James Odongo, 33, is a trained urban planner who never got to practice. He wanted to study architecture at university but failed to make the cut-off points.
“I missed the qualification threshold by two points. So, what is the next possible degree that you do that has a bit of drawing and creativity associated with it? Urban planning came along as an alternative.” He began taking up leadership roles in Class Six as a prefect.
In high school, he was made environment prefect, a role that, looked at in retrospect, may have ignited a passion for environmental conservation in him, which is part of what he advocates for as the CEO of KEPRO.
He credits his mentor for pushing him to go beyond his limits, which saw him become CEO at 29. He has occupied the c-suite offices at the Architectural Association of Kenya and the Kenya National Chambers of Commerce before moving to KEPRO in 2023.
"I was mentored into leadership, and the best thing I can do to pay it forward is mentor the next generation of leaders."
He leads a team of 10 at KEPRO. He promised the board that he’d maintain a lean team while maximising efficiency when he was hired.
“Any business leader will tell you that efficiency is core to the operations and success of an organisation. We focus on our core business and outsource services that we feel are not our strengths and those that may not be on our plates on a day-to-day basis.’’
He recently started reading, and the first low-hanging fruit he picked was Robin Sharma’s 5 AM Club. “I took it up because every other business leader I was listening to always seemed to allude to the morning experience being quite healing for them. And so I wanted to get to learn more about this. The book has been quite a good addition for me. It got me intrigued, or rather kick-started that urge to be reading.”
He makes time to spend time with his wife and daughter, saying “family is the only unit that remains standing when all else is falling.”
James is sending the elevator back down by mentoring younger people. “I was mentored into leadership, and the best thing I can do to pay it forward is mentor the next generation of leaders.”
The Top 40 Under 40 nomination motivates him to achieve more. “Being an anonymous motivation, I am now aware that someone, somewhere is watching and this gives me the impetus, especially on days I feel like I am not making much progress.”