Carole Kariuki


Carole Kariuki, is a businesswoman and business executive in Kenya, who serves as the chief executive officer of , an industry group that represents and lobbies on behalf of Kenyan businesses and industries. KEPSA also advises policymakers on the best way to formulate local and regional laws to promote growth of the Kenyan economy sustainably. Finally KEPSA informs and educates its member companies on best business practices, collective responsibility, environmental conservation, social obligations and ethical business etiquette.

Background and education

She was born in Nakuru County, near Egerton University circa 1975. She was admitted to the University of Nairobi, where she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and Sociology. Later, she received a scholarship to attend Bowling Green State University in Bowling Green, Ohio, in the United States, where she graduated with a Master of Public Administration and International Affairs.

Career

Her first job right out of Nairobi University, was with Barclays Bank of Kenya, where she worked for a year but did not like banking, so she left. She then worked for for about two years. While there, she secured a full scholarship to study for her master's degree in the United States.
Following her graduate studies, she worked for one year at "Sagamore Institute for Public Policy Research", in Indianapolis, Indiana. At Sagamore, she was able to initiate HIV/AIDS collaboration between concerned organizations and individuals in the United States, with AMPATH, the largest AIDS treatment and prevention programme in Africa south of the Sahara. She then returned to Kenya and took up a job as a program officer at KEPSA, working there for about one year before she was appointed CEO in 2010.

Other considerations

Ms Carole Kariuki has won numerous local, regional and international awards, in recognition of her body of work. The awards bestowed upon her include She was the first person to be elected as Senior Fellow at ISOKO, an Indianapolis-based institute that promotes private enterprise in Africa She won the "Women Super Achiever Award" awarded by "World Women Leadership Congress and Awards 2017", based in India She was awarded the Moran of the Burning Spear in 2012 by the president of Kenya and In 2011 and 2012 she was named among the "Top 40 women in business under 40 years" in two consecutive years, a list compiled by the business daily newspaper Business Daily Africa, published in Nairobi by the Nation Media Group.
In March 2019, she was named to the board of directors at East African Cables Limited, an electricity and industrial cable manufacturer based in Nairobi. She is also the Chairperson of the government-owned Special Economic Zones Authority. She concurrently sits on the boards of the Centre for Corporate Governance, the United States International University Africa and Harvard University Centre for African Studies.