Few marketers get the chance to move from Marketing to CEO. One the challenges marketers face in achieving this feat is the lack of positive role models in leadership positions to inspire those ready to take the next step. The Marketing CEOs Round Table is comprised of CEOs with a marketing background who have shared their experience and lessons learnt on getting to the top and on leadership

Lina is an accomplished business professional whose career spans over 25 years, mainly in the FMCG industry in various local and global roles. She has worked in London, South Africa, Uganda as well as managed several markets across Africa. Her career began as a Management trainee in Unilever after which she joined British American Tobacco where she worked for 16 years before joining KWAL in 2017.

Her core competencies include portfolio management, brand management, trade marketing, strategy development, business development, people leadership. She is passionate, committed to delivering business results and is a proven people and business leader with strong interpersonal skills. She held several leadership roles while at British American Tobacco and now KWAL contributing significantly to talent development. She has contributed to the success of each company she has worked in through her strong commercial acumen.
In addition, Lina is a mentor with the Greenhorn Mentorship Programme at the University of Nairobi, the Global Give Back Circle as well as the Women’s in Board Network.
Lina Githuka was recently recognized as the lead on the Top 25 most powerful women in C-suite impacting business in 2021.

Andrew Mutuma has worked for over 20 years in Corporate Strategy including planning and implementation in various industries including International Logistics, Non- governmental, Telecommunications and the Banking sector.

He is a dynamic, results-oriented executive with a strong track-record performing in turnaround and high-paced organizations including multinationals like ExxonMobil in the Kenya Oil Industry and has had extensive hands-on experience in Business Development. Further, he has a wealth of experience and expertise in General Management, Revenue Growth, Sales and Marketing. Currently, he is the Managing Director for DHL Express Kenya.

He is a former Chairman of the Chartered Institute of Marketing, Kenya Branch, and is a Fellow and Chartered Marketer, a professional status awarded by the Chartered Institute of Marketing, UK.

Joel Karubiu is a seasoned professional with over 20 years' experience as an innovative and creative solutions provider with an edge in Business Development for major firms such as Marketing society of Kenya (MSK), PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC), Commercial Bank of Africa (CBA), British Airways World Cargo (BAWC) and Haco Industries limited.

He has been recognized for building strong brands using integrated marketing methodologies while being a key contributor to strategic business planning and developing long-term growth plans

Joel is the Chief Executive Officer of Kenya Network Information Center ( KeNIC) , His agenda is to drive the internet governance and compliance conversation in the market place coupled by developing a robust domain registry to ensure the unquie identification of Kenyan online presence.
He holds a Bachelor of Science in International Business Administration and a Master’s in Business Administration from United States International University (USIU). He also has diplomas in leadership and management from E-Cornell University in addition to other certifications.

Joel is a Non Executive Board Member of Transunion Credit Reference Bureau, Board of Trustee member at the Kenya Audience Research foundation (KARF), Zone Chairperson of Lons Clubs district 411A, a Member of Institute of Directors and Marketing Society of Kenya, and Sub chair of the KEPSA Sector board on Sports and Heritage, Executive Council Member Super Brands Kenya amongst other roles.
Joel is passionate about youth development in the field of marketing and entrepreneurship and leads talks with student marketers on their career journeys and is a mentor to many , he has also been involved in strategic input to various marketing activities at both private and public organizations.

Susan is a seasoned professional in Marketing and Advertising with proven unquestionable commitment to continuous improvement in the marketing communications industry. She has over 20 years’ experience in building local, regional and global brands and has held various leadership positions in Advertising including General Manager of TBWA Redsky ( formerly a WPP-Scangroup company) and Business Unit Director at Ogilvy Advertising.
She has also held brand marketing positions in Mobil ( Currently Oil Libya) and Mabati Rolling Mills MRM), where she was commended for excellent performance by the Chairman, Manu Chandaria.

Susan’s passion for professional development is demonstrated in the roles she has held in industry, including, heading the training committee of the Marketing Society of Kenya (2003-2005), heading the training committee in the Advertising Practitioners Association (APA) from 2007 to 2014. She later founded ISA Africa, a training institution for Marketing and Brand Communications.

She currently sits on the Talent Development Council of APA, the Education board of KEPSA and was recently nominated as the Africa representative on the Education council of International Advertising Association (IAA)

Serah Katusia is currently the Managing Director, Mediacom and GroupM, East & Central Africa. Miss Katusia leads a team of key Connection and Content experts to deliver strategy, execution and content planning that drive the best in market value across all media platforms in East Africa.
Katusia is a highly driven and experienced Senior Manager who has vast knowledge in the traditional and news advertising and management skills. She has an extensive understanding on how to win in the advertising industry in Kenya and beyond. She was worked on, some of the most iconic brands locally and globally; Coca-Cola, Safaricom, KCB, P&G, Diageo, Tigo Tanzania, USAID, Vodafone, PSK, Shell, KQ, Brand Kenya, KTB, OPPO amongst others. She is passionate, a high performer and has a deep love for Content, Connections, nurturing talent and delivering business solutions.

