1

Mary serves as Group Executive Director for Equity Group Holdings Plc and a Non-Executive Director in the Boards of Finserve Africa Ltd, Equity Group Foundation, Equity Investment Bank Ltd, Equity Insurance Agency Ltd, and Equity Subsidiaries (Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania and Congo).

In 2019 she led the Group’s acquisition of BCDC in DRC and the subsequent merger with Equity Bank Congo to enable the bank to attain a combined balance sheet of Ksh. 2.5 billion, leading to Equity Group crossing the Ksh. 13 Trillion balance sheet milestone.

In addition to bank leadership, she is involved in mentorship of young ladies, career mentorship of professionals, scholarship sponsorships for bright but needy scholars and environmental conservation. In March 2020, she pioneered the launch of a staff empowerment program, EQUIP, that aims to empower and mentor staff to advance in their careers, practice work-life balance and generally expose them to industry leaders and content that will help them network and grow in their careers.

She also sponsors more than 20 students and five orphans to pursue their high school, college and university education. In 2020, she individually championed the construction of a classroom block and equipped a library for BL TEZZA School for the hearing-impaired students in Nyatike Migori County.

2

For the past four years, Catherine has been the Chief Executive Officer of APA Life Insurance Company. By championing the development of such innovative products as Upendo, the first end-to-end digital microlife product, the firm has witnessed impressive performance with revenue increasing 43 percent and assets by approximately 50 percent. Equivalently, the APA Life Fund has grown by over Ksh 2 billion under her tenure.

She has been recognized as a leader who fosters a customer-focused environment, delivering products and services that exceed customers’ expectations. Overseeing company operations to ensure efficiency, quality service and cost-effective management of resources, Catherine’s continuous improvement approach has anchored the firm’s sustainable growth.

Catherine is active in the community. She supports Nthimbiri Primary School as an alumni member and has contributed individually towards the provision of clean piped water, and new and better toilets. The school has also been assisted during the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic through provision of soap and masks. She also serves on the management team of a community church where she supported digitization in the wake of COVID and helped mobilize food and other basic needs for church members who were impacted through loss of businesses and jobs as a result of the pandemic.

3

Lina serves as Chief Executive Officer of NCBA Bank PLC, one of the fastest growing banks in Rwanda.  A key approach to her leadership is to foster institutional growth through digital-led efficiency and staff engagement. In her first years as CEO, Lina consolidated operations, revised the business model and introduced new income and customer segments, resulting in a remarkable growth in operating income by 141 percent, driven by a 163 percent growth of the loan portfolio. 

She has delivered five key digitization and efficiency projects, which attracted new customers and grew the bank’s deposit base by 99 percent ($21m to $41m) between 2019 and 2020; and mobile money customer base to represent 80 percent of Rwanda’s active mobile money users. Lina’s leadership style has resulted in a positive culture within the bank, which is rated the highest in the NCBA group in terms of employee satisfaction.

Prior to joining NCBA, she served as Chief Operating Officer (COO) at AB Bank Rwanda, where she helped streamline operations resulting in a 150 percent growth in non-funded income and 235 percent growth in payment transaction volumes.

In 2019, she set up a "Fee Gap Fund" dubbed “LIK Fund” to support university students with housing, food, fees and transport, and in January 2021 she co-initiated the introduction of a mental health Employee Assistance Program (EAP) for the banking sector which will be launched in May.

4

Elizabeth is Director of Business Banking at Absa Bank Kenya Plc. She joined Absa in 2018 and was tasked with developing and executing a workable growth strategy. Within a year, she was able to identify opportunities of growth and areas that required re-organization and re-building. In 2019, the bank’s asset book grew by 28 percent, customer deposit base was up 6 percent and for the first time, the Business Banking Segment revenue recorded a positive growth. Despite the challenging business environment in 2020, her division recorded a 10 percent growth in earnings. 

One of her key initiatives was to make Absa (formerly Barclays) more friendly to small local businesses. As such, she led the review of lending policies and introduction of new unsecured products. This new proposition was anchored on a campaign dubbed “Wezesha Biashara.” Elizabeth is a key supporter of women entrepreneurs and a key believer in women’s economic empowerment. Under her steer, the bank launched a Ksh 10 Billion fund for women entrepreneurs to grow their businesses and enhance their management skills.

