Strategic communications advisor for boards, founders and institutions.
I help boards, founders and institutions across Africa and beyond protect their reputations, shape narratives that move markets, and turn stakeholder trust into a durable advantage.
Most organisations don't have a communications problem. They have a strategy, trust, or positioning problem that shows up through communications. My work begins there.
When the stakes are highest, whether it's regulatory scrutiny, media attention or a sudden incident, I help leadership teams respond with clarity, discipline and the long view.
Before the press release, there is a point of view. I work with CEOs and founders to sharpen the story that anchors every earnings call, investor deck and public statement.
Markets, regulators, employees, policymakers, communities. Each audience needs a distinct strategy. I design engagement programmes that build trust across all of them.
I've spent 16 years building relationships with editors and correspondents across Africa, Europe, the Middle East and North America, and I use them with discretion.
A representative sample of publicly-documented engagements: award-cited campaigns, reported deals, and major institutional responses. Much of the most interesting work, by its nature, stays under NDA.
Led communications strategy for the Foundation's flagship convening on African governance, generating 97 news articles, 50+ interviews and adding 80,000 social followers across X and Facebook. Also coordinated multilingual media for African leaders, op-ed placement and stakeholder engagement.
Led launch communications for KQ's first direct flight to New York. The work earned a SABRE Award (Consumer Products/Service Winner, 2018) and a Certificate of Excellence for Superior Achievement in Brand Building.
Advised CEO Mugo Kibati and the executive team on communications through the Government of Kenya's acquisition of the remaining 60% stake from Helios, completing full ownership of the telco in 2022.
Counselled Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe through the pandemic response. The Wall Street Journal later ranked Kenya's response alongside South Korea and the UK among the world's best-managed.
Led launch communications for Visa's mobile payments product in Kenya. Recognised with a SABRE Certificate of Excellence in 2017.
Led communications for a pandemic-era partnership that offered expectant mothers free rides to hospital during curfew hours.
Selected honours from industry bodies across Africa and global creative councils. The kind that matter, because practitioners themselves do the picking.
Board and jury roles at the institutions that define practice, locally and globally.
Organisations with complex stakeholder environments, where clarity, credibility and nuance are non-negotiable.
For more than 16 years, I've helped organisations tell powerful stories, protect and grow their reputations, and build meaningful partnerships across Africa and beyond.
As Managing Director of Pastel Ventures, I advise boards, executives and institutions on the communication challenges that sit closest to business performance: reputation, crisis, market entry, narrative and stakeholder trust.
I started out in a newsroom, reporting for Standard Group's prime-time bulletins and training as an Internews Fellow. That discipline, knowing what editors actually want, still shapes how I counsel clients today.
From there I led communications at Ogilvy PR, serving as Account Director for Safaricom's corporate, technology, foundation and enterprise businesses. At Tell-Em PR, as General Manager and Chief Strategist, I grew the firm's revenues by over 120% and expanded the client base by more than 60%, helping build it into one of East Africa's top three communications firms.
I most recently led the African regional hub at Portland Communications, advising the Gates Foundation, Mastercard Foundation, Mo Ibrahim Foundation, Agence Française de Développement (AFD) and UN-Habitat on pan-African media, crisis and stakeholder strategy.
I hold a Master of Arts in Communication Studies with a concentration in Strategic Corporate Communication from the United States International University–Africa (USIU-A), and I'm an Associate of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations (ACIPR). I work in English, Swahili and Kuria.
The best communications work is shaped before a headline lands or a market reacts. If you are facing a moment that matters, whether a launch, a transition, a crisis or a positioning shift, let us talk.
