Meet our Team

SELLAH BOGONKO, HSC

CEO & Co-founder Jacob’s Ladder Africa

There are two approaches to life: one in which one lives addressing and confronting situations as they happen, and the other is to approach life with an understanding of one’s identity and where this fits in relation to the developments, circumstances and situations that one encounters. The latter describes the approach that Sellah Bogonko lives by - as she is one given to changing the status quo wherever she finds herself.

Sellah’s professional journey exemplifies a passion for change and creating lasting impact.

In her role as co-founder of Jacob’s Ladder Africa, a sustainable development hub that advances the ideals of youth empowerment and self-reliance, she is responsible for developing the strategic vision that steers the organisation towards achieving its objectives. These are articulated under the pillars of Climate Change, Leadership & Governance, Education, Economic Empowerment and Innovation & Technology.

Sellah is also the Founder of Zinduka Kenya, an apolitical platform that gives agency to Kenyan youth to own their future. She is passionate about causing young people to see themselves differently and thereby take different steps towards divesting themselves of limitations and accepting the status quo as the norm.

In her role as Chief of Staff for Kirinyaga County, Sellah drove the interpretation and implementation of the Governor’s agenda into various projects that address challenges faced by various societal groups. She is also experienced in policy formulation, political and development communication.

Between 2014 and 2017, Sellah was the Chief Operating Officer of AG Group International, in which she led the execution of group strategy and establishment of strategic partnerships. Sellah’s passion for empowering and developing those she works with shone through in this role, as she undertook the training of upcoming managers in leadership, entrepreneurship, product development and more.

Sellah’s passion for empowering women is a common thread that runs throughout her professional journey. In her role as Group Operations Coordinator at Linksoft Group, she put in place initiatives to increase women in senior leadership positions, and as Strategy Operations Manager at Mellech Group, she initiated a management trainee program for young women.

Sellah is currently pursuing a Executive Education Course at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government following a MSc in Public Governance from the same institution. Prior to this, she obtained a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Business & Sociology from Kenyatta University

BILHA NDIRANGU

Co-founder Jacob’s Ladder Africa

Bilha Ndirangu is the co-founder of Jacob’s Ladder Africa.

Bilha’s achievements and leadership track record in building creative solutions to Africa’s challenges has been recognised, as she is to be named a Tutu Fellow by the Africa Leadership Institute. She is passionate about training young people and transforming their minds so they can serve the continent better in the future. The various roles she has held throughout her career have provided platforms to not just build strong organisations, but also nurture and raise gifted young leaders.

Prior to joining the African Leadership Academy, Bilha was the CEO of Africa’s Talking, based in Nairobi, Kenya. Africa’s Talking enables the continent’s technology ecosystem by empowering software developers. Over seven years, Bilha expanded Africa’s Talking into 20 markets, with offices in 14 African countries, with significant revenue growth. During her tenure at Africa’s Talking, Bilha gained a reputation as an extraordinary executor and team builder. She has been recognized as an Endeavour Entrepreneur.

Bilha previously worked at Dalberg, where she was the first employee of the consulting firm’s Nairobi office. At Dalberg, she advised governments, corporations, and foundations across the continent on solutions to African challenges. She particularly thrived in education projects, including the design and delivery of Wings to Fly, Kenya’s leading secondary school scholarship program, with Equity Group and the Mastercard Foundation. To date, Wings to Fly has enabled over 26,000 promising youth in Kenya to access high-quality secondary education.

Bilha holds a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering and a minor in Economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Before returning to Africa, she worked with the Mitchell Madison Group in New York City. When she is not imagining Africa’s future, you might find Bilha completing a workout at a local CrossFit gym.

MARCELINE OBUYA

Co-founder Jacob’s Ladder Africa

Marceline is a rebuilder of businesses. Marceline’s work experience in Africa over the past 25 years within the financial sector embodies the proclamation of financial liberation and ushering of opportunity within Microfinance, SACCO/Cooperatives, Agriculture, Health, Business Development, and most recently in the FinTech space.