She also has been instrumental in building and established lasting collaborative engagements with key stakeholders, including Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KNCCI), Kenya Association on Manufactures (KAM), International Trade Centre SHE Trades, and Kenya Private Sector Alliance (KEPSA).

Over the years, Elizabeth has supported Wema Rehabilitation Center for Street Children in Mombasa; mentorship of students at Kenya High School; and Marera SDA Church in sponsoring children in need.

5

As Country Head of Risk and Compliance at KCB South Sudan, Joanita has improved the bank’s operations by introducing risk management structures and frameworks that have stymied losses. Through her efforts, the bank’s write-offs have drastically reduced with zero losses due to fraud and full compensation to affected customers, averting all potential penalties and reputational damage costs. She has implemented robust Anti-Money Laundering (AML)and Counter-Terrorist Financing (CFT) systems for rigorous monitoring of customer profiles and transactions in South Sudan, which is a “hotspot” area for U.S. and UN sanctions and embargoes; this has created a competitive advantage for the bank and enhanced confidence and continued business with international partners.

For these interventions, KCB South Sudan is recognized for attaining the highest Enterprise-Wide Risk Management Index Score within KCB Group. She also has been instrumental in building an effective compliance and risk management culture which has reinforced system efforts to minimize operational errors and/or failures and promote operational efficiency.

Previously, she served as Governance and Control Manager at ABSA Bank Uganda Ltd., where she contributed to firm performance by sealing income leakages through fraud detection and prevention that reduced the bank's operational loss expense from 20 percent to 6 percent of Profit Before Tax.

Within the community, Joanita supports the Juba Teaching and Referral Hospital, where she has organized and secured funding to procure medical equipment, including delivery beds for expectant mothers, mattresses and wheelchairs.

6

Millicent serves as the Technical Assistance Expert on Inclusive Finance with a focus on Women Empowerment Policy and Affirmative Finance at the African Development Bank (AfDB). At the Bank, she has guided transformative gender finance by strengthening gender mainstreaming across AfDB operations and strategies while also addressing the Bank’s internal transformation to make it a more supportive, gender-responsive institution that values its female and male staff equally.

She supported the establishment of the Gender Equality Trust Fund, the first thematic fund on gender in the AfDB history. She also has championed a Risk Share Mechanism facility, a transaction seeking to unlock up to USD 2 billion in credit; this is the largest effort ever to bridge the gap in access to finance for women in Africa’s history.

Alongside the finance space, she consistently contributes to the national and regional gender machinery for empowerment of women and girls through Kenya Girl Guides Association, Institute of Certified Public Accountants in Kenya, Association of Women Accountants in Kenya and the National Gender Sector Working Group. She is also a regional advocate for financial inclusion through the African Women Leadership Network (AWLN). She previously served as the Chief Operations Officer and Head of Business at the Agricultural Finance Corporation, and General Manager at Kenya Women Microfinance Bank.

7

Emmanuella is Head of Information Technology at KCB Rwanda, where she provides vision and leadership for developing and implementing strategic initiatives. She is responsible for directing the planning and implementation of IT systems in support of business operations in order to improve cost effectiveness, service quality, and business development. As such, she is accountable for daily operations of technology and providing ongoing systems and cybersecurity service to internal staff, as well as, other stakeholders.

Some of her achievements include the successful delivery of a USD 3 million project for a new infrastructure, covering the core banking system and the bank’s primary and disaster recovery datacenters. This project was completed with a 10 percent cost saving and within timelines, despite challenging requirements.

A believer in employee development, she has mentored and trained junior staff, including three employees who have advanced to become managers. When she joined the bank’s IT department, she was the only female. Over time, she has influenced a more diverse culture which has attracted more female professionals; the IT department is now comprised of 38 percent female and 62 percent male employees. She recognizes that this is not gender parity and continues to work towards that goal.

In addition to mentoring women within the bank, Emmanuella is a member of Techwomen Rwanda, which is an initiative of the U.S Department of State to empower, connect and support the next generation of women leaders in STEM. Through the program, she mentors and trains students in local schools.

