Our bottom line is a self-sustaining continent. We aim to be the benchmark of technology and innovation globally.

Zainab Jaffer

Non-Executive Director

Zainab holds a Bachelor of Science Degree (Honours) in Management with Law from the London School of Economics and Political Science. She is a Director of MJ Group, a leading African port service provider based out of Kenya. She oversees the implementation of the Social Economic Development Initiative for Kenya (SEDIK), which has been launched under the guidance of the Kenyan Government to support Kenya’s Vision 2030. She serves as Director, Principal and/or Advisor to IFG Port Holdings, a New York-based global investment firm. Zainab is also a Board Member of the Coast General Hospital and leads the Jaffer Foundation which focuses on health, education and water services in the Coastal region of Kenya.

Mary Wamae

Non-Executive Director

Mary holds a Masters degree in Leading Innovation and Change from York St. John University, UK, a Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of Nairobi and a Diploma in Law from the Kenya School of Law. She is a graduate of the Advanced Management Programme (Strathmore – IESE Business School, Barcelona Spain) and the Advanced Management Programme at Harvard Business School. She is a Certified Public Secretary (Kenya) and member of The Institute of Certified Public Secretaries of Kenya (ICPSK), Law Society of Kenya, Women Corporate Directors and the Kenya Section of International Commission of Jurists. She is an Advocate of the High Court of Kenya and holds a Post Graduate Diploma in Gender and Development and has over 15 years’ experience in private legal practice.

Saralyn Wairimu

Associate Director Social Protection

Saralyn holds a Masters degree in Business Administration- Finance, a Bachelors of Science in Mathematics from Moi University and is currently pursuing a doctorate in Business Administration. She is Prince II certified and has successfully completed the Harvard Manage Mentor Program. Saralyn has extensive experience in project management and social protection and has over 16 years of experience in managing cash transfer, safety net and economic inclusion programmes in partnership with NGOs, development agencies and Government. Saralyn joined Equity in 2004 and currently manages partnerships with donors, NGOs and government ministries in Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania and South Sudan.

Penny Kimani

Director – Finance & Programmes Office

Penny holds a Bachelor of Science with distinction (summa cum laude) in International Business Administration from the United States International University and a post-graduate diploma in Project Planning and Management from the University of Nairobi. Penny has extensive experience in fund management, budgeting, internal controls, financial management systems, and audit services for NGOs, development agencies and the private sector. Prior to joining Equity Group Foundation, Penny worked as a manager in the Advisory Consulting – Public Sector Group of PwC, specializing in the delivery of project management and financial management advisory services to government ministries, NGOs and development partners in Africa.

Eric Naivasha

Associate Director - Energy & Environment

Eric holds Master of Science in Economics from University of Zimbabwe and a BA in Economics from Moi University, Kenya. He has 20 years working experience most of which has been gained in finance and energy sectors. During his working career, Eric has served in several senior positions including Managing Director at K-Rep Advisory Services in Kenya, Managing Director at Centre for Microenterprise Development (CMD) in Nigeria, Investment Director for Africa at Catalyst Microfinance Investors (CMI), Regional Director for MYC4 A/S and Venture Manager at Royal Philips in charge of BOP consumer energy in Africa. He has also conducted over 30 consultancy assignments in 12 countries in Africa and Asia mainly in the areas of financial access and renewable energy. Eric is also a certified trainer for Business and Strategic Planning, Accounting and Financial Analysis, Risk Management, Delinquency Management, Market research, Interest Rate Setting and Product Development for financial institutions (FIs). He is also a certified trainer for IFC Business Edge. He joined Equity Group Foundation in May 2016.

Dr. Joanne R. Korir

Director EGF Operations

Joanne Rotich Korir is an experienced Healthcare professional with over 10 years’ experience in clinical practice gained from both public sector and private medical service delivery scene in Kenya. She has worked with and led teams in the health sector to develop and implement efficient medical service delivery models which have strengthened, through value creation, Provider- Patient & Payer relationships in Healthcare. Dr. Korir is a trained medical doctor with a bachelor’s degree in Medicine & Surgery (MBChB) from the university of Nairobi and has completed her training for MBA (Healthcare Management) from Strathmore University and in Project Management in Global Health from University of Washington. She has held senior management positions in healthcare, operations management and contributed to management of various projects for infrastructure development & Healthcare social entrepreneurship within the East Africa region. She sits on the council of Kenya Medical Association, Nairobi Division.

