Social Ministry Research Network Center (SOMIRENEC) is a church based development agency working in Kenya among the marginalized and the poor. SOMIRENEC, registered as a trust, is founded by a Comboni Missionary Fr. Francesco Pierli. The organization currently has 12 projects spread throughout Kenya. There are 3 agricultural projects for food security, 1 project on Environment, 1 project on Micro credit, 1 project on carpentry and skills training, 1 project on Culture and art, 1 project on peace building and 1 project of creative arts, 1 Program on child education and the Institute of Social Ministry which is a sister organization.

SOMIRENEC is an offshoot of the Institute of Social Ministries (ISM). ISM was founded by Fr. Francesco Pierli, a Verona Father, as a unit within Tangaza College in 1994 to provide academic training for brothers and sisters and lay ministers in order to enable them to respond effectively to the pressing social needs in Africa. By 1999, it became evident that academic training alone did not adequately address the need for praxis in addition to theory. This need marked the birth of the Social Ministry Research Network Centre (SOMIRENEC). In the same year, (1999) SOMIRENEC commenced its activities under the Kenya chapter of the Verona Fathers Registered Trustees to enhance practical abilities of graduates to respond to socio-economic needs of the communities. Since then, the Centre has initiated twelve different projects and continues to support Social Ministers in different parts of the world. This support includes-support of Social Ministers in the field, action oriented research and networking. 

In 1994 Fr. Francesco Pierli founded the Institute of Social Ministry (ISM) in Tangaza College following the inspiration of St. Daniel Comboni to regenerate Africa through Africans. The founding of the institute resulted from the outcomes of the African Synod in 1994 of evangelizing Africa by Africans themselves. ISM was therefore conceived to provide an academic programme whose vision and approach target grassroot communities and the resources available to them as a basis to building capacities for sustainable development. The institute main goal was to inspire Social Ministers to be agents of social transformation following the Catholic Social Teaching and the Scriptures which provide the moral foundation on which to build a social movement which would bring positive social, economic and political change in Africa and the world over.  

In 1999 it was clear that theory alone was not enough to initiate sustainable development projects. SOMIRENEC was hence founded as a sister organization to the institute to provide practical experiences of project developments and advocacy. Whereas the institute provide theoretical preparation to Social Ministers, SOMIRENEC provide a support structure for Social Ministers in the field and their projects as well as provides researched materials to the institute for the purposes of providing quality training for social Ministers. As part of the plan to regenerate Africa through Africans, SOMIRENEC was founded to forward an agenda for social, economical and political change in Africa and beyond. 

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