It is not every finance executive who can seamlessly shift gears to help lead through crisis and turn every business challenge into opportunity. Mary does this across several entities, turning around
underperforming business units while leading cross disciplinary strategic initiative teams. This is the given primary part of Mary’s offering. She is differentiated by an uncommon complement of
financial management expertise combined with strong business acumen, allowing her to view business with a wide lens then narrow down to connect the dots, identify business drivers, understand complex issues, act and drive results.

Mary is currently the CFO for an Africa business, a multi-million-dollar global enterprise recognized as one of the world’s largest plant-based foods companies with several brands, spanning across several Africa countries. Mary joined Upfield in July 2018 at its inception, just after the business was acquired from Unilever and she played a significant role in the separation process and setting up the financial and planning functions of the company.

Advancing through a series of roles since then, Mary’s leadership has expanded beyond the boundaries of a traditional financial executive and she has led many strategic initiatives that have had a positive impact on multiple business areas, driving down costs, increasing revenue, and improving overall performance of various business units. Mary has evaluated and played a leadership role in many transactions of the company, including setting up of legal entities. Most recently, as the CFO, she worked with the CEO and Board of Directors to come up with a cheaper material sourcing strategy, along with a financing strategy to deliver the objectives of increased revenue and cash.

Previously, Mary worked as a controller, front end finance lead and strategic partner to the CEO for a global multinational company. She began her career as a Banker then later changed to the accounting
profession in 1998.

Mary earned her Bachelor of Education degree in 1990 with a Mathematics major and passed her CPA professional exams in 2002. She is a member of the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Kenya (ICPAK). She earned her post-graduate in Business Administration from Warwick Business School, UK in 2012. Later she earned a Master of Science Degree in Project Management from Salford University in Manchester UK in 2019.

Mary lives in Nairobi, Kenya where she and her husband have raised their son and daughter. Their 2 children are qualified Medical Doctors. Mary is active in the community and currently serves as a board member of several high schools. In her personal time, Mary enjoys holidaying.