Ewuraba - Professional African Women with Class and Style

Evelyn Mungai started the first ever school of design in East Africa in 1976 and thereby changed the landscape in so far as design was concerned. Prior to her doing so there was no such career or industry as fashion design in East Africa . She has trained thousands of young people across Africa , who have in turn started their own businesses in this lucrative field. Others are employed in the related textile and graphic and interior design sectors.

Evelyn College graduates are to be found far and wide and the name Evelyn College of Design has come to be associated with quality. Her graduates span the globe. Thanks to her institution we now have qualified Kenyans working in the EPZA, providing much needed manpower particularly now with the AGOA initiative.

Evelyn Mungai is an entrepreneur per excellence and many people look upon her as a role model - not only in Kenya but elsewhere in Africa .

In 1981 she was invited to join the prestigious All Africa Business Round-Table , as its first woman member. ABR is a high-profile continent-wide private sector body, (which was chaired then by the then president of the African Development Bank, Babacar Ndiaye.)

It is composed of leading businesspeople from across Africa , whose purpose is to promote Africa as an investment destination. She travelled all over the US , Europe and Canada , and around numerous African capitals, meeting various Heads of State who hosted the group to further encourage them on this mission. She was eventually elected as Vice-Chairman of the ABR.

{mosimage}She has given keynote addresses in the above capacity in the presence of Government ministers and top officials in countries such as Nigeria , Canada , Ghana and Japan , and has testified before the Sub-Committee on Africa of the Sub-Committee on International Policy and Trade Committee and Foreign Affairs of the US House of Representatives. Her theme was “The Role of the Private Sector in Development for Africa ”. She has visited Capitol Hill on several occasions, and also The White House. She has had audience with President George Bush Snr., leading members of Congress and prominent U.S business leaders, during which she addressed Africa 's business potential.

Evelyn Mungai was also closely associated with the establishment and promotion of the Corporate Council for Africa , and the Global Coalition for Africa , two influential US based bodies that seek to bring the US and the African private sectors closer together. She served as a board member of the Africa Project Development Facility of IFC, the private sector development arm of the World Bank. In 1993, she was awarded the Lincoln University President's Award for excellence in business and finance.

Above all Evelyn Mungai has been a leading champion of women economic empowerment , both in Kenya and all around Africa . Her mission has taken her from her days as Chairman of the Nairobi Business and Professional Women's Association to her current position as President of the All African Businesswomen's Association (AABA) .

AABA facilitates networking and personal development among senior women in the private sector, and is currently completing a data-base of talented business and professional women . This is to be made available to among others Government, so that viable women can be identified for senior public positions of responsibility.

For many years she published Presence Magazine , which provided a further platform for strengthening and promoting women. She has also published Kenya Women Reflections , a book about Kenyan women active in the Independence era, and at one time owned and headed the first African recruitment and personnel selection agency .

{mosimage}In the last twelve years she has been an active Rotarian, serving in 2001-2 as the Chairman of the Rotary Club of Nairobi . She was the first woman member and thereafter Chairman of this 75years old club, the oldest and largest Rotary Club in Sub-Sahara Africa. During her year in office she launched a Rotary Community Corps in Cura village, Kiambu, and this has led to multi-dimensional development that has transformed the community. Initiatives have included ones in education, agriculture, health, infrastructure and income generation, and a home for 150 AIDS orphans has also been completed. Mrs. Mungai is currently a Rotary Assistant Governor , overseeing the development projects of several Rotary Clubs in Nairobi .

She is a Director of the Kenya chapter of Transparency International and a Trustee of the President's Award Scheme. She was a founder board member of the Nairobi Central Business District Association , and also of the Kenya chapter of Safety on the Roads International .

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Areas of strength and experience