Ratemo W. Michieka is the Chairman of National Research Fund (NRF). He was the founding Chairman of the African Scientific Research and Innovation Council (ASRIC); Distinguished Professor of Rutgers University, USA, with specialty in Weed Science and Environment. He was a Postgraduate Research Fellow at International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA). He is a well-known scholar having been the founding Vice Chancellor of Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT). He is the Former Chairman: Kenyatta University Council, Kenya Educational Network (KENET), Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (currently KALRO), Inter-University Council of East Africa (IUCEA), United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Ratemo is a Former Director General of National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) in Kenya. He was Chair of African Centre for Technology Studies (ACTS). Ratemo was a Council member of Kenya Institute of Management (KIM) and also Board Member of Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institute (KEMFRI). He is currently the Patron of Japan Ex-Participants of Kenya (JEPAK) and and also Patron of the Seventh Day Adventist (SDA) students, Upper Kabete Campus, UoN. He was the Founder and Chairman of African Institute for Capacity Development (AICAD). Prof. Michieka has published widely in his field of expertise and gives lectures in local and international fora, aiming to promote research, science, technology, innovation and environmental management. He has also published books and book chapters. Despite his retirement from the University of Nairobi, Michieka continues to advise, mentor and supervise postgraduate students. He is also engaged in other research activities within the country.

Dr Beatrice Muganda Inyangala is the Principal Secretary, State Department for Higher Education and Research, Ministry of Education, Kenya Government. Her areas of expertise are public policy, gender inclusivity, quality assurance, teaching methodology, governance and fundraising. Prior to her current appointment, she served as the Deputy Executive Director and the Director of Higher Education at the Partnership for African Social and Governance Research (PASGR).
Dr Muganda led the Pedagogical Leadership in Africa (PedaL) project, working closely with multiple partners in distinct contexts to drive sustainable change in the delivery of university programmes to strengthen graduate competencies. She oversaw the training of more than 1000 teaching staff in 60 universities on the African continent in innovative pedagogies.
Dr Muganda is an accomplished educationist with programme planning, design and implementation expertise. She has facilitated formal partnerships among African universities, with Northern partner universities and international knowledge networks around innovative projects that promote excellence, relevance and access in higher education at both masters and doctoral levels.
Dr Muganda has extensive knowledge of issues, challenges and opportunities in African higher education and has proactively engaged various policy actors in higher education transformation. She has also been involved in education policy debates globally: EU-Africa policy dialogues, Wilton Park dialogues, The Africa-America Institute, London School of Economics Africa Summit, Africa Sciedev, University World News, Guardian Global Development Professionals Network, and the Association of African Universities. She has contributed to Kenya’s national policy documents such as the Medium Term Framework on Education and Training for Vision 2030, and the National Manpower Survey.
She holds a B.Ed and M. Phil in Planning and Economics of Education from Moi University, a PhD from the University of Athens, and has received further training at the International Institute of Educational Planning in Paris.

Florah Karimi currently works with the African Population and Health Research Center (APHRC), where she coordinates various research capacity strengthening projects and carries out related research work. More specifically, she manages the Consortium for Advanced Research Training in Africa (CARTA) and the fund management program for the Joint Programming Initiative for Antimicrobial Resistance Africa (JPIAMR) in Africa. She is also a co-applicant in the IDRC-supported ‘Supervision and Mentorship of Women in Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics Postgraduate Training Programs in East Africa’ a ‘Capacity Development of Applied Epidemiology (CDAE) project in Eastern Africa Region’ project management team member.

Florah holds a Bachelor, Master and Doctorate degree in Education with a focus on Educational Psychology. She has vast experience in higher education, having previously worked in various capacities in East Africa. She previously served as a national technical advisor on higher education, working closely with the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MOEST) and on World Bank-supported higher education projects in Kenya. She has previously served as a higher education administrator, curriculum developer and lecturer within Kenya. Moreover, she is a higher education quality assurance expert within the East African Region and a Trustee in the Kenya National Research Fund’s Board.

Florah is passionate about research and research capacity strengthening initiatives within Africa. In this respect, she has won grants worth more than USD 10 Million and published more than ten peer-reviewed articles on higher education, research and research capacity strengthening initiatives in Africa.

Gladys Warirah is a Chartered Accountant with over 15 years of senior management experience in the fields of banking, insurance & pensions, strategy and audit & assurance. She is currently working at Standard Chartered Bank. She has served as the Chairperson of the Finance & Audit Committee of the Kenya Bankers Association and is a Board Trustee of the Standard Chartered Kenya Staff Retirement Benefits Scheme 2006. Additionally, she is the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales member representative, Kenya.She holds an MBA from the University of Warwick, United Kingdom, B.Comm (Hons.) in Accounting from the University of Nairobi, is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, and a member of the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Kenya.

Prof. Robert Gateru is the holder of a PhD in Microelectronic Engineering & Semiconductor Device Physics from the University of Surrey (UK), Masters in the same field from the University of Cambridge (UK) and BSc. (First Class Honours) in Physics and Mathematics from the University of Nairobi.

