Tomiwa Aladekomo is the CEO of Big Cabal Media, which publishes the tech and youth publications, TechCabal and Zikoko. Big Cabal is building the next generation of African media brands and creating some of the most exciting original content from the continent. An experienced executive, Mr. Aladekomo has worked extensively across media and marketing roles in Nigeria and North America. He has taken Big Cabal through a transformation that's made it one of the most exciting new media companies on the continent, telling Africa’s stories in depth and in innovative and fresh ways.

He is passionate about Nigeria and Africa as a whole. This passion fuels the pace-setting work he does at Big Cabal Media, and also as a Board Member of the Africa Tech & Creative Group; which is working to ensure that the implementation of the AFCFTA (Africa Continental Free Trade Act) works for tech, creative and small business communities all over the continent.

Tomiwa has a BSc in Business Administration from Boston University and an MSc. in Anthropology from Columbia University, New York. He is a fellow of the Archbishop Tutu Leadership Fellowship, run by the African Leadership Institute. 

Mr. Christopher Wambua is the Acting CEO of the Kenya Film Classification Board (KFCB) - the regulatory agency for film sector in the country. He was appointed to the position in August 2021. 

Prior to his appointment, Mr. Wambua was the Director in charge of Consumer and Public Affairs at the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA).  In this role, he was responsible for overseeing corporate communications, consumer protection, stakeholder management, and international relations functions at the ICT sector regulator. He had earlier worked at the CA’s Multi-Media Services Department as the Assistant Director in charge of Content Regulation and Innovation.  Mr. Wambua has spent most of his working life at the CA, having joined the organisation in 2000 as an Assistant PR Manager. 

Before joining CA, Mr. Wambua worked at the Tea Board of Kenya and Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology as a Public Relations Officer.  

Mr. Wambua holds a Master’s degree in International Studies and a Post-graduate diploma in Mass Communication from the University of Nairobi. He also holds another post-graduate diploma in Public Relations from the Chartered Institute of Public Relations and a first degree in Education from Kenyatta University.

Mr. Wambua has over the years taken many short courses, including the University of Oxford’s Executive Leadership Programme.  

Athandiwe Saba is the Mail & Guardian deputy editor. She is a multi-award-winning journalist
with a background in investigative and data journalism. She also has experience in
newsroom management, editorial and strategy. She established the Mail & Guardian Data
Desk and has been internationally recognised for her work in investigative data journalism.
She is committed to innovating in the industry to ensure we can continue providing one of
the most essential products and services for an educated and engaged electorate,
citizenship, and, most importantly, thriving democracies.

Based in Luminate’s Nairobi office, Stan sources and manages grants in Africa, including those that support media and digital platforms to ensure information is accurate and inclusive.

Dr. Bright Gameli Mawudor is a Cyber Security Engineering Lead at MARA, Africa's leader in Web3 & Blockchain technology.  He is also the founder of the Africahackon, a Cyber Security collective dedicated to fostering excellence through, capacity building and development of a strong community of experts in Africa

He acquired a PhD in IT Convergence and Application Engineering with concentration in Information Security from Pukyong National University, South Korea.

For his professionalism, Dr Bright is an Advisory Board member of
• EC-Council Global Advisory Board Member – CTIA
• Cybersafe Foundation
• AfCAA – African council for accreditation and accountability

He has over 10 years of professional experience in the Cyber Security industry with strong expertise in Cyber security Strategy building, Resilience, and system penetration testing.  Bright has also presented at over 230 Cyber Security conferences, lectured at various universities, and contributed to cyber security publications.

