It is now a special season as the curtains close in the year 2023. It has been a year graced by many occasions, valuable lessons, meaningful journeys, and substantial growth.
The first edition of this digital honorary recognition was in April 2017. Here is a compilation of the top 25 women in Kenya’s digital spaces for the year 2023.
Top 25 Women in Digital 2023:
1. Caroline Mutuku – Country General Manager, Glovo
Caroline is the Country Manager at Glovo, a pioneering tech-enabled multi-category app connecting users with businesses, and couriers, offering on-demand services from local restaurants, grocers and supermarkets, and high street retail stores.
She is in charge of growing the adoption of the quick commerce business model in marketing, growing users and the overall return on investment.
2. Hellen Ng’anga – Chief Marekting Officer, Jumia Kenya
Hellen is the CMO at Jumia Kenya a leading pan-African e-commerce platform, present across 14 countries in Africa. She oversees the online and offline marketing activities including delivery of growth metrics that affect the overall business objectives.
She is an e-commerce thought leader who is shaping the readiness of e-commerce adoption in different markets, building a vibrant ecosystem and leading in the adoption of innovative marketing activities in the industry.
3. Caroline Wanjiku – Co-Founder & CEO, Digital Village Africa
Caroline is the Co-founder and CEO of Digital Village Africa a tech social enterprise that aims at offering digital solutions and address challenges confronting the African continent.
She is responsible for the firm’s management including establishing strategies that augment the organization’s capabilities key to achieving company growth, customer satisfaction, and building a resilient and fun culture.
4. Chepkemoi Magdaline – Founder & Executive Director, EldoHub
Chepkemoi is the Founder & Executive Director of EldoHub, a technology, innovation and entrepreneurship hub, which supports youth and women to start and grow businesses by leveraging the power of technology.
She is a technical person with over 12 years’ experience having served in different capacities as a software engineer, network management system engineer, Data Science, ICT4D and as an educator in different universities.
5. Topyster Muga – Founder, Prosper Mentor
Topyster is the founder of Prosper Mentor a virtual safe space that ignites and accompanies individuals who are on a journey to becoming their greatest selves through inspiration, knowledge and guidance from mentors who transfer their expertise to mentees for personal, career and professional growth.
Prosper Mentor has gained traction since COVID-19 after intensively training IT mentees and connecting them with industry practitioners as mentors.
6. Annstella Mumbi – General Manager, Tala
Mumbi is a business leader with experience in fintech and edutech working across Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, Ghana, South Africa and Uganda.
She’s the General Manager at Tala, a leading money app offering credit, payments, savings, and transfer services globally.
She is responsible for overall operations, strategy execution and creating strategic partnerships for overall growth. Before her promotion to her current position, she worked in the same organization as Director of growth.
7. Lydiah Karanja – Microsoft Garage Lead – East Africa, Microsoft
Lydia is a seasoned professional with several years of experience in the tech space in Africa. She is passionate about providing and establishing platforms and programs that connect tech enthusiasts to learn, share and engage with each other to foster innovation.
As the leader of The Microsoft Garage in East Africa, she curates transformative programs and experiences for Microsoft employees, customers, and partners to unleash creativity, and encourage experimentation to drive breakthrough solutions and business success.
She is also spearheading the Garage Skill Up AI program in East Africa to empower the workforce and ecosystem visitors with cutting-edge knowledge and capabilities in AI.
8. Dorothy Kahenya – Head of Social Media Department, JKUAT
Dorothy is an ICT Professional and Customer Relations Manager at Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture & Technology. She is part of the team that set up and established the Social Media & Customer Relations Department at JKUAT which she heads.
She has created a robust digital presence for JKUAT and led different initiatives that connect students with digital practitioners and experts.
Dorothy has created strategic partnerships that enhance students’ digital skills, gain access to on-demand work and become competitive in the modern workplace.
9. Sandra Suzanne Buyole – Regional PR Manager, Africa Bolt
Sandra joined Bolt recently where she is leading the communications and public relations across the African market, spanning Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa, Ghana, Nigeria, and Tunisia.
