Married with one child and a promising career ahead, i think she stands out...



PATRICIA MURUGAMI, 33 Director of Executive Education, Strathmore Business School.

Patricia Murugami is a busy woman and not just because she has to come up with competitive talent development programmes and executes them for her employer, Strathmore Business School. The trained marketer, auditor and management expert also has to keep an eye on Kenya’s multi-billion shilling wedding industry where through Elegant Brides and related businesses, she does a range of activities tied to wedding planning. With all these chores on her hands, the married mother of one still considers her family her most important job. “The biggest lesson I have learnt is that if one gets things in the family right, the rest including career and business will flow,” she said. At SBS, she heads a team of eight executives charged with running executive programmes, a key income stream for the Madaraka-based university. Some of the programmes she has run include the leading woman just last week while there are several other upcoming ones such as balanced scorecard, operational excellence and the effective director. Ms Murugami, who joined SBS two years ago, says she has increased the annual programme offering four-fold, from five to 20, in what she considers her biggest achievement in the current job. Previously, she worked at listed cement maker Bamburi as a business controller, a position she joined after holding different roles in audit and consulting at consultancy firms Deloitte, KPMG and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). Ms Murugami, who holds an MBA in Strategic Management and Marketing from the University of Nairobi, believes her strength is in leadership, management, strategy, process improvement, marketing and business continuity. And she is not done yet.

What is so special about Caroline Mutoko? I mean, seriously. Kindly school me.

Don't even get me started on Esther Arunga. Let's concentrate on Mutoko for now.

@vinii the list you are referring to is outdated by one year - Evidently, the problem of being too digital...

The list did run but Ms. Murugami did not make it to this year's list. This year, there was a panel so I think the list was more sound than last years...


Spreads 1 and 2 had women of admirable achievement. Difficult not to notice the voyage of women into tech - Ms. Olga Arara, Ms. Isis Nyongo, Ms. Ory Okolloh, Ms. Jessicah Colaco.

I particularly liked these new entrants:
Ms. Maggie Ireri, MD or Synovate Kenya.
Ms. Sylvia Mulinge, GM Enterprise, Safaricom Business
Ms. Aggnes Kagure, Executive Financial Advisor


Spreads 3 and 4
Ms. Julie Gichuru (37) has an undergraduate degree in law and an MBA. She is striking, elegant, and passionate - and is given too much of a hard rap in Wazua, considering her achievements if you ask me.

I like the verve of youth in:
Sakina Hassanali (27), Marketing Manager HassConsult
Rosa Nduati-Mutoer (31), Partner Anjarwalla & Khanna
Angela Waki (30), Partner Coulson Harney
Harpeet Ubhi (30), Partner Daly @ Figgis


Best of...
Ms. Isis Nyong'o (33) Managing Director InMobi undergrad at Stanford, MBA from Harvard, and youngest MD
Ms. Ory Okolloh (34) co-Founder Ushahidi most famed and recognized in 2011 most influential women in tech
Ms. Marion Gathoga (39) Managing Director, Cadbury has been on the list 3 times
Ms. Adema Sangale (34) Managing Director, Proctor & Gamble EA, youngest MD of a global giant, from a graduate recruit to the top