He was also recognized by Tribe of Hackers: Blue Team 2020, Top 40 Under 40 2016/2012  of young entrepreneurs in Kenya and worked with world class organisations such as Dimension Data/NTT, Cellulant and Ushahidi.  Dr Mawudor has performed various evaluations and selections of Cyber Security tools and successfully implemented IT security systems to protect the Confidentiality, Availability, and Integrity of critical business environments to curb and mitigate risks. Technically highly skilled in various environments, especially in the Cyber Security space, dedicated and a team player with excellent leadership qualities

Joe is a talented journalist, media manager and debate moderator, with wide experience spanning more than 24 years. He has covered major local and international news events and presided over the coverage of four General Elections and two national referenda in Kenya. He has played critical roles in Kenya’s presidential debates including co-moderating three of them. He has previously worked at Royal Media Services as Editorial Director, the Standard Group as Managing Editor (KTN News) and the Kenya Broadcasting Corporation (KBC) as a Senior Reporter. He is a PhD candidate in Communication at Daystar University and holds an MSc (Environmental Governance) from the University of Manchester, a Bachelor of Agribusiness Management from Egerton University, a Post-Graduate Diploma in Mass Communication from the University of Nairobi, and an Advanced Certificate in Environmental Diplomacy from the University of Geneva, Switzerland.

Nkirote Koome
Nkirote is a principal with the Africa team at Luminate. She sources and evaluates funding opportunities that support narrative change, and storytelling initiatives to elevate marginalised and underrepresented voices. Nkirote’s work also covers countering mis and disinformation, and building vibrant, inclusive media ecosystems.

James Smart is an experienced journalist, prime-time television anchor, and talk-show host based in Nairobi. Smart is currently the Podcast editor at Nation Media Group. He hosts regular original narrative podcasts series like #CaseNumberZero and #ParadiseLost.

He has previously worked with the BBC to produce its “Focus on Africa” broadcast, a flagship TV and radio news program that highlights stories from across the African continent.

Smart has extensive experience in the audio world in the continent and has been part of the transition of radio documentaries production to online audio distribution and content creation.

He has also worked extensively with Kenya’s leading TV stations, including Kenyan Television Network and Nation Television (NTV).

Most notably, he successfully launched two of the country ’s top television shows, #TheTrend and #KTNLivewire, which integrate social media platforms such as Twitter to enable viewers to engage directly with the hosts of each program.

Smart conceptualized #Newssources for KTNNEWS, during the run-up to the elections he co-hosted #Afropolitico, a program designed for pure online consumption with economics and political content. He currently hosts a weekly current affairs program #With-all-due-respect.

James Smart holds a Masters of International Journalism degree from Cardiff University, he is also a NED (National Endowment on Democracy) fellow.

Alphonce Shiundu is the pioneer Kenya editor of Africa Check, the continent’s leading fact-checking organisation. He was previously parliamentary editor of Standard Group Plc, Kenya’s oldest media house. Before then, he was a journalist at the Nation Media Group Plc.. He has experience and expertise in fact-checking research, open-source intelligence, new media, newsroom convergence and publishing technologies. He holds a masters degree in media and development from the University of Westminster, London; a bachelors in information sciences from Moi University in Kenya. He’s a Chevening scholar; an alumnus of the School of Authentic Journalism (Mexico), the Professional Fellows Exchange Programme (Washington DC), and the Young African Leaders Initiative (Nairobi). He believes in holding power to account. In his free time, he climbs mountains.

Catherine Gicheru is an ICFJ/Knight Fellow and the founder/director of the Africa Women Journalism Project, driving the coverage of under-reported issues affecting women and marginalised groups. A veteran journalist with two leading newspapers in Kenya, she co-founded East Africa's first fact-checking initiative PesaCheck.

Cartoonist Godfrey Mwampembwa, a.k.a Gado was born in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania on August
6, 1969. Gado is the editorial cartoonist for the The EastAfrican Standard In Nairobi. His works
have also been published in Daily Nation (Kenya), Le Monde and Courrier International (France),
Deutsche Welle (Germany), The Guardian of London among others.
He is the Co-Founder and Executive Chairman of Buni Media, an independent Multi-Media
company based in Nairobi. A Classical Animator from Vancouver Film school, Gado is a creator
and Producer of the weekly satirical puppet show, The XYZ SHOW, Which has been running on
Kenya TV networks since 2009.
Gado is a 2007 Prince Claus Laureate. He is also a winner of Kenya National Human Rights
Commission (KHRC), Lifetime Achievement Award In Journalism in 2018. Gado is a recipient of
the prestigious Cartoon for Peace 2016 International Editorial Cartoon Award, In 2011 Gado was
among 12 extraordinary leaders to receive a Visionaries Award from Ford Foundation for their
innovative efforts on the frontlines of key social issues. In 2014 and 2016, Gado was named as
one of the 100 most influential people in Africa by one of Africa’s leading publication,
NewAfrican. In May 2022, Gado was awarded with Chevalier dans l’ordre des Arts et des Lettres
(Knight of the Order of the Arts and letters), by the French Government.