As a leader Miss Katusia thrives in creating teams that deliver efficiently and is committed to the common vision of the organization. She has perfected the art of being human at work while still ensuring high level delivery of work across the system.
Miss Katusia was the first Kenyan woman Jury President at the 2019 Loeries Awards in Durban , she holds a Post Grad Degree from University of Liverpool, CIM Diploma from Oxford University and has completed an Executive Leadership course at Harvard Business School..
Serah has been in giving back through mentorship at ISA as well as a key mentor for women in advertising

Meshack holds a bachelor’s degree in Education Arts (Major in Economics and Business Studies) from Egerton University. In addition, he holds a Senior Leadership Development Programme Certificate from the University of Stellenbosch Business School South Africa, Post Graduate Degree (MBA) in Marketing from Daystar University. He also holds a Diploma in Insurance (AIIK) from the College of Insurance.

He is an Associate Member of the Institute of Insurance Kenya (IIK) in good standing. His experiences cuts across Banking and Insurance on Matters of Sales Growth, Sales Management, business development, and Strategic Leadership.

Ms. Luseka has over 15 years’ experience in Strategy, Branding and Marketing both at local, regional, and international level. She is an accomplished professional known by many to be self-driven, passionate, and with distinguished performance. She holds an MBA from Strathmore Business School, a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics and Sociology from the University of Nairobi, a Diploma in Marketing from Marketing Society of Kenya and CPA 1 & 2.

She is currently the Founder and CEO of Oakwood Brand Consulting through which she has pioneered a unique way of building resilient brands by combining strategy, creativity, and technology. Prior to joining Oakwood, Mary was the CEO of Brand Kenya Board; a national State Corporation responsible for managing the Kenya Brand worldwide. Under the leadership of Mary Luseka, Kenya won Gold award for Best Place of nation brand at the 2016 Transform Awards MENA (Middle East & Africa). Ms. Luseka launched the Fashion Friday initiative which encouraged Kenyans to buy and wear Kenyan made fashion, this initiative received endorsement and support from the President of the Republic of Kenya. She further successfully managed the image of Kenya through various initiatives such as local and international exhibitions, international sports events, as well as during the 2017 General election where she ran the +254 Citizens campaign. Mary Luseka’s name has been synonymous with professionalism and integrity, which is seen when Brand Kenya Board received an Unqualified report from Kenya’s Auditor General for the Financial Years 2016/17 and 2015/16 which were during her tenure as CEO.

Additionally, her good leadership won Brand Kenya Board the First Runners-Up at the Fire Awards 2017 based on the International Public-Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS) from a pool of 92 private sector and 364 public sector entries. Fire Awards is the most prestigious and coveted Award for Financial Reporting in East Africa. It is aimed at promoting integrated reporting through enhancing accountability, transparency, and integrity. Prior to joining Brand Kenya Board, Mary worked at Kenya Tourism Board (KTB) where she headed the Strategy & Development function for a period of four years. During her tenure at KTB, Ms. Luseka oversaw the development of the new Strategy for marketing Kenya as a tourism destination and the recently launched Charters Incentives Program for Kenya. She was also Secretary to the Taskforce on Tourism Recovery, has been part and parcel of over 20 negotiations of Bilateral Air service Agreements between Kenya and other states and was a member of the National Air Transport facilitation committee. Her Strategy and Marketing experience spans across product development, branding, marketing, and business development. Ms. Luseka also worked at the KCB Group where she can be remembered for implementing various campaigns and programs such the Shinda Acre na KCB, KCB micro banking campaign, KCB School Bus scheme among others. Her great performance in marketing earned her the role of Acting Group Marketing Manager for KTB between 2009 and 2010, during which she oversaw the marketing aspects of KCB-S&L merger and regional marketing programs across KCB’s subsidiaries in East Africa

Babara Mula Omwayi is a wife, mother, result driven entrepreneur and C.E.O of Spark Communication KE, a fast-growing marketing firm in East Africa which specializes in experiential marketing, branding and digital.

Prior to Spark, Babara was the general manager of Interactive Marketing communication Limited, in charge of business growth for Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda. She has over 14 years marketing experience and has catalyzed the growth of several local and global brands.

Joanne Mwangi-Yelbert is the founder and CEO of Professional Marketing Services (PMS) Group, an award-winning all-round marketing and communications agency providing employment to over 10,000 young men and women.