He is a seasoned academic, with over 15 years teaching and administration experience in various universities. He serves on numerous Boards including the Education Sector Board of the Kenya Private Sector Alliance, Education for All Children, Hifadhi Talanta Africa, among others. He has previously served in the Boards of the Rural Electrification Authority (now the Rural Electrification and renewable Energy Corporation), Linking Industry with Academia Kenya Trust, among others. He is a Fellow of the Cambridge Commonwealth Society, a Senior Member of the Institute of Electrical & Electronic Engineer (IEEE), which is the world’s largest technical professional association. He has served in many taskforces locally and abroad.

Selected awards that Prof. Gateru has received include the Distinguished Scholar Award by the ICT Association of Kenya, the Africa HR Leadership Award for Outstanding Contribution to Training & Development, and Kenya’s Top 40 Under 40 Men (2012) recognition by the Business Daily newspaper. He has won numerous grants, published widely and presented in conferences across the world.

Prof. Gateru joined Riara University from Kenya Methodist University (KeMU) where he was the Principal of the Nairobi Campus, a position he held from 2010. He also worked as the founding Dean and Associate Professor in KeMU’s Faculty of Computing and Informatics as well as Head of Department for the same institution. Prof. Gateru has previously served as the Founding Dean of the School of Science, Engineering and Technology at the Kabarak University where he also served as Head of Department for Computing and Mathematics.

Dr. Tiriongo is the Director of Research and Policy at the Kenya Bankers Association, responsible for designing and executing the research agenda for the banking industry. He is an economist by profession, with over 15 years of experience, 13 of which as an economist at the Central Bank of Kenya. He holds a PhD in Economics from the University of Dar es Salaam-Tanzania, a Master of Arts (Economics) and Bachelor of Arts (Economics), both of Kenyatta University-Kenya. He has received professional training from several leading organizations, key among them the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank, and Macroeconomic and Financial Management Institute of Eastern and Southern Africa (MEFMI). Currently, he is a research fellow of the African Economic Research Consortium (AERC), focusing on financial economics, financial sector development and resource mobilization, having published widely in peer-reviewed research outlets on financial market microstructure, economic responses to crises, monetary policy, and credit market analyses, among other areas.

Dr. Tonny K. Omwansa is a member of the Board by virtue of being the Chief Executive Officer of Kenya National Innovation Agency (KENIA). He is the co-author of “Money, Real Quick: Kenya’s disruptive mobile money innovation”. He holds a PhD in Information Systems in which he researched on the adoption of mobile financial services at the base of the pyramid in Kenya.

Besides consultancy in technology issues, he has conducted extensive research in mobile transactions in Africa and published various reports including use of airtime transfers, mobile banking, virtual currencies as well as regulation of mobile transactions. His research interests are in the design, adoption and impact of low-cost technologies in developing countries.

His various research assignments have been commissioned by organizations like the GSMA, Bill and Melinda Gates foundation, Rockefeller Foundation and Economic Commission of Africa. He is a recipient of the prestigious Bellagio Fellowship from the Rockefeller Foundation where he worked on the book on mobile money, published in 2012.

Prof. Walter O. Oyawa is the Director General of the National Commission for Science, Technology & Innovation (NACOSTI). He is a Professor of Civil Engineering, holds a PhD in Civil Engineering, and has an Executive MBA. He is a Registered Professional Engineer, a Lead Expert-NEMA and a reviewer of several international journals.

In addition to his current position as Director General of NACOSTI, Prof. Oyawa has served in various senior leadership/management positions, including Principal/CEO of Multimedia University College, Deputy Commission Secretary at the Commission for University Education (CUE), and pioneering Ag. Principal of the College of Engineering & Technology at JKUAT, Director of a Research Centre-SMARTEC at JKUAT, Chairman of the Department of Civil Engineering at JKUAT, and Board member of several boards, among others. He is endowed with vast experience in research/scholarly work, as evidenced by; extensive publications in peer-reviewed journals, several awards and research grants, keynote lectures and conference papers, and supervision of numerous postgraduate students. His research interest is in sustainable construction materials and technologies.

 Prof.  Dickson Andala, is currently the Chief Executive Officer of the National Research Fund (NRF). He is an Associate Professor of Materials / Inorganic Chemistry, Multimedia University of Kenya; PhD in Materials Chemistry from Binghamton University and Postdoctoral Fellowship Pennsylvania State University, USA.  He is Lead Expert with NEMA; DOSH and CBRN and a reviewer of several local and international journals. 

Prof. Andala has served in various senior leadership/management positions including having been the Director to the Kenya Nuclear Regulatory Authority (KNRA), African Materials Research Society (AMRS) boards, Executive Committee Member to Africa Crystallographic Association (AfCA); Chairman Chemistry Department, Multimedia University of Kenya. Membership to various Professional Associations including African Academies of Science (AAS), Kenya National Academy of Sciences (KNAS); Materials Research Society of Kenya, Kenya Chemical Society (KCS).  He is endowed with vast experience in research/scholarly work, as evidenced by extensive publications in peer reviewed journals, several awards and research grants mobilization, keynote lectures and conference papers, and supervision of numerous postgraduate students. His research interests lie in the area of nanoscience and nanotechnology and its applications in remediation, sensors, catalysis.