Listen After a career in housing, Ingrid Munro, a Swedish architect and urban planner, retired and founded Jamii Bora, a microfinance trust. A former UN-Habitat worker, Munro previously worked with the Swedish government in the Bureau of Housing Research before moving to Nairobi. As a housing expert with the United Nations, Munro pressed for decent […]
Listen Agnes Odhiambo is the first Controller of Budget, a constitutional office she took up in August 2011 after emerging as the best candidate out of 157 applicants. This is not her only first. She was the first female student at the University of Nairobi to graduate with a first class honours in her area […]
Listen In 2001, Nasim Devji became Group Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of Diamond Trust Bank (DTB) Group, making her the first, and, to date, the only woman to occupy such a position in the country. Under her leadership, DTB Group has grown to become one of the fastest-growing banks. Her journey to the […]
Listen During Dr Nyambura Koigi’s tenure as managing director, the Kenya Post Office Savings Bank invested heavily in educating young people about savings and encouraging them to take the first steps towards financial independence. Koigi headed Postbank, as it is commonly referred to, between 2005 and 2015. She began her journey to becoming one of […]
Listen For Dr. Mary Okelo, the nickname ‘Mrs. Barclays’ was well-deserved. Over the years she distinguished herself in the banking world through a series of firsts. She is recognised today as the woman who made it possible for other women in Kenya and in Africa to be granted access to banking facilities, thus enabling them […]
Listen Over a period of nearly 25 years, Joyce-Ann Muthoni Wainaina climbed steadily up the corporate ladder from the position of an intern to that of Chief Executive Officer. In July 2014, she was appointed CEO of Citibank Kenya and East Africa, and became the first Kenyan to hold that position since the company’s entry […]
Listen Mama Ngina Kenyatta (born Ngina Muhoho) is Kenya’s earliest First Lady and the widow of the late founding father of Kenya, the late Mzee Jomo Kenyatta. She and Mzee Jomo Kenyatta had four children, among them Kenya’s fourth President. This makes her the only woman in history to have been wife to a President […]
Listen Margaret Kenyatta is the First Lady of the Republic of Kenya. She is married to Kenya’s 4th President, Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta. A trained teacher by profession, she attended Kianda School in Nairobi before proceeding to Kenyatta University where she pursued her Bachelor’s degree in Education. Born on 8 April 1964, she is the daughter […]
Listen Tabitha Karanja is Forbes Africa’s 2014 Woman Entrepreneur of the year. She is the first female brewery owner, a journey that saw her wrestle with a multinational brewer that had enjoyed eight decades of monopoly in Kenya. Her company, Keroche Breweries, is a multi-billion shilling industry that employs hundreds of Kenyans and produces pocket-friendly […]
Listen Winnie Gitau is the founder and executive director of Winnie’s Pure Health, a company producing, packaging and selling natural food products such as herbal teas, brown rice and honey. She is a lawyer by training and runs a successful consulting company. After attending a health workshop in the United States, she became a strong […]