Joanne holds the unique accolade of being the top entrepreneur in the prestigious top 100 awards in Kenya and a record holder for simultaneously bagging three awards, a feat yet to be replicated.

An entrepreneur at heart and in practice, Joanne Mwangi loves and is inspired by trail blazers, women and youthful trail blazers being her heroes. Her development and management of some of the world’s most loved brands sets her apart as she positions Africa in the competitive global communication space.

Joanne Mwangi has an extraordinary track record for structuring complex deals and investments as a venture capitalist in Lion’s Den, a television series in the global Dragons Den and Shark Tank genre where she is known as the Queen of the Pride.

A wife, mother and fun loving intellectual, she savors making friends, eats anything a human can eat, works hard and stays humble by choice. She has true Kenyan blood in her veins and has climbed mountains and ran marathons just for fun.

Joanne Mwangi-Yelbert is also a much sought-after public speaker where her eloquent, humorous and greatly simplified adaptation of the most complex theories, coupled with honest renditions of personal experiences and missteps, make her both memorable and immensely impactful.

Joanne received her Undergraduate degree from the University of Nairobi in Anthropology and Public Service Management and her graduate degree in Management from the United States International University. She completed the specially designed Babson College, Entrepreneurs Business Launch and Grow Program in Boston, USA and is a proud and distinguished Alumni of the Stanford SEED program.

Ms. Mwangi- Yelbert has served as a strategic advisor to several government and private sector boards and devotes her time to nurturing the aspirations of young businesses straddling all sectors of enterprise as they are the change drivers across the third world and emerging markets. Ms. Mwangi- Yelbert has won numerous local and International Awards. She is a three-time finalist at The All Africa Business Leaders Award, an Organization of Women in International Trade (OWIT) Woman of the Year award holder, a KPMG and Nation Media Group Top Entrepreneur of the Year and bearer of the coveted Head of State Commendation for her extraordinary achievements in formalizing the efforts to include women, youth and persons with disabilities in the Kenya Government’s Procurement policy

Moses Kemibaro is the Founder & CEO of Dotsavvy, Kenya’s first digital business agency which conceptualizes, develops, delivers, and manages high-performance business results for its clients via digital channels. Dotsavvy has been operational for almost 20 years spearheading next practices across a broad spectrum of digital offerings.

Previously, Moses was the Regional Manager for Opera Ads in East Africa, the Commercial Manager for East Africa at the Perform Group, now known as DAZN and Perform Content, as well as the Sales Director at InMobi for Africa where he led sales in Kenya, Egypt, Nigeria, and Ghana. He was also the Founding Regional Manager at Dealfish East Africa (formerly known as OLX Kenya), Kenya’s leading digital classifieds platform, now known as Jiji Kenya.

Moses is also a multiple award-winning Technology, Digital Media and Digital Marketing Blogger and Industry Analyst at MosesKemibaro.com where he rants and raves about all things digital in Kenya and Africa. He is a regular speaker and panelist in industry events and also contributes commentaries to leading media.

Finally, Moses admits to being a long-suffering but loyal Arsenal Football Club fan, Formula One racing fanatic, and an aspiring runner enroute to breaking the 10K barrier!

Dr. Betty Addero Radier is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Kenya Tourism Board (KTB) – the government agency charged with marketing Kenya as a preferred tourism destination locally, regionally and globally and sharing the diverse experiences that Kenya has to offer.

Betty is a seasoned Leader in the fields of Entrepreneurship, Marketing Strategy and Operations with over 20 years’ senior-level experience in developing strategies for local and global corporate clients in the advertising industry, technology, and telecom sector in key leadership roles. She is also a Tourism expert having been voted top 100 women in tourism in 2017 with Public and Private Sector Leadership experience, a strong sense of business acumen and team management across various organizational levels. Dr. Radier’s passion sprouts from seeing companies harness the full potential of their brands and making sure that this growth impacts the overall financial and reputational success. She is a master of growing corporate and product brands and this is demonstrated clearly in her years of experience in various managerial roles and has a penchant for a strategic yet practical outlook to business, coupled with a strong passion for impactful marketing initiatives. Betty has a passion for harnessing and developing young talents and realizes this passion through her role as an adjunct lecturer at Strathmore Business School in Kenya specializing in Marketing strategy, Entrepreneurship and Owner Manager Program specifically on ‘Selling Beyond Borders’. She holds a Phd Degree in Entrepreneurship and small business development from University of Cape Town South Africa and an MBA degree in strategy and finance from the University of Nairobi.

Betty has a passion for mentoring young ladies and engaging in motivational speaking with high performing women having been a motivational speaker for women in Business, Women in Boards and leadership in corporate organizations on aspects of ‘Breaking the Glass Ceiling’, ‘Learning, Unlearning and relearning theory’ and Tourism sustainability in Kenya.