Gado is a member of Cartoonists Rights Network (CRN), Cartoonist For Peace and Kenya Union
of Journalists (KUJ).

Phyian Karinge is self proclaimed accidental techie who founded YoungTechiez, with a mission to make tech familiar through media and digital content. Previously a Fem-Tech co-founder and professionally set as a product manager with experience spanning across Big Data, Edu Tech and Fem-Tech industries. She is also a renowned global tech moderator who loves a good bouquet of flowers.

Nepurko is a digital integrated communications consultant with a special bias towards writing and editing content for advertising, digital marketing & public relations. She supports women owned businesses operating on-and-offline who would like to tell their own stories safely and sustainably while building engaged online communities around their brands.

Suhayl Omar is a Kenyan based researcher. His interests lie in theorizing policing, surveillance, militarism and Muslim precarity within the subaltern. He is currently the team lead at Al-Ghaib Medical Policy, a grassroots think-tank exploring the epistemologies of exclusion and violence in Mathare and other urban-informal settlements in Kenya. 

Samira Sawlani is a journalist, writer and analyst with a focus on East Africa. A holder of an MA in International Studies and Diplomacy, from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), she has previously worked in the humanitarian aid sector. 

She has a weekly column in The Mail and Guardian’s ‘The Continent’ and her work has been published in a range of publications including The New York Times, Al Jazeera, The Guardian, Vice, Mail and Guardian and African Arguments.

Walid Kilonzi is a pioneering Extended Reality Producer at Fallohide, with a knack for telling stories, a flair for detail, and a hint of humor. He has a proven and experienced background in all things Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, and Mixed Reality for multinational companies, SMEs, African governments, and NGOs based all around Africa

Mwende Mukwanyaga is an open-source intelligence expert, data journalist and culture analyst who specializes in uncovering the stories behind climate, health and gender issues. When not busy unearthing hidden gems of information and trying to make sense of the ever-evolving world at the intersection of research, journalism, AI and Web3, you can find her trying to doodle or mix a mean cocktail.”

John Sibi-Okumu, OGW, was  twelve year old when he first spoke into a radio microphone as English teaching talent for the Schools’ Broadcasting Division of what was then known as the Voice of Kenya. He has been a broadcaster, intermittently, ever since, progressing to newsreading, initially on radio and then on television, which culminated in bulletins branded by his initials: JSO@7. As a presenter, Kenyans will have seen him host iconic productions such as The Summit, an incisive interview programme and the continental, general knowledge quiz show, The Zain Africa Challenge. Currently, he presents John Sibi-Okumu on Wednesday, a radio talk show. He has been a narrator and voice-over artiste for award-winning documentaries and advertising campaigns in English, French and Kiswahili. As a print journalist he has written columns for Kenya’s leading newspapers and magazines. Apart from journalism, he has significant profiles as a stage and screen actor and director- playwright. 

Mukami is a data journalist based in Nairobi, Kenya. She has worked with various international media outlets including the UK-based Finance Uncovered, the BBC Africa Eye, and Africa Uncensored, an investigative journalism production house in Kenya. She is an expert on data-driven and open-source investigations and fact-checking, particularly for journalism. Purity holds a degree in Mathematics and Computer Science and a Master of Science in Applied Statistics.

She has so far worked on data and investigative journalism projects in areas such as public procurement, illicit financial flows, elections, wildlife trafficking, and OSINT among others. Before dedicating her career to investigative journalism she worked in the banking sector and taught statistics at various Kenyan universities. 

Larry Kwirirayi is a Zimbabwean writer, poet, podcaster, broadcaster, screenwriter, and digital entrepreneur. He is the founder and CEO of the award-winning platform 3-mob.com, and hosts five podcasts ranging from cricket to lifestyle and interviews. Larry has also written and produced podcast dramas. On national radio, he hosts a mostly current affairs talk show on ZiFM Stereo. He believes in people, but intends to get back to becoming an avid knitter.

