Our Champions Circle

Isaac is the founder of the Amahoro Coalition, born of his commitment to achieve a tangible impact on the continent. The Coalition aims to systematically engage Africa's private sector in creating economic opportunities and transformation for forcibly displaced individuals and host communities. He intends to help African businesses realize that they can play a critical role in easing the displacement crisis in Africa. For over two decades, Isaac Kwaku Fokuo Jr. has worked as an International Political Economy advisor to governments, investors, and global Fortune 500 companies on the nuances of navigating and expanding into emerging growth markets. He is also the Founder of Botho Emerging Markets Group, an investment and strategy advisory firm with offices in Nairobi, Dubai, and Chicago.

Having worked in more than 20 markets across North America, Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Middle East, Isaac has an extensive and successful track record in investment facilitation, strategy consulting, and policy advisory across numerous sectors. Isaac is also an Angel Investor to start-ups based in Africa and the GCC. He is a 2014 Archbishop Desmond Tutu Fellow and a Trustee of Hanover College. He serves on the Boards of Axis Human Capital Group, The Boardroom Africa, AMREF Health Innovations, and Ashesi University Foundation.

Julie is the Chief Public Affairs and Communications Officer at the Mastercard Foundation overseeing corporate, programmatic, policy & thought-leadership communications and a team spanning Africa and Canada. Prior to her role at the Foundation, Julie had a two-decade career in the fields of broadcast, print, digital media, and development communications.

Her profile in Kenya grew as she pioneered investigative television and political and current affairs programming. She conceptualized and launched numerous top shows and developed the pan-African television show, Africa Leadership Dialogues. Following the 2007 elections, Julie's peace specials resonated with viewers. As a result of her calls for non-violent action in 2008, she was awarded the Martin Luther King Salute to Greatness. Julie also established the Great Debaters Contest, a high school debate platform focused on teaching students that differences need not result in conflict and violence. Her career focus shifted to curating impactful engagements and driving conversations focused on African leadership, growth, and development. Over the past decade, Julie has worked very closely with partners like the World Bank, the IFC, the African Development Bank, various UN agencies, the Uongozi Institute, and the World Economic Forum.
She sits on several Boards and is part of several Fellowships, including the Tutu Fellowship, the Aspen Global Leadership Network/Africa Leadership Initiative, and the Young Global Leaders under the World Economic Forum.
Julie has received numerous awards and recognitions. In 2019, she was listed as one of the 100 Most Influential African Women by Avance Media, and one the of 100 Most Influential Africans by New African.

Kris Senanu is the Founder and Chairman of Blackrock Capital Investments. He is an accomplished angel investor and business leader with a 20-year-plus track record of successful, strategic, and transformational leadership across Africa. As the Chair of investment company Blackrock Capital, Kris has passionately helped to grow many tech businesses and mentored many tech entrepreneurs in Africa. Previously, Kris served as Chief Enterprise Business Officer at Safaricom PLC, Kenya's largest mobile service operator. He was also the Managing Director of Telkom Digital for Telkom Kenya. Prior to that, Kris was the Deputy CEO at Access Kenya (Now Internet Solutions), getting that business to become the first ICT firm to list on the Nairobi Securities Exchange, expanding the business's footprint into East Africa, and steering its acquisition by Internet Solutions in 2014. Kris is a distinguished fellow of both the Chartered Institute of Marketing and the Kenya Institute of Management. He holds an MBA in Strategic Management from Warwick Business School as well as an International Business Administration Degree, majoring in Marketing, from USIU Africa. Kris is also the Chair of the United States International University Council and the Pan-African agency BTL Africa, headquartered in Ghana. He is also interim Chair for the financial solution provider Craft Silicon and sits on the Advisory Board of (TBA) The BoardRoom Africa, a bold initiative that strives to accelerate the placement of female talent to boards across the African continent.

