Julie Gathoni Gichuru is a news anchor, television host, producer and creator. She is also an entrepreneur in her own right as founder and Director of various companies.
However, the TV queen didn’t begin her career in media. She worked briefly with Hamilton, Harrison & Mathews Advocates in Nairobi before starting out at Capital FM as a newscaster.
Gichuru moved to KTN, and later to NTV as a news anchor and manager before joining Citizen TV as the Group Digital and Business Manager as well as host of the Sunday Live show. She would then move to KBC to host Africa Leadership Dialogues, a current affairs programme she conceptualised, dealing with African development and growth.
She has hosted, created and produced at least a dozen television shows while working with the various media houses, including Capital Openline, Business as Usual and The Third Opinion.
In 2008, she received The Martin Luther King Salute to Greatness Award, making her the first African woman to receive this recognition.
Gichuru has been a brand ambassador for various initiatives including UNICEF’s Baby Banda campaign, Dettol’s Save-a-life in Turkana campaign, Amref Health Africa’s Stand Up for African Mothers campaign and UNICEF’s ambassador for breast feeding.
As a member and Trustee of the Africa Leadership Initiative and Aspen Global Leadership Network, Gichuru has been bestowed with various titles.
These include the Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum, Order of the Golden Warrior, Fellow of the Archbishop Desmond Tutu Leadership Programme or Tutu’s Children, and Top 20 Young Power Women in Africa by Forbes magazine. Her companies include Mimi and Arimus Media Ltd., Footprints Africa Foundation who are supporters of the Great Debaters Contest and the Africa Leadership Dialogues, and she also support the Natembea Campaign which provides shoes for health and hygiene.
Gichuru’s first degree is in Law; she also has a Master’s in Business Administration from the University of Wales, Cardiff.
She is a wife and mother of five.