Khadija Patel pushes words on street corners. She is the chairperson of the International Press Institute and works as the Journalist - in - Residence at the International Fund for Public Interest Media. She is passionate about the protection and enhancement of global media as a public good. 

Doreen Wainainah is the Managing Editor of PesaCheck, Africa’s largest indigenous fact-checking organisation, incubated by Code for Africa. Doreen previously worked at Nation Media Group, the largest media house in Sub-Saharan Africa. Her over a decade of experience as a writer and editor includes stints as a fellow at Oxford University’s Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, & the Global Reporting Program at the University of British Columbia.

Jessica Horn is the Regional Director of the Ford Foundation's Office for Eastern Africa. She oversees the foundation's grantmaking in the region and leads the Nairobi-based team. Jessica has two decades of experience in the work of advancing justice and building both the knowledge base and practice towards inclusive democracies—with women's rights as a focal commitment—primarily in Africa. This includes 16 years in the philanthropic sector. 

Early in her career Jessica was nominated as a Soros Reproductive Health and Rights Fellow. She has since worked as a technical lead in creating ground-breaking social change initiatives. In philanthropy, she worked to co-design models for participatory grantmaking funds UHAI, and FRIDA- the first global young feminist fund. In a thought leadership role as Director of Programmes, Jessica pioneered the African Women's Development Fund (AWDF) Futures initiative, forecasting the future of women's rights in Africa. She also oversaw the strategy for a four-fold increase in grantmaking budget. Committed to creating platforms for expanding narratives, Jessica was co-founder and commissioning editor for Our Africa, a platform profiling African women’s analysis on openDemocracy.

Jessica has served on the boards of Mama Cash, Urgent Action Fund Africa and The Fund for Global Human Rights, and as an advisor to initiatives advancing social justice. She is currently a Commissioner on the Lancet Commission on Gender and Global Health. 

Her analysis has been published in academic and media platforms, including The Lancet, Al Jazeera and The Guardian. Jessica holds a BA in Anthropology from Smith College (magna cum laude) and an MSc in Gender and Development (with distinction) from the London School of Economics. She is a graduate of the United World College - USA.

Ndu is a Journalist and Media Practitioner with African and global experience. Nigerian, with continental and global experience and knowledge, she has traversed West, East African  and Indian Ocean region over the last 20 years telling, producing and selling African stories and more. Today, she wears the hat as one of the hosts on The Situation room - Kenya's Biggest Conversation and flies as editor for the bird Specialist News Agency and is passionate about raising the bar on African storytelling and shifting the narrative. 

Nadia Abdalla is the youngest former Chief Administrative Secretary who was in charge of ICT, Innovations & Youth Affairs in Kenya. She is a global communication specialist with an industrious and resourceful knack for results and quality outputs for governments, private institutions and non-profits across Africa and beyond. She specializes in diversity and inclusion programs for African women and girls, digital transformative programs, Millennial and GenZ Leadership and mental health advocacy. Nadia is also a global inspirational speaker and an author who has graced international spaces with audiences from vast backgrounds.

Jacob Okumu, a Campaign Strategist with the Change.org Foundation, is a Community Organizer with knowledge and experience in training, coaching, designing and managing campaigns for social change.

He has led numerous training and coaching on practices of servant leadership, volunteer management, design thinking and organizing campaigns for sustainable change to different groups and organizations in different communities and countries.

Ms. Monicah Waceke Ndung’u, is currently the Chief Operating Officer at Nation Media Group, she also oversees the Broadcasting division and prior to joining NMG, she was the General Manager for Kwese Free TV Kenya Limited. She has worked with Kenya Broadcasting Corporation and Uganda Broadcasting Corporation in overall channel management programming, partnership building, change management and product development.

Monicah is a Chevening Scholar, a holder of an MA degree in Communication Policy from The University of Westminster (UK) and Bachelor of Arts in Communication (Electronic Media) Daystar University. When not working to reimagine media business models, she passionately supports Arsenal football Club, loves hiking and doing life with her family.

Monicah Waceke Ndungu Nduru

Chief Operating Officer 

Nation Media Group

“Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future.”

