Women in Business Leadership

As the Global Director of Trade and Investment Policy for The Dow Chemical Company, Lisa oversees the global function and cross-business priorities for the global trade agenda as well as developing strategy on the international aspects of key corporate issues. Based in Washington, DC, Lisa’s responsibilities focus on trade policy and legislation, trade negotiations, and investment issues that foster growth in Dow’s global businesses through identification of policies facilitating market access and reducing global distribution costs.

Before joining Dow, Lisa was the Executive Director of the TransAtlantic Business Dialogue (TABD). TABD is a unique trade-facilitation process by which American and European corporations work with the U.S. Administration and the European Commission to implement practical, detailed recommendations. Lisa was responsible for staffing the U.S. Chair CEO, working with the issue committees to develop and promote their recommendations, and facilitating business and government interaction.

Ms. Schroeter joined TABD in 1999, and managed the process on behalf of the Boeing Company, PricewaterhouseCoopers, United Technologies Corporation and Xerox.

Lisa is currently a member of the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR); President of Women in International Trade (WIIT) and a Board Member of the Washington International Trade Association, US Council for International Business and the US-ASEAN Busienss Council. She serves as the Chair of the ICCA Trade Network and Global Regulatory Cooperation task forces as well as the US Business Committee of the Transatlantic Policy Network (TPN)

Mrs. Temitope Iluyemi, is the Senior Director, Global Government Relations for Africa region at P&G. Temitope, a qualified pharmacist, joined P&G Nigeria in 1998.

In her over 22years career with P&G, she has distinguished herself with a breadth of roles spanning across commercial and corporate functions (Sales, Market strategy and planning, Supply Network operations, External relations, and Government Relations).
In this timeframe, Mrs. Iluyemi has lived and worked from Nigeria, South Africa, Ghana, Togo, and the United States of America delivering significant value to P&G across business disciplines.

Following her assignment in Washington D.C in 2017, she relocated back to Nigeria and her Government relations role was expanded across the 54countries in Africa.

Temitope is a member of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria, sits on several boards & advisory boards including P&G Nigeria, Montserrado B.V, Corporate Council on Africa, Chairman of the Taskforce on Trade facilitation at the US Chamber of commerce and involved in various local community projects. Mrs. Iluyemi is passionate about governance, is a strong gender advocate and passionate about people and national development. She is a keen advocate of the African regional integration and a highly sought-after speaker who has advocated over several global platforms for the integration of African markets and the AfCFTA.

Mrs. Iluyemi was recognized among the Top 50 Leading ladies in Corporate Nigeria 2019, Top50 Leading African Corporate Women in 2021, Women who made impact in 2019 by the Guardian publication and recognized with a Honoris causa doctorate in 2019.

Margaret Mutheu is the Regional Director of Africa for WEConnect International.

Margaret is responsible for the oversight of all efforts and engagements of WEConnect International in Africa as we look to expand our impact in the region.

Margaret is an entrepreneur and entrepreneurship ecosystem enabler who is passionate about empowering African owned businesses to compete globally. Previously, she worked with 1Million Startups (an organization she founded in 2017) where she was responsible for running the East Africa Chapter and Women Biz360 Hub (which she launched in 2019). Through these initiatives, she mobilized and empowered youth and women owned businesses tackling sustainable development goals challenges through entrepreneurship.

She was also a lead trainer and coach for the International Trade Centre, SheTrades Commonwealth initiative. During her tenure she was responsible for empowering 1000 women owned businesses in the IT/BPO, Tourism, Agribusiness and Textile & Apparel services industries, providing insight and guidance on export market readiness and crisis management during the Covid 19 pandemic. In addition, she has consulted with several other global, regional and local organizations like TFO Canada, Boehringer Ingelheim, 1000 Alternatives, Konza Technocity, I Choose Life Africa, Emerging Leaders Foundation, and Mu-Data Analytics.

Margaret is currently a Fellow of the Prestigious Launch & Grow program by Women for Africa & Santander Bank Program at Babson Executive College. She was also a FEBA/Enpact Fellow for women enabling tech initiatives for women in Africa.

She has been a keynote speaker at the 1Million Startups global conference, Nairobi Tech week and Nairobi Innovation week. She was the recipient of a global award in recognition for her special contribution in raising awareness of employment and future of work in Kenya.

Margaret has a technology background with a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science and Technology from Maseno university in Kenya. She has also worked for the leading national broadcaster Kenya Broadcasting Corporation and Britam a financial services company responsible for IT service delivery across East Africa.

Margaret is happily married and enjoys spending time with her three children.

Throughout her 30-plus years in global development, Karen Sherman has met and interviewed thousands of women in war-torn and transitional countries around the world. Their remarkable stories of strength, courage and resourcefulness fuel what she believes to be true: women’s education and economic participation has the power to transform the lives of women and the future of families, communities and societies.

Karen currently serves as a senior advisor on the African Women’s Workforce Initiative, a Google-funded project run by the Akilah Institute in Rwanda. She is the former president of
Akilah leading on strategy, partnerships and governance.

Karen is a successful author and entrepreneur. She recently launched and serves as the CEO of Virunga Mountain Spirits, a new enterprise in Rwanda. Her memoir, Brick by Brick -- Building
Hope and Opportunity for Women Survivors Everywhere, was published by Rowman & Littlefield in 2020.

MaryAnne Mwaura is a self-driven professional and passionate leader with over 20 years working experience in the financial services industry in senior Public Affairs, Marketing, and Business Development and Customer Service roles.

MaryAnne is the Public Affairs Officer for Citi in East Africa where she provides general public affairs counsel and support to all core businesses across East Africa. She is also involved in developing and executing crisis management plans, coordinating all media relations activities, developing and carrying out employee engagement plans. She is also the Regional Heads for the Citi Foundation, which works to promote economic progress and improve the lives of people in low-income communities, invest in efforts that increase financial inclusion, catalyze job opportunities for youth, and reimagine approaches to building economically vibrant communities globally.

She previously worked at Standard Chartered Bank as the Cluster Head, Service Quality for the East Africa region where she demonstrated expertise in change management. Prior to this, she was the Acting Communications and Corporate Affairs Manager at NIC Bank Limited. She is skilled in sales, promotion, negotiation and persuasion skills, which she gained, in her first career role as a relationship manager at Triple A Capital.

MaryAnne holds an Honours degree in Sociology and Literature from the University Of Nairobi (UON). She also holds a diploma from the Chartered Institute of Public Relations (UK) and a Diploma in Executive Coaching from the Association of Executive Coaches (UK).
MaryAnne was instrumental in the formation of the Institute of Customer Service Kenya Limited has been a member of the Sema Toast masters club in Kenya. She is passionate about personal leadership and volunteers mentoring services to several organizations.