Alan Kasujja is a Ugandan journalist who spent the first 12 years of his life as a refugee in Kenya after his family escaped the dictatorship of Idi Amin. He now hosts the Africa Daily podcasts, BBC World Service at BBC at BBC News. He is also a sought-after moderator and an outstanding journalist. He is dedicated to providing a platform to under-served voices, including those of refugee communities. Alan's journalistic career started in his late teens when he joined Uganda's New Vision newspaper as a freelance writer and photographer.

He began working at Sanyu FM in Kampala in the mid-1990s. He also worked at Capital FM in Nairobi, Kenya, before returning to Uganda to present the Big Breakfast on Capital FM in Kampala. Alan has also made his name as a television presenter - he hosted Uganda's version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire? He anchored The Fourth Estate, an influential political talk show in Uganda.

Julienne is the co-founder and CEO of Inkomoko Rwanda, a family of business incubators and accelerators focused on supporting and investing in local entrepreneurs across Africa. Founded in 2011, Inkomoko Entrepreneur Development is the Rwandan affiliate of the African Entrepreneur Collective. Inkomoko provides business training, individual consulting, and direct access to affordable financing services to MSMEs. With offices in 18 locations across Rwanda, Kenya, Ethiopia, and South Sudan including in refugee camps, Inkomoko has worked with more than 13,000 entrepreneurs resulting in over 8,000 new jobs and over $13M USD invested. Julienne is passionate about the tremendous potential that young African entrepreneurs have to transform their communities and continent. With more than 15 years of work in youth empowerment and international development, Julienne was inspired to create Inkomoko after spending time with several young entrepreneurs in Mali who, in the midst of drought and political instability, drove economic opportunities for themselves and their communities through entrepreneurial endeavors. Prior to founding AEC, Julienne served as the Director of Development and Communications at College Track, a national after-school program in the US. In addition, she has held leadership and strategic consulting positions at a number of organizations including the African Leadership Academy, Capital Partners for Education, and the Yale School of Management.

Kanini Mutooni is the Regional Managing Director, Africa of Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation. Previously, she was the Director for Investment at the USAID-funded East Africa Trade and Investment Hub, a $65m, 8-country initiative to attract investment and increase trade in the East Africa region. Kanini is also Chair of Amref Enterprises Ltd and immediate former board Chair at the Global Innovation Fund. Kanini has excellent entrepreneurial credentials, having set up the first UK platform for SME lending that successfully raised $1m in seed capital and was instrumental in helping fund over $50m in debt capital in Eastern and Western Europe. She has worked at the Board level in leadership positions at investment banks in London and the US, such as Bank of America-Merrill Lynch and Dresdner Kleinwort Benson. In 2011, she was recognized as one of the most influential women in the City of London by Barclays Wealth UK and in 2012 she was named one of the most powerful women in Business by the Business Weekly newspaper in Kenya. In 2014, Kanini was recognized by the World Economic Forum as a Young Global Leader for her exceptional leadership in business, the health sector, and global entrepreneurship.

Diana Mulili is a results-oriented Executive, passionate about solving Africa's prosperity challenges, leading in various capacities for over 15 years across the Private Sector and Economic Development Sector in East Africa. She is the Director, Africa for Prudential Plc, looking at digital ecosystems, growth strategies, data analytics, CX, and CI. Prior to that she was Chief Growth Officer at Xetova, an interactive platform designed to enhance performance in Africa's procurement marketplace. She previously served as the Interim CEO at Msingi East Africa and as Executive Head for East Africa Business Development and Strategy at Internet Solutions.

Diana graduated from the African Leadership University School of Business with an MBA in 2018 and was named among the Top 100 Women CEOs in Africa in 2019.

Valerie is a Managing Partner at Triple Vee and Partners. She is a management consultant with over 20 years of experience working for political leaders, governments, development organizations, and investors. Prior to that, she led the Tony Blair Institute in Cota d'ivoire. She provides strategic and policy advice to governments and facilitates private sector investment to execute complex industrial and social projects. She has lived and worked in several African countries, experiencing first-hand the diversity, beauty, and possibilities within the continent, as well as the emerging positive trends.