Marceline’s mastery of midwifing SMEs to become viable businesses is a showcase of honor demonstrated by diligence in management, operations, research, training, and mentoring, which is predicated on her approach to a field that stems from a strong belief that beauty can raise from ashes which reflect itself in her mentoring patterns focusing on, upskilling people in spite of all challenges SMEs face.

Marceline’s incubating spirit is clearly manifested in her track record through her ability to nurture, restore and prosper both start-ups and established enterprises. Under her stewardship, the viability of the business is brought about by the fact that she lays the right foundation. Her craftsmanship is robust and her execution is equal to that of a warrior in the identification of the specific need, especially in the various sectors of development of adaptive strategies for channeling finance to priority sectors, working with multi- laterals, private sector, and financial institutions.

Passionate about Africa and SMEs, Marceline’s eagle eye is focused on business levers like strategic planning, human resource management, operational, technical, and financial support. As an experienced consultant and advisor in wealth creation and agrarian finance, Marceline is the architect and founder of the SME Business Clinic Ltd, a role that allows her to oversee the company and intimately engage with her clients, whilst rendering herself the role of a roving CEO for a number of businesses within the Clinic.

Marceline is a holder of a Master’s degree in Business Administration from Strathmore University Business School and a Certificate recipient from IESE Business School in Spain. She is currently, undertaking a Social Impact course at the University of Cape Town. She has managed the Medical Credit Fund in East Africa, a Dutch organization, where she, later on, went on to take charge of the Kenya country operations and Co-country Director with PharmAccess Foundation.

She has undertaken a number of World Bank/IFC, SIDA, IFAD, FAO, and USAID- funded consultancy assignments in Kenya, other African countries, and the USA.

KAREN CHELANGAT

Lead - JLA Incubator Programme

Karen Chelang’at’s life and career journey reveals her reality as a life-giver, one that activates dormant potential in people, communities, organizations and systems within Africa. She is driven to see the realization of Africa’s emancipation through the transformation of its people as a function of their mind shifts.

Karen is passionate about challenging conventional patterns of thinking particularly among young people and creating room for them to explore previously unknown possibilities and craft a new future for themselves at the micro level, and for the continent as an aggregate. At Jacob’s Ladder Africa, Karen is involved in youth empowerment, namely, developing the strategy and design of entrepreneurship and funding programs aimed at transforming the youth and giving them agency to achieve economic and social change.

In recognition of the role that the socio-economic and financial wellbeing of society plays in meaningful living for people, Karen is driven to work with existing and potential leaders and entrepreneurs who will develop thriving home-grown solutions, platforms, organizations and policies. These frameworks can then lift the proverbial lid, and create opportunities for multifarious growth for many in the continent, ultimately contributing to Africa’s arising to her place in the commonwealth of the nations.

Karen has also held roles at AG Group International, where she has been involved in edutech and low-income housing projects, as well as financial access initiatives at Old Mutual Kenya, among others. Throughout her career, Karen has been intentional about getting involved in developing solutions and driving projects that disrupt convention and create meaningful opportunities for previously underserved populations.

Karen holds an MBA from the Jack Welch Management Institute, and a BSc. in Actuarial Science from the University of Nairobi.

SAMUEL KURIA

Finance

Samuel is an experienced and knowledgeable financial and accounting professional, a holder of a Bachelor’s degree in Education from Kenyatta University, Nairobi and also a Certified Public Accountant of Kenya.

With over 15 years’ experience working with both commercial and Not for Profit organisations in various roles in finance and accounting. Over the past 9 years, he has worked with more than 20 clients offering various consultancy services ranging from business start-ups, business restructuring, strategic management, financial modeling and planning among others.

Samuel possess vast experience in implementing finance and accounting systems with strong internal controls that enabling organisations achieve great accountability, efficiency in assets utilization with improved return on assets and high level of financial integrity.

As a financial planner, he has helped various organisations make well-informed decisions on the right types of investments and review them in a timely manner in line with changing financial and business environment.