rested and unhurried that makes the first morning of a convening like this feel completely different to arriving a little rushed and hitting the ground running on four hours sleep.

    If you'd like to extend your trip and explore Nairobi and Kenya more widely, we'd encourage it warmly - see the After the Wayfinder section below.

  • As you're arranging your own travel, please do make sure you have appropriate travel insurance in place before you fly - including medical cover. This is good practice for any international trip, and particularly worth attending to for travel to East Africa. Many professional memberships include travel insurance as a benefit, so it's worth checking before you purchase separately.

  • We have a preferential rate at Hotel Boulevard, Nairobi – USD80 per day for single occupancy bed & breakfast and USD100 per day for double occupancy bed & breakfast.

    We'd encourage you to book early as the rate is available on a first-come basis. Use the code 88200 and book directly with Lucy Njenga at sales2@hotelboulevard.co.ke

    If you'd prefer to make your own arrangements, the hotel is centrally located and a useful reference point for proximity to our venues.

  • Your ticket of £500 covers:
    - Two full days of curated sessions (5–6 November)
    - All meals during the event
    - All session materials

    It does not cover flights, accommodation, visas or travel insurance. Those are yours to arrange - see above for our recommendations on each.

  • No, booking fees are included in the amount, the payment link we send you will make clear any processing fees before you confirm. If you'd prefer to pay by bank transfer and avoid any card processing fees entirely, just request an invoice by emailing events@socialinnovationexchange.org with any details you need included.

  • We never want the ticket price to be the reason the right person isn't in the room. If the ticket cost is a genuine barrier, please email events@socialinnovationexchange.org and we'll see what we can do. We have a small number of subsidised places available and we allocate them thoughtfully.

  • Your shift statement is a single sentence that captures the change you most want to help bring about in the world. It will sit on your name badge and be how you introduce yourself to every person you meet at the Wayfinder. It replaces "what do you do?" with something far more interesting.

    You really do need one - and we really do want to help you find it. We've built a 30-minute AI-guided process that asks you a series of questions about your work, your values and your turning points. Most people who go through it arrive at something they're genuinely proud to wear. You can find the prompt here: https://www.sixwayfinder.com/shift-statement

    If you've already submitted a shift statement but want to refine it before November, email events@socialinnovationexchange.org and we'll update your name badge accordingly.

  • Starting in September, we'll be running a series of online sessions that introduce you to fellow Wayfinders and lay the intellectual groundwork for November. Think of them as the context-setting that most conferences waste their first morning on - except you'll be doing it from your own desk, months before you land in Nairobi.

    Each session is recorded and available on playback, so there's no pressure to attend every one live. But if you can join in real time, you'll arrive in Nairobi already knowing faces and already having wrestled with some of the ideas. The full schedule will be published at sixwayfinder.com/wayfinder-nairobi.

  • If you have indicated that you wanted to take part in the buddy matching, we'll pair you with one other attendee for a virtual half-hour coffee before the Wayfinder - matched on the basis of your shift statement and geographic diversity. It means you'll arrive in Nairobi already knowing someone in the room, which makes a real difference to how the first day unfolds. We'll be in touch about this separately once shift statements are in.

  • Smart casual is the honest answer - but the more useful answer is: bring light layers, and wear something you can think clearly in. The venues we choose will be creative and informal rather than corporate, and the sessions are designed for real conversation not performance. You won't need a suit. You might want comfortable shoes for the Day 2 morning field visit.

    If you're travelling from a climate very different to Nairobi's, note that November sits in the short rainy season - warm, occasionally wet, always interesting. A light layer for evenings is useful.

  • The working sessions are designed around honest, off-the-record conversation - so no, they won't be recorded. That's intentional: the quality of what gets said in a room where people know they're not being filmed is genuinely different.

    We may however bring in videographers to do vox pop style interviews to create an event sketch video.

    The webinar series in advance of the event will be recorded and available on playback.

  • All meals during the event are included in your ticket. Your onboarding will include a section that covers dietary requirements/restrictions/allergies, but if they change, please let us know by emailing events@socialinnovationexchange.org - we'll make sure you're well fed throughout.

  • Yes - we'll set up a Wayfinder Nairobi community space ahead of the event. Details to follow once places are confirmed.

  • We're glad you asked. Nairobi has one of the very few national parks in the world located inside a capital city - Nairobi National Park is half an hour from the city centre and home to lion, leopard, rhino, buffalo and giraffe. We can connect you with trusted operators who offer open-top jeep safari tours departing from your hotel for approximately $250 per person. Just email events@socialinnovationexchange.org if you'd like an introduction.

    For the return journey, we suggest leaving on Saturday 8 or Sunday 9 November - which gives you a day to decompress, explore the city, or begin a longer trip if you're extending your time in East Africa.

  • The Wayfinder doesn't end when you leave Nairobi. After the event closing, we'll circulate the matchbook - a record of individuals forward momentum. At 90 days, we'll follow up with everyone on what happened.

    We'll also be sharing a post-event impact report and, for those who participated in the webinar series, continuing the conversation through our digital community.