John F. Kennedy

Margaret Mliwa is a program officer based in the foundation's office for Eastern Africa in Nairobi. She has more than 25 years of experience in social justice, working with government, civil society, and philanthropy to advocate for and implement policies that champion community-driven programs with an emphasis on youth and women’s voices, rights-based approaches, and strengthening the leadership and capacity of civil society networks and organizations. She has been instrumental in catalyzing and nurturing the growth of local, national, and global social justice movements to push for government accountability and responsiveness and to put mechanisms in place for meaningful community engagement to improve resource distribution and service delivery.

Prior to joining Ford, Margaret was the country director of Restless Development Tanzania, a global youth-led development agency. Before that, she served as head of the Youth Social Mobilization Unit of the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports of the government of Kenya and as lead consultant in the development of the National Youth Service framework for the Sierra Leonean government.

Danny Mucira is an accomplished business leader who is passionate about empowerment; entertainment and the role of creative arts in uplifting African youth in order to enable them stand up and shine. Currently, he heads the Trace business in East Africa as the Managing Director tasked with rolling out the full suite of Trace products in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda and Ethiopia.

By way of introduction, widely acclaimed Trace brand launched in 2003 and originated from an iconic magazine. Trace has since grown into an Afro-Urban cultural entertainment force with 300 million fans and a mission to empower and uplift young people globally. Trace media, digital, entertainment and education platforms are available in 162 countries and are segment leaders in Africa, Brazil, France, UK, Caribbean and Indian Ocean.

Danny leads the Trace agenda for empowerment and entertainment of its audiences. This entails running 3 TV channels – Trace Gospel, Trace Muzika and Trace Mziki - from Nairobi and one radio station Trace 95.3 that has a national reach.

He is a highly effective and accomplished business leader with a proven track record in strategic and commercial leadership spanning 20 years. He excels in orchestrating strategic change, driving organizational behavior and culture and building momentum around business goals that deliver superior results.

Danny Mucira earned his bachelor’s degree in Commerce as a Finance Major at the University of Nairobi and is also a Chartered Public Accountant. He has also undertaken a Management Development Program from Wits Business School and Insead School of Business, Paris.          

With a career spanning over 20 years, he has worked in various industries namely Oil and Gas, Telecommunications, Finance, Media and Entertainment. He has worked with some key institutions in these industries namely Shell & BP, Safaricom Ltd, Old Mutual, Multichoice, Radio Africa and currently Trace Eastern Africa.

For 24 years, Mike Strano has continually explored the Creative Business of Africa.  Since moving to Eastern Africa, from Australia, in 1998, Mike and his Team have Built one of best-known Entertainment Companies in Africa - PHAT! Music & Entertainment Limited, with interests in Media, Event Production, Licensing and Industry Building.

During 2016, The Business Daily and KPMG listed PHAT! at No.36 of the Top 100 Mid-Sized Businesses in Kenya – the first-ever Company in the Creative Industry to be Recognised with this prestigious Award.

In October 2014, Mike also Co-Founded what is now YAKWETU™ Online Limited.  Meaning both "Of Us" and "For Us" in Kiswahili (the most popular African language).  YAKWETU™ is an Online Home Entertainment & Edutainment System - of Africa, for Africa.

Using their proprietory Kenyan-made Applications, YAKWETU™ is an online Distributor and Retailer of Digital Content, from Africa, to Africa and for Africa - through a Range of thoughtfully Curated branded Services, that supply Consumers with securely Encrypted original Titles, that fairly Pays the Creators - unlike Pirated alternatives.

As a benchmark, think of Amazon’s suite of Digital Media, like Prime Video, Freevee, Amazon Music, Audible and Twitch – and that’s our Growth Plan for African Content, on The Motherland and to her Diaspora.

YAKWETU™ exists to Fairly Pay the Creatives of Africa, who Lose upto 99% Revenue to Piracy; and don’t have enough options Online to Earn a Living.

YAKWETU™ also exists for 475 million SmartPhone users in Africa, who Want to Consume their own Content via Pay-As-You-Go, like how they buy Airtime - NOT via Subscription.

