The Standard Group has appointed a former Nation Media Group Managing Director Dr Githinji Gitahi as a member of its board with effect from 16th March 2018.
Ms Juliana Rotich, a Co-Founder and CEO at Ushahidi Inc. in Chicago and Kenya, where she served between 2011 and 2015, has also been appointed to the board.
Dr Githinji worked at NMG as MD of its Ugandan subsidiary, Monitor Publications Ltd and as General Manager (Marketing and Circulation).
He is presently the Group Chief Executive Officer of AMREF Health Africa. Previously, he served as International VP and Regional Director, Africa, of Smile Train and International Regional Director, Africa.
Earlier, he held senior marketing positions – as Head, Marketing Expert Relations, Marketing Manager, Medical Marketing Manager and Group Product Manager (Panadol and Hedex) at GlaxoSmithkline Sub-Saharan Africa and Middle East.
He has also served as Medical Services Manager at Madison Insurance Co. Ltd. Dr Githinji is also the International Co-Chair for UHC2030, a World Bank and WHO initiative for Universal Health Coverage.
He holds a Master’s degree in Business Administration (Marketing option) from United States International University and a Bachelors of Medicine and Surgery from University of Nairobi.
The Standard Group Board of Directors said in a statement that Dr Githinji has a wealth of experience in marketing, adding it was confident that it will immensely benefit from his experience and skills.
“The Board takes this opportunity to welcome and congratulate Ms Rotich and Dr Githinji on their appointment,” it said.
Ms Rotich, who is an entrepreneur, consultant and advisor, was previously Executive Director at BRCK.org, a position she has held since February 2016 and a Director at BRCK Inc. since October 2013.
She has also held various positions as Programme Director, Data Analyst, and Consultant at several high technology companies.
Ms Rotich serves as an Advisor to the Councils of BASF, Risk Cooperative, Africa Technology Ventures (ATV) and the Lemelson Foundation. She is a Trustee of Bankinter Foundation for Entrepreneurship and Innovation in Spain, Board member of Digital Impact Alliance and the Kenya Vision 2030 Delivery Board.
She holds a degree in Computer Science from University of Missouri, Kansas City, is a Sr. TED Fellow, MIT Media Lab Director’s Fellow and has a wealth of experience in the IT industry spanning over 15 years.
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“Ms Rotich has a wealth of experience in information technology and the Board is confident that it will immensely benefit from her experience and skills,” the statement said.
The appointments come at a time the Standard Group board is searching for a substantive CEO to replace Sam Shollei who exited last year. The position of Managing Director (Print Operations) is also vacant after Francis Munywoki also left.
