Catherine Mahugu is a seasoned techpreneur, independent ICT for social innovation and development consultant, change-maker, youth empowerment champion and a strong advocate of gender equality and equity. Catherine is the Founder of Chiswara, an agri-tech venture that partners with coffee farmers to sell Kenyan coffee to the international market.
Chiswara was founded after Catherine witnessed the Alibaba Rural Taobao initiative which is helping to raise living standards in the Chinese countryside by providing e-commerce access for millions of residents. Chiswara connects local coffee producers directly with global consumers using a farmer-focused approach and direct trade framework that stimulates inclusive economic growth.
Catherine has an extensive background and experience in strategic planning, operations leadership, and management. Combined with a love of all things binary and a keen eye for design, Catherine has been involved in various ICT for Development projects where she has applied design thinking for social innovation.
Read Also: Arunma Oteh Is Pioneering Leadership in Finance and Development
A proven leader who inspires with enthusiasm Catherine is passionate about helping teams unlock their leadership potential and talents to not only achieve their goals but to exceed them. She focuses on motivating and igniting vision to the high-performing team and leaders
Catherine completed a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from the University of Nairobi, a Certification in IT from Strathmore University and a Certification in Design Thinking and Liberation Technologies from Stanford University.
Catherine is also the founder of Soko, an ethical fashion brand that supports artisans in emerging economies and Wazidata, a design-led Innovation company, solving intricate and complex challenges with a focus on people.
At Soko, Catherine has effectively overseen the end to end operational execution and delivery of products to over 450 international retailers, several large brands such as Nordstrom, Fossil, QVC, TJMaxx, Edun, Esprit, Anthropologie and global e-commerce consumers.
Celebrities such as Michelle Obama, Lupita Nyongo, Nicole Kidman, Oprah Winfrey and Emma Watson have been styled with Soko ‘s jewellery. By driving and supporting the technology innovation at Soko, Catherine has contributed to transforming the traditional global supply chain.
Catherine’s work at Wazidata helps shape better experiences, products, brands, and organisations by building empathy through in-depth, qualitative research. Wazidata conducts human-centred design workshops and need-specific services in entrepreneurship and ICT for development for her clients.
Catherine has been recognized as INC Magazine’s Female Founder 100 in 2019, Queen’s Young Leaders advisory mentor 2018, Safaricom eCommerce blaze mentor 2018, Vanity Fair’s Women of Colour diversifying entrepreneurship in Silicon Valley and beyond 2018, Women Super Achiever Award 2017, One of Forbes top 30 under 30 Globally 2016, Most Influential Woman in Business and Government(Continental Winner)-Africa 2016, One of Forbes Most Promising Young Entrepreneurs In Africa 2015, BBC’s top 30 under 30 2015, BBC’s top 100 women 2015, Kenya’s top 5 Female Entrepreneurs under 40, Top 5 upcoming tech women in Kenya to watch, World bank’s top 11 inspirational women and A Leader of Tomorrow at the St.Gallen’s 44th Symposium in Switzerland 2014.
Catherine is an UNCTAD & Alibaba eFounder fellow, International Telecom Union (ITU) Innovators fellow, the United Nations specialized agency for information and communication technologies – ICTs, a World Bank Fellow through infoDev and an Ashoka-American Express Emerging innovator fellow.
Catherine has been featured in Forbes Magazine-June Issue 2015 and January issue 2016 as one of the top 30 under 30 (2015 and 2016) and highlighted as top 100 women by BBC. She has also been featured by CNN, CNBC, Marie Claire, South Africa Airways in-flight magazine, World bank and other mainstream media.