AmCham Force for Good

Ms. Mugambi has been the Director of Public Affairs and lead on the Sustainable Finance Initiative since 2012. She has wide experience in the banking, having served as spokesperson and head of corporate and investor relations at Barclays. Previously, she has held management roles supporting Fortune 100 companies in the U.S., including fast moving consumer goods, telecommunications, forest products and healthcare companies. She has spearheaded several strategic KBA initiatives, including designing the Kenya Green Bond Program which saw Kenya become the first country in East and Central Africa to raise a corporate green bond.

Her contributions towards policy formulation have led the banking industry towards adopting numerous progressive practices, particularly in the areas of Sustainable Finance. For her contributions, she was awarded the Fellow of the Kenya Institute of Bankers (FKIB) designation in 2015, becoming one of the youngest women bankers to earn the prestigious designation. She was recognized in 2016 by the Eisenhower Fellowships program and U.S. President Barack Obama as an emerging African leader.

Winner of the Africa Sustainability Leadership Award (2013); and CEO Magazine's Most Influential Woman in Africa - Finalist (2013), Nuru has served on the statutory Judiciary Mediation Accreditation Committee and is currently a member of the National Treasury Taskforce on the SME Credit Guarantee Scheme. She is a founding member of the Kenya Chapter of Graca Machel's New Faces/New Voices Pan African network that promotes womens' economic empowerment. She graduated with honors in Business Administration from Kennesaw State University (Ga.); and has an Executive MBA degree in Strategy from Georgia State University, Atlanta.

Chris joined Hudson Sandler in 2019 to lead Hudson Sandler Africa. He has advised multinational corporations and organisations at a senior level around the world and has a proven track record of developing communications strategies and creative campaigns for some of Africa’s most prestigious and high-profile brands, corporations, NGOs, and public sector bodies. He was named by PRWeek as one the UK’s most influential PR practitioners; and one of the most influential international PR professionals. Chris is a Fellow and former President of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations, as well as a member of the Public Relations Society of Kenya. He is the author of several books on public relations, including Winning Reputations: How to Be Your Own Spin Doctor and Creative Business.

Birju brings to the role over 22 years of corporate banking experience, having started as a graduate trainee in Kenya. He is an accomplished banker, with experience cutting across corporate banking, corporate finance and transaction banking. His career has seen him work across the Standard Chartered network, including Kenya, the United Kingdom, South Africa and the United Arab Emirates.

Career
Prior to this appointment, Birju managed the Global Banking Business in Kenya before the integration of the Global Banking and Commercial Banking businesses. Previously he was the Managing Director and Head of Trade for Africa & Middle East in Transaction Banking, based in the United Arab Emirates. He worked to drive digitization of trade finance through the use of technology and fintech partnerships. He has worked in other roles within the bank, including regional Head of Commercial Banking for Transaction Banking for Africa & the Middle East and Regional Head of Product management, Transaction Banking for Africa. He has also been a relationship manager and a corporate finance banker executing transactions in power, telecoms, infrastructure, oil & gas, manufacturing and commodities. He holds a degree in Business Economics & Finance from Loughborough University in the United Kingdom. He has immense optimism in Africa and catalysing capital to deliver its growth. He is passionate about mentoring young people as well elephant and rhino conservation.

Sigee Koech is a Partner in Dentons Hamilton Harrison & Mathews specializing in banking and finance law.
She also has significant experience in real estate/conveyancing law where she advices real estate developers and in general commercial law advising on business set-up in Kenya and on continuing corporate governance matters.
In her banking and finance practice, Sigee represents both Kenyan and foreign lenders with respect to secured and unsecured financing and has also acted for borrowers in local and cross-border financing transactions. She has also acted as the lead advisor on several project finance transactions focusing on infrastructure projects being undertaken by the Government of Kenya. She recently was part of the team that advised a syndicate of lenders in relation to East Africa’s first, US$ 75M, local currency syndicated sustainable finance facility.
Sigee is recognized and highly regarded as a leading lawyer by international legal directories IFLR 1000 and Legal 500.

Mr Mecheo is the EAC Regional Coordinator at the USAID’s Kenya Investment Mechanism.