Lauren Hendricks

Lauren Hendricks is the CEO of Equity Group Foundation International. Equity Group Foundation (EGF) was established in 2008 as the social arm of Equity Group Holdings. It seeks to transform the lives and livelihoods of the people of Africa. EGF was born out of Equity Bank’s commitment to enable sustainable development to the communities it serves; both through its core business model and its various corporate social responsibility initiatives.

Prior to Equity Group Foundation, Lauren served as the Executive Vice President of Grameen Foundation.  A global expert in international development and financial inclusion, she works to engage technology and private sector to address the critical challenges of our time.  She has partnered with banks, microfinance institutions, mobile network operators, and others in the private sector to adapt products and services to meet the needs of the poor, and to ensure that participants benefitted from new, digital financial services.

She was previously Executive Director for the Access Africa initiative at CARE, where she led the development of financial inclusion programs and innovative solutions that have had significant impact on financially disadvantaged communities.

Mo Meghji

Mo Meghji is a nationally recognized U.S. turnaround professional with an exemplary track record of accomplishment across a wide range of industries. His 25+ year career has focused primarily on reviving companies experiencing financial, operational or strategic transitions to maximize value for stakeholders. He has accomplished this through management and/or advisory roles in partnership with some of the world’s leading financial institutions, private equity and distressed hedge fund investors. ​Mo’s most recent corporate role was as Executive Vice President & Head of Strategy at Springleaf Holdings, LLC as well as CEO of its captive insurance companies. Springleaf was listed on the NYSE in late 2013. Prior to Springleaf, Mo co-founded Loughlin Meghji + Company, a financial and restructuring advisory firm which became one of the leading restructuring boutiques in the U.S. Earlier in his career, Mo spent 12 years with Arthur Andersen & Co. in the firm’s London, Toronto and New York offices as a Partner in the Global Corporate Finance group. ​

He has served as a director on a number of corporate boards including Mariner Health Care Inc, Cascade Timberlands, LLC, Dan River, Inc. and MS Resorts. He is a director of The Children’s Museum of Manhattan as well as the Equity Group International Foundation, which provides funding for underprivileged high potential students in Kenya. Previously, he served on the Board of HealthRight International from 2004 to 2012. ​Mo is a graduate of the Schulich School of Business, York University, Canada and has taken executive courses at the INSEAD School of Business in France. He has qualified as a U.K. and Canadian Chartered Accountant as well as a U.S. Certified Turnaround Professional.

Prof. Caroline Elkins

Prof. Caroline Elkins is Professor of History and of African and African American Studies at Harvard University, and also a faculty member at Harvard Business School and Harvard Law School. She is also the founding director of Harvard’s Center for African Studies. She received her A.B., summa cum laude, from Princeton University and her M.A. and Ph.D. from Harvard University. Her book, Imperial Reckoning:  The Untold Story of Britain’s Gulag in Kenya(Henry Holt, 2005) was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction in 2006.  It was also one of The Economist’s Best Books for 2005, an Editor’s Choice for The New York Times, a Waterstone’s Best Writer for 2005, and a finalist for the Lionel Gelber Prize for nonfiction. Elkins and her work have been profiled in newspapers and magazines around the world, including Newsweek, Time Magazine, The Los Angeles Times, Le Monde, The Guardian, and The Boston Globe, as well on various television and radio programs including Charlie Rose, CNN, Al Jazeera, BBC World News, NPR’s All Things Considered and Talk of the Nation, and BBC World Radio One and Radio Four.  She is a contributor to the New York Times Book Review, The Guardian, The Atlantic Monthly, The Washington Post, and The New Republic. She and her research were the subjects of a BBC documentary titled “Kenya:  White Terror,” which won the International Red Cross Award at the Monte Carlos Film Festival. More recently, her research served as the basis for the historic Mau Mau reparations case.