Released on 26th September 2019, their Poof-of-Concept is MyMovies.Africa™, as a Mobile-first Digital Cinema Extension, offering securely Encrypted original Movies from Africa (i.e. New Releases, Classics, Features, Shorts, Animations, Documentaries, etc) on Smart Devices, including Phones, Tablets, Laptops, Smart TVs and Set Top Boxes, across Africa and to her Diaspora in 195 Countries.

Its core Products are a Premium Video On Demand – PVOD (#RentFor2Days) for New Releases, Transactional Video On Demand – TVOD (#RentFor7Days), Electronic Sell Through – EST (#OwnForLife) purchase and Watch Parties via ZOOM, all Accessed here: https://app.mymovies.africa.  More information here:  https://www.yakwetu.africa

Mike is also the Founding Chair of Partners Against Piracy Association of Kenya - a multi-sectoral Coalition, of local and international Associations, Societies and Companies, representing the interests of thousands of Creatives in Kenya and the World, in terms of the Protection of their Intellectual Property against Piracy.

Joe Kobuthi is a curator, philosopher and policy analyst based in Kenya. Currently, he is the Production Manager and editor for The Elephant, a Pan-African digital media organization that aims to be at the centre of the regional dialogue, speaking truth power in a quest to re-imagine a state and a society that guarantees a life of inclusivity and dignity for all. His work has been published in The Elephant, Africa is a country, Chakula Magazine, and Voice of Africa among other outlets.

Maria Sarungi Tsehai is a media and communication expert. She is the director/producer of award-
winning films and documentaries and has been a presenter and producer of many well-known and

highly viewed shows in Tanzania since 2000. Aside from production, Maria is also a communication
consultant, having provided strategic communication consultancy, PR management and media training
to various organizations including UN agencies, civil society organizations and individuals. She was the
director and owner of Compass Communications in Tanzania, which she founded with her husband
David Tsehai in the year 2000 and has worked extensively in strategic communication, media
management and communication. Her detailed CV lists some of these organizations including
Bloomberg Philanthropies, UNDP and Foundation for Civil Society
Compass Communications launched an online television channel Kwanza TV in 2016 and by 2018 had
quickly grown into a recognized brand known for its balanced, fearless coverage of events in an
increasingly closed civic space in Tanzania. Kwanza TV was suspended twice by the government of
President Magufuli on spurious charges.
.
Currently Maria has relocated and is working in Nairobi, Kenya with Mwanzo TV – regional online TV and
Mwanzo TV Plus
Maria is the founder of the hashtag movement #ChangeTanzania and is better known since 2021 for her
Twitter Spaces that she organizes with activists called #MariaSpaces that host people from all walks of
life, experts, politicians and activists in discussions around human rights, good governance and
accountability.

Charles Onyango-Obbo is a Ugandan journalist, author, futurist, and former Editor of Mail & Guardian Africa. He is a former Managing Editor of The Monitor, a daily Ugandan newspaper, former Executive Editor for the Africa and Digital Media Division with Nation Media Group. He is currently Curator of The Wall of Great Africans, a digital memorial to noteworthy Africans.

Eliza Anyangwe is Managing Editor of CNN’s multi-award-winning global gender inequality project As Equals, which focuses its reporting on revealing the systems that create and sustain disparity between the genders. Before joining CNN in Feb 2021, Eliza was Managing Editor of The Correspondent, a platform for constructive, member-funded, ad-free journalism.

Born in Cameroon, raised across Africa and currently based in Amsterdam, Eliza has worked in journalism for over 13 years. In 2016 Eliza set up The Nzinga Effect, a media project telling stories about African and Afro-descendant women, which produced the short film, Not Yet Satisfied.

Eliza is a seasoned speaker and moderator and a contributing author to Africa’s Media Image in the 21st Century, published by Routlege.

A Chartered and Marketing Fellow, Creative and Screen industries specialist, Communications professional with experience spanning over a decade. Currently the Chief Executive Officer at the Kenya Film Commission. 

With an outstanding qualification in all phases of marketing, management, communication, Intellectual property, film economic development and entrepreneurship. He has served in the dynamic sectors including, Marketing, Media, ICT, Development and now the screen entertainment world. He has provided his expertise and knowledge previously at Rollout Marketing Agency, Touch Media Solutions Ltd, Mnet East Africa, Multichoice Africa and now Kenya Film Commission. 