The Kenya Investment Mechanism (KIM) is a five-year USAID project (2018-2023) that is facilitating $520 million in investment for key sectors of East Africa Community's economy (EAC + Ethiopia), including agriculture, and for regional trade and investment opportunities. The project’s scope is therefore the East Africa Community region and Ethiopia. The initiative supports the mobilization of private investment and accelerates enterprise-driven development through the stimulation of sustainable financial market systems to unlock capital and facilitating access to finance by SMEs.

The project counts amongst its agribusiness clients; i.e. leading international and local companies, operating throughout the food chain from farming to agro processing, food distribution and retail.

Mr Mecheo has over 20 years of experience in Agriculture finance and industry. His previous work experience was with the Agri-Jobs 4 Youth Initiative of GIZ where he oversaw the identification and preparation of projects to be financed by major international financing institutions such as the World Bank or the International Fund of Agriculture (IFAD) in Sub-Saharan Africa. He also worked for the Netherlands Business Hub (an initiative of the Embassy of the Kingdom of Netherlands in Kenya to booster trade between EAC and Netherlands). While with the hub he provided his expertise in Analysis of the Competitiveness of Agriculture in the Eastern Africa Community region, promoting trade & investment and on agitating for enabling environment finance and investment policies in Kenya, Rwanda, and Uganda. Mr Mecheo holds an MSC degree in Agricultural Economics. He also holds am MSC in Entrepreneurship, post-graduate diploma in Project Planning & Management as well as a BSc degree in Agriculture.

Timothy Nzioka is a development Economist with over 30 years development experience acquired working in many sub-Saharan African countries. He is currently Executive Director of Sustainable Interventions for Development Enhancement, a Pan-African organization that provides market driven solutions to the private sector and local communities in Africa to enhance economic, social, and environmental development for sustainable wealth creation. In this capacity, Tim provides technical support to the USADF as their Director of Program Operations for Africa leading partnership engagements with host governments as well as with public and private entities in Africa and the United States. In addition, Tim leads the conceptualization, design, and development of special initiatives across the USADF programming.

Before re-joining the USADF, Timothy worked for the Land O’Lakes International Development (now Venture 37) for several years during which he served in different capacities including Malawi Country Director and Chief of Party of a USDA funded program, Chief of Party for a Powering African Agriculture Program in Kenya funded by the USAID, Regional Director for East and Southern Africa and as the Director of Programs for Africa.

Before joining Land O’Lakes, Tim worked for close to ten years with the United States African Development Foundation, initially as the Country Representative in Uganda and later as Regional Representative (Eastern Africa) and Senior Advisor to the USADF President where he spearheaded the implementation of dozens of investments and technical assistance support to enterprises and grassroot producer groups including setting up of the USADF Kenyan operations and programming. He also served for 6 years as the Chief Executive Officer of a National Non-Governmental Organization (Kenya Gatsby Trust-KGT-now Kenya Market Trust) where he was instrumental in the turnaround of the organization and the development of innovative impact-based programs supporting enterprise development. Tim is an entrepreneur in his own right having set up own consulting firm and successfully carried out over 20 major consulting assignments over a period of six years in several African countries in the areas of institutional development; impact investing; technical assistance in value chains, technology development, certification, market access and trade among other enterprise related support. Timothy has a master’s degree in Entrepreneurial Studies from the United Kingdom and undergraduate qualification in Business and Economics. He is an Alumni of London Business School having successfully completed an Executive Leadership Program at the Prestigious Learning Institution.

Rebecca is an award-winning sustainability communications expert, creating programmes that improve global companies’ ESG ratings, develop their reputations for responsibility and drive industry leadership positioning. Built on more than 20 years’ experience of crisis and reputation management, her work today helps organisations overcome industry-wide ethical, environmental and social issues. Rebecca advises a broad range of industries – from extractives to food service – and provides senior counsel to governments and regulators. Rebecca is currently developing sustainability strategies and profiles for the world’s largest producer of low carbon aluminium, a leading sustainable palm oil producer and companies in the mining, food and FMCG sectors.