ESSA Announces Three New Trustees
At ESSA we are proud to announce the appointment of three female business leaders from Kenya and Zambia as new Trustees.
With significant experience, our new trustees will provide valuable insight into ESSA's aim of creating a stronger connection between education and employment. They are also powerful role models bringing fresh insights to our work on developing female leaders in education.
The vision from the start of ESSA was to have a majority African Board and team to lead the organisation. This ensures decision making about transforming education on the continent is led by those who are closest to it.
These appointments build upon the strong momentum at ESSA and help to prepare us for the next phase of growth, which the launch of leading work on the social impact of scholarships has recently demonstrated.
Introducing our new Trustees
Dolika Banda sits as non-executive director on the Boards of CDC Group, the UK’s Commonwealth Development Company and Harith General Partners, South Africa, fund manager of a US$1 billion pan-African platform for infrastructure development across Africa.
Dolika is an Independent Consultant based in Zambia and South Africa. She is a Zambian national with over 25 years’ experience in international finance and banking and has worked across the world in Africa, Europe, Latin America, the Caribbean and the US. A former Director at the IFC, and a former Regional Director for Africa at CDC Group, Dolika’s involvement in development finance followed a successful career in banking.
Most recently, Dolika served as CEO of the African Capacity Insurance Company (ÄRC Ltd). An affiliate under the African Union’s ARC Agency, ARC Ltd provides parametric insurance to African Governments to help them proactively manage and finance risks triggered by severe weather events and their impacts on vulnerable communities.
In partnership with African Leadership University (ALU), Dolika is the founder of a scholarship program providing full financial support for Zambian students to pursue an undergraduate degree in the STEMs.
Dolika holds a Master’s in International Business from Schiller University and was recognised in 2012 with a prize for vision and courage by Africa Femmes Performantes (Africa’s Performing Women) in Washington, DC.
Dolika says:
“I am delighted to join the Board of Trustees of ESSA. Education paves the way to equality. Equality imbues pride of identity and legitimacy. What an honour to be part of re-imagining the delivery of education, with the ultimate goal of creating highways of equality and social mobility across our Continent.”
Nancy Matimu is Managing Director for Kenya at MultiChoice Africa. Prior to this position, Nancy was the Vice-President, Head Market Development Sub -Saharan Africa at MasterCard.
She previously served in HFC Bank as the Chief Digital & Marketing Officer and Safaricom where she held various roles including Head of Safaricom Home & Content (Emerging Business – Home Fixed Broadband and Content Business Development), Head of Department Consumer Products & Services, Head of Department Internet & Content, Head of Department Enterprise Products & Innovation.
She also worked in Airtel Africa as the General Manager Marketing & Head of Products & Innovation Revenue Management.
She holds an MBA in Strategic Management from Strathmore University, a Bachelor’s degree in Environmental Studies from Kenyatta University and a Post Graduate Diploma (CIM) in Marketing. She is also a graduate of the Advanced Management Program (AMP) & Chief Executive Program (CEP) from Strathmore, IESE and Lagos Business Schools.
Nancy says:
“It is an honor to serve such a noble cause. I look forward to making a significant contribution in Strengthening higher education and democratizing access to quality education scholarships at ESSA. ESSA is uniquely placed as a pan African organization to tackle the continents no.1 challenge in contributing to the development of quality human resource for social economic prosperity.”
Kendi Ntwiga is the Country Leader at Microsoft Kenya. Kendi previously worked as the General Manager of the East, West & Central Africa Cluster at Check Point Software Technologies; a NASDAQ listed Cyber Security Global Firm.
She has over 15 years’ experience crafting, leading and implementing business strategies for tech organizations in the Sub Sahara Africa region having worked for high tech companies HP, Oracle and Intel. She is a highly disciplined and driven, IT business leader who successfully works with the ecosystem to build a differentiated sustainable model.
Kendi has been recognized as an Emerging Leader in Innovation and Entrepreneurship by the US government through the TechWomen program.
Further, she is the founder of She-Goes-Tech, an initiative that she uses to mentor young girls and women into taking up STEM courses and remaining in STEM careers. Her involvement in She-Goes-Tech has seen her lead gender inclusion discussions in different forums including the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York.
Kendi has studied Computer science and also has a degree in International Business Management. She is a Santander African Women Foundation Fellow, having studied entrepreneurial leadership at the Babson College which is the leading college in entrepreneurship programs in the USA.
Kendi was recently named as a 2019 Top 40 under 40 woman leader in Kenya.
Kendi says:
“I am excited to join ESSA as a trustee. ESSA’s focus of driving quality education in SSA squarely resonates with my belief that good education serves as an equalizer regardless of one’s background. I look forward to contributing to this space that will drive the much-needed self-sufficiency required in our continent.”
Patrick Dunne, ESSA Chair, comments on the new appointments:
“We are delighted to welcome Dolika, Kendi and Nancy to the ESSA board. All three are tremendous African role models based on the continent bringing directly relevant experience and insights. As we build on our current high momentum they will add significant value to the board and to our work on so many fronts. Two obvious examples being creating a much more productive connection between education and work and in developing women leaders in education.”
Lucy Heady, ESSA CEO, says:
“Kendi, Nancy and Dolika bring a wealth of impressive experience across business, tech, communications and finance. We are privileged to welcome all three inspiring leaders and their insights to drive forward ESSA’s strategy with our team.”
For media inquiries or to request an interview please contact Gemma Munday at gemma@essa-africa.org.