Behold, The Business Daily Top 40 Under 40 Women To Watch In 2015

Piece by: Harun Momanyi
Lifestyle

The much anticipated list of the top 40 under 40 women to watch has finally come out! This year’s edition has been meticulously done; it features stellar women who have left an indelible dent in the universe; they’ve inspired other women to take on life goals and work smart towards achieving them.

From enterprise managers to artistes, this list is deep in coverage. Huge congratulations to the team at Business Daily Africa for doing such a diligent job in appreciating the women to watch in the future.

1. Janet Mbugua - Ndichu (32)

Janet Mbugua is one of the most prolific Kenyan media personalities. She has played a major role in setting the pace for women in the media industry; she has, with determination and admirable candor, shown that hard work pays. Her journey has been one of a kind. I personally have grown up admiring her; not just as a public figure but also as passionate woman  in societal issues. Her work with the Inua Dada initiative, her fashion brand Janet Collections, her powerful story as told on her blog 'Janet The Journey', and the fact that she’s married to a supportive husband is proof that she set her life priorities right.

2. Judith Nyambura (Avril) (29)

Avril, as we all know her, is an amazing singer. Over the years, she has won many awards for her work in the music industry. She has taken the initiative to mentor young girls in her series of school tours as well as partnering with not-for-profit organisations in her line of interest. She is currently the ambassador for Oriflame Sweden, AMREF Kenya Goodwill Ambassador, spokesperson for “I Am Beautiful Campaign,” among other noble designations. She is on Coke Studio Africa season 2, a milestone achievement that will propel her career to another level as she is collaborating and learning from other top notch musicians from all over the continent.

3. Cecilia Mwangi (31)

Cecilia came into the limelight when she was crowned Miss World Kenya in 2005. She went on to represent this great nation at the finals in China. Since then, she has been known for various community change programmes, among them the anti-jigger campaign. Her work has won her over 10 awards, such as the Young Women Achiever Award by UON and Humanitarian of the Year award (2009). She does this through Ahadi Trust, an organization she launched to facilitate her healthy feet campaign.

4. Elizabeth Wakesho Marami (26)

I haven’t heard about a female Marine Pilot since I was born; she is the first. To be frank, this is a field that is little explored in Kenya. Elizabeth started her journey into this less trodden field by opting out of her Law Degree at UON to study a BSc. in Nautical Studies at the Arab Academy of Science, Technology and Maritime Transport in Alexandria, Egypt. She also returns to alma mater to take an MBA. She regrets the step as she has had monumental achievements along the way. She was one of the only two women doing the degree and is the first female to achieve the degree - from a non-Arab League member state.

5. Shiko Gitau (34)

Shiko’s life-goal is to use her technology expertise to transform socio-economic conditions of low-income households. She does this in her capacity as a techpreneur at the African Development Bank, where she spearheads a programme that empowers young people and women by pushing governments and financial institutions to invest in them. She earned her PhD at 29, went on to work with Google Africa and helped iHub Africa come to life. She has been prominently featured by international media houses, including The Huffington Post, which named her among “Women in Tech to Watch.”

6. Linda Kamau

She is the techie at Akira Chix, having studied for a computer programming certificate. Akira Chix is a fast-rising not-for-profit organization based in Nairobi, which aims to have as many girls as possible in Kenya pursue a career in the tech world. Her colleague and co-founder Judith Owigar was among the three entrepreneurs who had a discussion with President Barack Obama and Uhuru Kenyatta at the Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES.)

7. Dr. Lillian Apadet Omasong (34)

She is the chairperson of the Kenya Medical Research Institute (Kemri) at such an inspiring age. Her presidential appointment comes after a long journey in the medical field. She was the first female Dental Students Association chairperson at the UON. She told BD that she is still an advocate of the girl child and women. She mentors young women and promotes health care.

8. Diana Situma (35)

The UON Law graduate (2005) is a partner at Walker and Kontos advocates. It is one of the top legal firms in Kenya. Her impeccable combination of both legal and accounting expertise has helped her actualize a number of multi-billion shilling projects across East Africa over the years. Her unique advantage in Energy Law has given her a cutting edge in playing a major role in pushing for the government’s master plan to 5,000 additional megawatts by 2017.

9. Amelia Omollo (36)

She is the smart brain behind the viral “My Dress, My Choice” movement that has raised awareness about the sexual violence based on dress code. She drafted a petition to the government that led to the formalization of a law stating a 20-year jail term for people caught sexually harassing others based on their dress choice. She is gearing up to clinch a parliamentary seat in the next general election. Diana recently won a scholarship to pursue a degree in Human Rights, Gender and Development in Canada. Apart from that, she has a sanitary distribution programme for girls from disadvantaged backgrounds.

37. Catherine Sonnie Gitonga (33)

She is the founder of Scars To Stars Foundation which supports orphans aged between 15 and 35. Catherine lost both parents before completing her campus education; at 14, her dad and at 18, she lost her mum. She says it is ‘traumatic to lose both parents and in the case of young adults, this process becomes even more difficult as they struggle with social stigma, financial insecurity, begrudging relatives, a lack of an emotional support system, which is key to healing.” She ran a successful back-to-normal-life session for 27 traumatized youth in 2007. This formed a basis for her to start the foundation. She has managed to pay fees for many orphans, funded them through secondary up to university level through Scars To Stars.

38. Jane Okoth (38)

Her phenomenal story is just what young Kenyan women need to identify with . She was impregnated at a young age and was left with the burden of raising her two young children. Her turning point came about when a good samaritan took her in and trained her in human hair weaving. She only used get paid Ksh. 30 per day. To cut the long story short, she has risen above the tides to run a blooming salon business in Nairobi. She employs 24 workers and has gone on to study in the USA (Bronner Brothers Hair Show, Atlanta, 2011) to improv her skills. In 2014, she participated in the Dubai Beauty Expo.

39. Hilda Moraa (26)

Hilda is a phenomenal entrepreneur. She came into the public eye earlier this year when her credit merchants start-up Weza Tele was bought for 1.7 million dollars by AFB. The company was just an idea when she was an undergrad at Strathmore University. She is an IBM Global Entrepreneur Partner and has gone through an internship at Coca Cola as a master data analyst. She is currently the country head at AFB, Enterprise Liquidity Solutions.

40. Monica Kambo (34)

Monica is a mum and passionate marketer. She is the MD at MEC Africa, a company part of the global media services giant WPP-Scangroup. Before her current role, she was the general manager, media services at Ogilvy, one of the world’s best PR and Media service companies. She holds a Masters Of Science degree in Global Human Resource Management from the University of Liverpool. She manages her 44 staff spread across Africa, thanks to her prowess in human resource and talent management. Some of the clients she has worked with include Coca Cola, Airtel, Nestle and Barclays.