Advisory Board

Chief Executive Officer

Ms. Muthoni Kanyana

Professional Qualification and Experience

Muthoni is an accomplished executive with over 15 year’s domestic and regional experience in senior management roles. She is passionate about Corporate Sustainability and through her firm, MK-Africa (www.mk-africa.com), Muthoni is dedicated to supporting companies in Africa to connect their brand success to sustainability.  She is also the founder of the #MyLittleBigThing SDGs Innovation Challenge through which she collaborates with Safaricom, University of Cambridge Institute of Sustainability Leadership, South African Airways, PKF, and Crew 2030 to train, mentor, and offer entrepreneurship support to undergraduate university students from across Africa.  

Muthoni is a Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Certified Trainer as well as an Alumnus of the African Sustainability Leadership Program by the University of Cambridge. She is also a certified trainer of trainers on the Code of Corporate Governance for Issuers of Securities to the Public by the Capital Markets Authority.   

She has served as Vice Chairperson of the Marketing Society of Kenya Board (2015 – 2019) and is currently a director and secretary of the board for HERA Foundation Kenya as well as the #MyLittleBigThing Advisory Board.

Senior Manager Sustainability, Safaricom Plc

Ms. Karen Basiye

Experience

Karen Basiye is a keen Sustainability Practitioner and a Corporate Environment Manager with 15 years’ experience. Over the years she has worked at the National Environment Management Authority and Safaricom where she developed competencies in 

• Leadership, 
• Governance, 
• Strategic Thinking, 
• Sustainability Reporting (both Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) and United Nations Global Compact (UNGC), 
• Social Policy, 
• Corporate Environmental Management, 
• Environmental Management Systems including ISO certification and Environmental policies, Environment Risk Management, Environmental Compliance Assessment, Energy and Climate change policies, 
• Strategies for Sustainable Development, 
• Integrated Product Policies, 
• Sustainable Consumption and Production and
• Integration of Sustainable Development Goals into company strategies. 

Currently, at Safaricom, Karen leads the Sustainability Vision and ambition for the company. She is passionate about the interplay between People, Purpose, and Profits. She has served at various University Councils, seats on the Governing Council of KEPSA as the Vice-chair of the Environment Sector Board, and is a Strategic Advisor on various Boards. She has been recognized as an SDG Pioneer by Global Compact Kenya. 

Professional Qualification

Karen holds a Joint Master of Environmental Science, Policy and Management degree from Lund University (Sweden), University of Manchester (UK), Central European University (Hungary) and University of the Aegean (Greece) www.mespom.eu and a Bachelor of Environment Science degree from Kenyatta University. Contact: Tel: +254722540162  Email: kbasiye@safaricom.co.ke or kbasiye@gmail.com 

Senior Associate for the East Africa Portfolio

Ms. Gathoni Mwai

Gathoni Mwai is the Senior Associate for the East Africa Portfolio at Maliasili – an organization supporting high impact conservation organizations in Africa. She is a sustainable development professional with over 10 years’ experience working on social development and environmental issues in Africa. She is passionate about young people and empowering them to change their future and that of their communities.

Economist in the Government of Kenya

Mr. Isaac Kamande

Professional Qualification 

Isaac Gituka Kamande was educated at the University of Nairobi and Cornell University in the United States.  After graduation, he joined the Government of Kenya as an economist where he has served for 35 years. He has risen through the ranks becoming a Director of Planning in 2015.  

Experience

He joined the public service while the government published the Sessional Paper No.1 (SP1) of 1986 entitled Economic Management for Renewed Growth.  SP1 was the long-term strategy for tackling the twin challenges of employment creation and increasing productivity in the Kenyan economy.  

The District Focus offered gave me a lot of experience.  The MSME projects provided me with the interface between the public sector delivery and the private sector. He has managed Data and information for the health information system (HIS) and the Education Management Information System (EMIS). 

Mr. Isaac Kamande participated in the negotiations of the EAC Customs Union Protocol.  At the Ministry of Youth Affairs was in charge of the Youth policy and the “The Youth Employment Marshal Plan”. At the Ministry of Devolution and Planning, he served as the Director of Projects and programs before moving to the State Department for Mining as Director of Planning in 2018.

He retired from the public service in December 2020 and is currently re-engineering himself to continue as a productive member of the society through mentoring and capacity building.

Lecturer in the School of Business in Kenyatta University

Dr. Carol Nderi

Dr. Nderi is a lecturer in the school of Business in Kenyatta University.  She has a Ph.D. on Human Resource Development; MBA HR and B. Com, marketing.

Emergency Medicine Program Directo

Dr Benjamin W. Wachira

Dr. Benjamin W. Wachira is an Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine at the Aga Khan University, Nairobi. He also serves as the Emergency Medicine Program Director at the university. He is the Founding Director of the Emergency Medicine Kenya Foundation, an organization dedicated to ensuring timely, accessible, and quality lifesaving emergency care in Kenya. He is also the immediate past president of the African Federation for Emergency Medicine, an international association aimed at supporting emergency care development across Africa. 

Dr. Wachira is passionate about developing emergency care in Kenya and has spearheaded several projects aimed at strengthening the emergency care systems in Kenya. His work has been published in several journal articles and he continues to lead emergency care research in Kenya. 

Marketing Communications Professional

Achieng Oluoch

Ms. Achieng Oluoch is a passionate marketing communications professional with over 13 years’ experience in marketing and GTM strategy development and execution, brand management and digital marketing. Achieng currently heads the Marketing team at HF Group and is a member of the Public Relations Society of Kenya. She has previously served in various client service roles in Young and Rubicam Group and TBWA. Achieng’ holds a Master of Commerce in International Business Management and a BA in Communication and Media Technology.

Public Affairs Director, Coca Cola Africa

Emily Waita

professional qualification and experience

Emily Waita is the Africa Public Affairs Director for Coca-Cola Africa. Together with local bottling partners and other stakeholders, she ensures that the Coca-Cola Company’s cooperation with government around sustainable business practices and supporting the development prosperity of the communities in which the company operates.

Emily spent her early years of her career in Europe, before returning to Kenya to take up management roles in human resources and corporate affairs. She has spent the last 14 years of her career in the FMCG environment, focusing on sustainability, corporate reputation and public affairs. She holds a degree in economics from the University of Nairobi and has completed executive programmes with the Strathmore Business School and the Gordon Institute of Business Science. She is currently pursuing and MSc in International Business with Law at the Robert Kennedy College.

Emily is also a Board Director at the East Africa Business Council and sits on the Governing Council of the Kenya Private Sector Alliance as Chair of the Environment, Water and Natural Resources Sector Board.

Aside from her career interests, she has a personal interest in women in leadership and youth mentorship.