She has been instrumental in the development of communications strategies for leading online technology businesses in the region. She was the communications Manager at Sendy a platform built to enable businesses of all types and sizes to transport goods easily across East Africa through technology.
She also worked at OLX Group as the PR and Communications Lead where she managed consumer safety crisis communications via digital and mainstream media and coordinated key strategic partnerships.
10. Kakea Mbacha – Country Manager, LemFi
Kakea is the Country Manager at LemFi an International Payments platform that facilitates sending of money to friends and family in 20+ countries.
She is also the Chief Executive Officer at the Association of Fintechs in Kenya which spearheads and advocates for digital innovation as a core strategy for efficiency, scalability, and competitive positioning.
Kakea is a digital thought leader with a good grasp of different industries including fintech, digital marketing and technology.
11. Linet Wanjiku Kinyua – Co-Founder & Director, Pensoft Systems Limited
Linet is a Co-founder and Director at Pensoft Systems Limited an innovative software development, IT Services, Engineering and Management Consulting Company.
She is a business leader with over 15 years of experience across different industries including hospitality, information technology, and real estate among others.
She has been at the forefront of leading Pensoft’s digital transformation by providing innovative digital solutions to corporations and SMEs in Mauritius, Ghana, Zambia and Kenya. Her innovative digital initiatives have won prestigious awards in the region.
12. Mwajuma Salim – Head of Digital Commerce & Customer Experience, Kenya Airways
Mwajuma is also the Ag. General Manager, Digital Brand and Marketing at Kenya Airways, responsible for the development, implementation and transformation of the airline’s digital sales strategies, revenue maximization and cost reduction.
The assignment also includes coordination of the airline’s digital marketing innovations, building robust customer experiences and implementation of overall digital and omnichannel strategy responsible for more than 30% of revenue generation.
Her scope is global with a team spread across different zones including North America, Europe, Africa, the Middle East & Asia.
13. Eunie Khimuli Nyakundi – Global Head of Commercial & Marketing, Kyosk App
Eunie is currently the Global Head of Commercial & Marketing at Kyosk Digital Services, a digital-first and data-led distribution platform empowering traditional African retailers, farmers, and their customers.
Previously, she held leadership positions at IBM, where she drove revenue growth by resellers and distributors, delivered on the IBM Channel marketing strategy in 35 countries across Africa, and led IBM marketing, communications, and corporate citizenship in the Eastern Africa region.
Kenya’s Top 25 Men in Digital 2023 Edition
14. Amelia Aganda – Integrated Media Manager, Safaricom PLC
At Safaricom PLC, Amelia is in charge of the development of an integrated media strategy and its execution to support the marketing communications efforts.
She is very active in supporting initiatives that grow the industry and enhance the professional well-being of others. She has also been involved as a speaker in mentorship programs that support digital skills development for the youth.
She previously worked as the Digital and Media lead on Youth Segment-Blaze and Retail Marketing presiding over the development of the Blaze website and Blaze App with new features that saw a 50% increase in the monthly users.
She also grew the Blaze social media pages and consistently maintained an engagement rate of 35% vs the global benchmark of 1% and in 2019 had less than 1% negative sentiment throughout the year.
15. Beatrice Njiraini – Regional Manager East Africa, Eskimi
Beatrice is a Regional Manager at Eskimi a full-stack programmatic advertising platform with more than 1.5B profiled users worldwide.
It offers advanced targeting, in-game advertising, and premium ad-ops services to build global brand awareness, reach, and engagement.
She is in charge of the development and implementation of global sales strategies and methodologies across key account management in 19 countries and team performance for a $3M business account.
She has managed to Increase client retention by 75% and reactivate 20% of lapsed accounts through expertise in nuanced regional market dynamics.
16. Angie Muigai – Head of Operations, KOKO Media
Angie heads product operations at KOKO Networks, a venture-backed technology company operating in East Africa and India that builds and deploys dense networks of cloud-connected “KOKOpoints” inside local corner stores, which serve as consumer access points for goods and services delivered in partnership with major suppliers.
She previously worked as a Lead Product Manager at Wikimedia Foundation (WMF) the non-profit that manages Wikipedia. She was focused on growing the use and reach of open knowledge across emerging markets.