At Harvard Elkins was selected as a Walter Channing Cabot Fellow, elected as a member of the Faculty Council for Arts and Sciences, and inducted as an honorary member of the University’s Phi Beta Kappa chapter. She has also held numerous other fellowships and awards including those from the Guggenheim Foundation, the American Council of Learned Scholars, Fulbright, the Social Science Research Council, and the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study.

Zain Verjee 

Zain Verjee is journalist who was born and raised in Kenya. Zain is one of the world’s most respected and recognized journalists, with an action-packed background and experience as a storyteller, entrepreneur, communicator, and interviewer. She is well known as a former CNN anchor and correspondent, and has made a successful transition into the world of communications and creative entrepreneurship. Her communications firm, Zain Verjee Group, has worked with a deep lineup of organizations and entities such as Pfizer, Bloomberg Media, Bloomberg Philanthropies,  World Health Organization, The Saudi MiSK Foundation, GE Africa, the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa and Equity Group Foundation of Kenya on their communications and public relations delivery and strategies via advisory, consulting, and content production. She is a highly sought after facilitator and interviewer, and has spoken on platforms such as TED and Africa House. She is also a startup founder and content creator, co-founding aKoma Media, a continental network of workspaces for Africa’s creative and cultural economy, in 2015. Her other ventures in the creative space include Amplify, a content creator fellowship with participants from East/West Africa and the US, in partnership with MasterCard Foundation. In addition, with her former colleague and CNN anchor Isha Sesay, Zain will be launching Rouse, an immersive three day gathering event for an elite community of women in Africa and the diaspora in 2019.

Zain resides in the Los Angeles area and Nairobi, Kenya, and her versatility and charisma have been a great asset for her in her post anchor life and entrepreneurial ventures. She spent 14 years at CNN as an anchor and correspondent, living in Atlanta, Washington DC and London. Prior to leaving CNN in April 2014, Verjee was the anchor of CNN International’s European daytime program “World One”. She worked as a newsreader for The Situation Room, as a State Department correspondent covering Condoleezza Rice and US foreign policy.  She started her on-air career at Kenya Television Network in Nairobi and as a radio DJ on Capital FM.

Kabir Ahmad

Mr Ahmad’s career as an attorney financial professional and industrial developer spans over 25 years. His legal experience spans a broad range of fields including legal counsel with Prudential Securities as well as an attorney with the law firm of Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld and the law firm of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison. Mr. Ahmad also holds a senior executive position with IFG a developer and operator of industrial and port related assets. Through his role with IFG, Mr Ahmad has extensive experience in commodities supply chain management, industrial development, and global commodities logistics. In addition, Mr. Ahmad is a senior executive with Tradiverse, a global trader of a broad range of physics commodities. Through his role with Tradiverse Mr. Ahmad has extensive trading experiences in bulk agricultural and energy related commodities throughout the World. Taking into consideration Mr. Ahmad’s legal and business career he has been directly responsible for advising or handling projects in the US, Europe, Middle East, and Africa. Mr. Ahmad resides in New York and was educated at St. John’s University (B.S. Finance) and New York Law School (J.D.).

Dr. Kaveh Alizadeh

Dr. Kaveh Alizadeh is the Chief of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at Westchester Medical Center, and Associate Professor of Clinical Surgery at New York Medical College. He has served as the president of the largest and oldest private academic center in the United States, President of Regional Society of Plastic Surgeons, and in 2017 as president of the New York State Society of Plastic Surgeons.  His publication on pediatric trauma reconstruction won the award for the best published paper in North America in 2018. He has performed volunteer surgery for over 25 years and in 2010 founded Mission: Restore to provide sustainable long term care in the most remote corners of the globe.  Dr. Alizadeh has appeared in news media such as CNN, CBS 60 Minutes, NBC Today Show, Discovery Health, Newsweek, Wall Street Journal, and The New York Times. In 2009, Dr. Alizadeh’s humanitarian volunteer work earned him the prestigious Ellis Island Medal of Honor, an award recorded in the United States Congressional Record.