As Vice President and Managing Director for Africa at inMobi, the world’s largest independent mobile advertising company, she heads operations for the entire African continent. “inMobi what?” I hear you ask; inMobi helps advertisers reach mobile internet users; they print ads like banner and text ads onto mobile applications that users access. It is supposed to be the future of advertising.
She once worked with Kenya’s first online job site, MyJobsEye, MTV and Google consecutively. While at Google, she specialized in mobile partnerships and developed the company’s content strategy for Africa. She has been named as one of the Top 40 Women Under 40 in Kenya for several years, listed on the Forbes Top 20 Youngest Power Women in Africa and on IT News Africa’s Top 10 Women in ICT. Most recently, she was named amongst the Young Global Leaders by the World Economic Forum.
She studied at Hillcrest School in Nairobi, Kenya, and has degrees from Stanford University and Harvard Business School. The half-Kenyan, half-American lady does have a lot going for her; Isis Nyong’o seems set to conquer the tech industry in Africa. She has great hopes that inMobi will be at the heart of the mobile business and then diversify in any number of directions after it is established. What is her motivation and passion for the world of technology? The opportunity to learn and build; “To learn about a new idea, build a new skill or deepen my understanding about a subject I’m already familiar with.”
Don’t be jealous of her successes, but work to parlay your strengths into definitive victories. In spite of the loss of her Father, and a near-fatal accident which saw her literally crushed under a car, Isis showed her triumphing spirit and outlived those moments which would otherwise have dragged her down.
Her advice on entrepreneurship and workplace politics to the women folk in an interview with Ventures Africa’s Folake Soetan… “Hard work will get you to a certain place but you’ve got to be able to manage perceptions and ask for things or it’s likely that they will be overlooked. Men tend to be much more comfortable saying that they did a fantastic job on something and as a manager you set the bar there, but women tend to work hard and hope someone will notice. People will appreciate it and keep you working hard because you’re dependable but you’re not going to move up until you manage perceptions and go after the thing you want.” So woman, next time you know you deserve something, get vocal about it, ask!!!
Isis serves on the boards of the Africa Cancer Foundation and the Mango Tree and actively supports various education charities in Kenya and Tanzania.