17. Wanjiru Wanjiku – Digital Campaign Strategist, Oxfam International
Wanjiru works at Oxfam where she oversees the development and implementation of innovative digital campaign strategies, creating compelling campaign narratives and offering strategic direction to partners.
She previously worked at iProspect’s as a Media Planner where she developed integrated media plans for leading brands.
18. Leonida Otindo – Individual Giving, Digital UNHCR at the UN Refugee Agency
At UNHCR, Leonida creates plans, identifies strategic fundraising digital channels and mobilizes individual resource support and contributions towards major initiatives.
She has also worked at UNHCR as the Digital Engagement Lead responsible for donor acquisition and retention by supporting the development and coordination of regional digital campaigns and initiatives.
She recently implemented the Islamic Philanthropy campaign across the African region (South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria, Ghana, and Mauritius) through digital channels.
The overall performance massively exceeded the previous year’s results and drove the highest revenue (133% growth YoY).
19. Samantha Kipury – Founder & Group Head of Media, Dentsu Kenya
With over a decade of experience in Integrated Marketing Communications, Samantha has been instrumental in the adoption of digital marketing, e-commerce and skilled digital talent by different brands that she has worked with in the agency world.
As the Group Head of Media at Denstu, she leads a team of integrated media specialists that deliver phygital media experiences to customers and a strong positive impact on client P&L through optimized ads with high ROI.
Samantha founded Carat Media Agency in 2010 as the East African Coordinator and grew it to employ over 100 people, working alongside strong leadership in the digital and creative space. She also worked at Mediacom as a media manager.
20. Caroline Ndirangu – Head of Media, Digital & Insights, ABSA Bank Kenya
Caroline’s role at ABSA involves the development of integrated media strategic thought leadership and consumer planning strategies that inspire the business to drive growth.
Caroline has been part of different teams that have conceptualized and executed some of the most successful digital campaigns in the region.
As a Media Buying Specialist, she has worked with the leading digital advertising platforms and facilitated their growth in the region.
21. Annette Mutuku – Director, Board of Directors at ICT Authority
Annette is a Director at the ICT Authority Board where she is instrumental in championing the adoption of global technological innovations.
She believes Africa can and is accelerating solutions for the region and the world’s toughest challenges.
She is a communication and Leadership consultant with over 15 years of experience working across four continents with leading organizations that include Microsoft, General Electric Africa, GE Healthcare, WHO Foundation, and International Leadership University, among others.
22. Deepa Shah – Digital Marketing Lecturer & Consultant
Deepa is a renowned digital marketing lecturer who has taught Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) digital courses and other respected digital marketing certifications.
She has lectured on introduction to digital marketing, email marketing and digital strategy at Simon Page College of Marketing and Intel College.
She also worked at Imperial Bank as a relationship Marketing Manager where she designed innovative products, rejuvenated existing products and trained new and existing staff on digital marketing practices.
23. Judy Nyawira – Content Creator
Judy has created a huge and vibrant social media following driven by the informative and insightful family content she shares regularly.
She introduced her teen daughter Mumbus to social media where they have regular mother-daughter conversations. They freely talk about career choices, menstrual health, dating, cooking, shopping etc.
Judy also created an environment where her husband popularly known as Mkurungezi can freely have deep and open conversations with Mumbus.
24. Sueh Owino – Content Creator
Sueh is a fast-rising food content creator who became famous after her videos went viral when she participated in the challenge “I cook for My Husband every day”.
The TikTok Sensation whose account has grown to 290K+ followers with more than 8 Million likes creates well-thought-out quality videos demonstrating the step-by-step process of preparing different kinds of meals.
She showcases different menus and invites the online audience for a journey through meal preparation, cooking and serving.
25. Jenny Kariuki – Sales & Marketing Consultant, Global Trade Center (GTC Towers)
Jenny has built an illustrious career in the hospitality industry across the Middle East and Africa (MENA), American, and Asian markets.
She has developed expertise in leveraging digital technology to drive innovation and transformation in the hospitality industry marketing and corporate communications.
As a marketing consultant in the hospitality industry, she can map the customer journey across online and offline channels and integrate them to create a seamless phygital customer experience.