8

Judith is the KCB Group Head of Corporate Affairs and this role involves managing brand reputation, stakeholder engagement, internal and external strategic communications, and sustainability and responsible banking. She has spearheaded the bank’s sustainability initiatives that in 2020 resulted in accreditation with the global Green Climate Fund (GCF), which will see the bank access up to USD 250 million in funding for onward lending to clients aligned to climate change mitigation and adaptation. KCB is the first bank in the country to be accredited. Judith’s efforts toward making KCB an environmentally responsible bank were underpinned in 2014 when she helped incorporate Environmental and Social Governance (ESG) requirements into the bank’s credit processes.

Judith has honed her leadership capability at the highest corporate level, working with various KCB Boards and Committees, including by serving as a member of the KCB Executive Committee (EXCO), KCB Wellness Committee, and KCB Staff Recognition Committee. She previously was a Board Director of KCB Insurance for three years. In addition, she serves on the Kenya Bankers Association (KBA) Sustainable Finance Initiative (SFI) Committee, United Nations Environmental Program Financial Initiative (UNEP Fi) Committee, and Membership Committee at Women in Boards (WOB).

Previously, she served as Public Relations Manager at Kenya Railways Corporation, where she successfully designed and executed programs to promote the privatization of Kenya Railways, in addition to improving the outlook of the Nairobi Railway Museum and its publications and overseeing its opening to the public.

9

Rosemary is ESG & Impact Manager at Catalyst Principal Partners. She has spearheaded enhanced Environmental, Social & Governance (ESG) risk management practices, which have contributed to a robust risk assessment of non-financial parameters that contribute to financial performance through improved governance structures, reduced costs, improved efficiency, and improved stakeholder engagement, among others.

She has been responsible for monitoring business integrity practices, corporate and legal affairs, compliance management and reporting; as well as, stakeholder relations. In addition, she leads monitoring and support to investment professionals and ensuring that internal policies and procedures, laws, regulations and ethical standards are strictly adhered to by the Fund, Manager and Investee companies. She is Secretary to the Investors Advisory Board and served as Secretary to the Investment Committee.

Her achievements include developing and managing ESG frameworks for two private equity funds, representing USD 300 million in assets under management and more than 10 local and international investors. In addition, she is responsible for incorporating ESG aspects across 12 companies spanning Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG), pharmaceutical sector, printing and office automation, heavy equipment leasing, agribusiness and financial institutions. Her efforts have resulted in 100 percent wastewater treatment and recycling in some portfolio companies, improved health and safety performance, reduction in loss time injuries, gender considerations, improved governance structures, and prevented sanctions and penalties through strict adherence to compliance policies.

Rosemary previously served as Legal Counsel to United States International University (USIU), where she successfully set up the office of the Legal Counsel; established a Board and Management Council Secretariat; and oversaw the setting up of an Endowment Fund for USIU. She earlier served as Legal Officer at Jubilee Insurance Company Limited and Nairobi Securities Exchange.

In her spare time, she volunteers as a mentor and coach. She has mentored four ladies through university and into employment. She also serves as special advisor to EGF, an impact fund seeking to raise USD 100 million.

10

Pooja is the Co-Founder of two profitable companies: QuantaRisk, an insurance consulting firm and QuantaInsure, an insurance agency which sells a variety of insurance products from multiple companies digitally via mobile application technology. The platform enables customers to buy a policy or make a claim within minutes. As a founding team member, she contributes to business strategy and development, project management and client relations. As a qualified actuary and insurance consultant, Pooja leads technical aspects of client projects. Her clients include businesses with annual turnover of more than Ksh 20 billion. She also supports clients with insurance training and awareness.

Prior to founding her companies, Pooja worked as an actuary at XL Catlin (UK) until 2018. While at the firm she helped digitize its insurance reserving process. The USD 1 million project included working with interdepartmental teams such as Actuarial, Finance, Claims, IT, as well as, offices across the globe in order to understand their current processes and future requirements.

Pooja is passionate about women in business, youth mentoring, and philanthropy. Since returning to Kenya from the United Kingdom in 2018, she has helped promote opportunities for women in business through New Faces New Voices; and has helped raise donations to distribute much-needed items to schools and children’s homes.