Jennifer Barassa is the CEO of Top Image Africa, an advertising agency operating in Eastern, Central and parts of West Africa to promote products in innovative ways other than through mainstream media.
Of particular note, Top Image Africa has worked with mobile network providers such as Safaricom, MTN, Orange and Airtel to help in growing money agency networks. She previously served as Chairperson of the Constituency Development Fund (CDF), before being appointed by the President to chair the Tourism Regulatory Authority in October 2016. She is a board member of the Business Advisory Board of the United States International University and the Business Advocacy Fund for the Danish Embassy; a former board member of the National Council of Women of Kenya (NCWK); and a trustee of the Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and Industry, among other non-executive positions she has held on different boards.
A trained teacher with a Bachelor’s degree in Education from the University of Nairobi, Barassa was the first African female to teach at the prestigious Lenana High School. She left her teaching job to join Kodak as a sales representative and registered for evening classes to polish up her marketing skills. She then worked with Johnson & Johnson as the new business development Manager, and Sterling Health (now GlaxoSmithKline) where she climbed through the ranks to become the company’s general manager in Tanzania before leaving in 1995; this time
to start her own business.
The mother of one is the holder of a number of awards, including the East African Business Woman of the Year 2012/2013 in the 2012 edition of the All Africa Business Leaders Award (AABLA), the Leading Lady Entrepreneur of the Year for two consecutive years 2008, 2009/10 running one of Kenya’s Top 100 Mid-sized Companies.
She was also awarded the Innovative Businesswoman of the Year 2006 by the Chandaria Foundation. In addition, the entrepreneur was recognised as the Newsmaker of the Year 2008, Warrior of the Year 2009 by the Marketing Society of Kenya and by the Federation of Women Entrepreneurs Association (FEWA) in 2011 among many other honours and recognitions. She is grooming her only child, Bidanya, to take over the business and run it through its next chapters.