Mr. Owase is the only African Certified Film Commissioner and First African elected to the Board Member from the time the organization was formed, current member of Public Relations Society of Kenya (PRSK), Association of Film Commissioners International (AFCI) and the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM).

His academic credentials include Masters in Development and Corporate Communications (MA) at Daystar University, BBA (Marketing) from Kenya Methodist University, Film Marketing and Film Economic development from AFCI University and Post Graduate Diploma in Marketing from the Chartered Institute of Marketing, Diploma in Marketing from London Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), Diploma in Business Management from Kenya Institute of Management, Certificate in monitoring and Evaluation, Intellectual Property Certificate from World Intellectual Property Organization among other set of qualifications.

Timothy is passionate about the Screen industries and the Creative Knowledge Economies.

Samba Yonga is an award winning journalist, communications specialist  and cultural curator based in Lusaka Zambia.  She is co-founder of the Women’s History Museum of Zambia, established in 2017 with the mandate to research and restore African indigenous narratives, knowledge and 'living histories' focused on women. 

Samba has been recognised as 100 most influential Africans by Quartz, New York, and one of 40 most influential Africans.

She is also a Google Podcast Creator, TEDx Lusaka speaker and is a Museum Lab Fellow for 2022.
She has curated exhibitions and written papers  focused on indigenous African knowledge systems and narratives in Zambia but also for art spaces, museums and universities such as National Musuems of World Cultures in Sweden, Yale University in USA, Windybrow Centre in South Africa and many others.

The museum has collaborated with international museums and cultural organisations to identify indigenous African cultural heritage from Zambia and the African continent and is working to create digital platforms and tools to transition and provide access of this heritage to African and global publics in collaboration with source communities. The objective is to interrogate knowledge asymmetries created by colonial and obscured experiences and to investigate transformative methods of how it can impact the future of knowledge production in the museum and knowledge sectors. 

She is a graduate of the Evelyn Hone College School of Journalism and holds an MA in Transnational Communications and Global Media from Goldsmiths College, University of London.

Moina has extensive media experience as an editor, journalist and researcher. In her capacity as Assistant Editor with The Conversation Africa, Moina manages a diverse team in five different countries as they produce news and views from the academic and research community. As a journalist, she wrote on a variety of pan-African issues, having previously worked for the Africa Review (The Nation Media Group) and Mail & Guardian Africa.

Mwĩhaki loves words -spoken, written, set against a rhythm, in a book or a poem. As a StorySmith she is dedicated to crafting words, stories and digital content to positively influence ideas about progress, identity, historical and contemporary culture from Kenya and the continent at large. Her passion for “words woven well” led to the establishment of Paukwa House Ltd. a storyhouse dedicated to showcasing and sharing positive stories from the continent, to highlight hope, reframe opportunity and embrace our diverse and powerful selves

Thabiso Sekhula is managing editor of Scroll.Africa. She is an expert on social media. Before joining Scrolla, she was at TikTok Africa.

Mpindi Abaas is the CEO of the Media Challenge Initiative (MCI), a Ugandan based organisation building the next generation of journalists in Uganda. Mpindi believes that good journalism can make the world a better place through the stories journalists tell and how they tell them. Under MCI, Mpindi oversees the MCI Media Hub, MCI Radio and Solutions Now Africa, platforms that are amplifying media innovations and using solutions journalism to challenge negative narratives about Africa. Mpindi's story has been published in the Huffington post, CNN African Voices and in 2018 his work was put on spotlight by President Barack Obama in his #Mandela 100 lecture in South Africa. Mpindi is a 2018 Obama Leader, a 2018 Tony Elumelu Entrepreneur and a Young Emerging Leaders Program Fellow.

Phoebe Ruguru is a filmmaker who began by making short films. Her first feature film, 18 HOURS was the first Kenyan film to be nominated and to win the Best Film Award at the AMVCA (African Movie Viewers Choice Award). Her second feature film, Safari was a beneficiary of the Kenya Film Commission's Empowerment Program. She currently works as a Commissioning Editor for Multichoice's Maisha Magic Movies.