Carolyne Gathinji has it made. She breathes the rarefied air of McKinsey & Co as one of only five global partners in her field, and the only Black Kenyan among them. Her ascent is both liberating and obliterating; a career of Midas touches that now crown her as leader of the firm’s East Africa banking practice.
Chinua Achebe said a chick that will grow into a cock can be spotted the very day it hatches. It was no different for Ms Gathinji. The sharpest knife in her village, the seed of success was planted at Alliance Girls.
“I had that dream growing up, probably from the age of seven, given the calibre of strong women I knew who had attended the school,” she says.
In 2007, she joined Massachusetts Institute of Technology and graduated in 2011 with double degrees in Mathematics and Management Science, joining Harvard Business School for an MBA in 2013.
"Even small family-level acts—like mentoring the next generation—can help shape the country’s future."
But why consulting? She pulls the scab off a childhood memory: a plane crash in Cameroon, when Titus Naikuni, then CEO of Kenya Airways, appeared calm yet commanding in a crisis. She wanted to be a business leader who shapes lives.
Her career-defining moment was making partner. “The path to partner from associate partner is quite treacherous. There is a lot you have to prove, and it is only done once a year.” She tried in 2023, didn’t make the cut, and considered leaving altogether. Ultimately, she decided to stay after taking a two-month sabbatical.
To her, you have to put in the hours. It’s a lifelong desire. The real opportunity, she believes, lies in unlocking Africa’s collective productivity. “Even small family-level acts—like mentoring the next generation—can help shape the country’s future.”
She draws from her family, community, and her girls at Zawadi Africa Education Programme that supports young girls going to the US for further studies.
-Eddy Ashioya