Hillcrest International Schools - Board of Governors

HILLCREST

INTERNATIONAL SCHOOLS

Board of Governors

2021 - 2022

SEMPER PROSPICE 1

OUR VISION, PHILOSOPHY & VALUES

ect Inspire Curio

Resp
inationEmpower
sityFor each child to
Encouachieve personal
Indepeexcellence as a
valuable member

of our global
community

ndencreage Determ

Respect Independence

for ourselves, each other, to develop self-motivation
our community and the and purposefulness to learn
environment on an independent basis

Curiosity Determination

to discover, explore and to strive to achieve
develop personal interests
and strengths

Semper Prospice

BOARD OF GOVERNORS

Bob Kikuyu Bob is the current Chairman of the Governing Body of Hillcrest. He has been a
longstanding parent at the school with the youngest child now finishing in Year
13.

He is a Universtity of Nairobi graduate in Literature and Linguisitics with a
Masters in Theology from the Nairobi Evangelical Graduate School of Theology
(NEGST). He served as the senior minister of a Nairobi congregation for many
years before moving to development work and co-founding eduKenya and
sitting as their Executive Director for Kenya. He now serves on the board of the
organisation alongside several other boards.

He is a passionate sportsman from his days at Nairobi School where he was
selected to play rugby for the Kenya Combined Schools, and a two time national
club rugby championship winner.

He works in the Humanitarian and Development sector with Christian Aid, a UK
based humanitarian and development agency. He has served with them as the
Deputy Head of the Africa Region and is currently the Global Theology Advisor
for the organisation as well as a Project Lead for an ACT Alliance / World
Council of Churches project.

Salim is a Hillcrest class of 1989 alumnus. He is the chairman of Camerapix
(which was founded by his father Mr. Mohamed Amin), founder and chairman of
the Mohamed Amin Foundation, and co-founder and chairman of A24 Media.

In 2012, New African Magazine recognized Salim as one of the top “100 Most
Influential Africans” and named him among their “Top 50 Under 50.” His work
as a producer includes the internationally acclaimed feature documentary “Mo
& Me”, the One.org production of “Revisiting Korem”, and executive producing
the award-winning documentary “The Sound Man”. As an on-camera host and
producer, Salim achieved acclaim across the continent for his production of
The Scoop, a weekly half hour series featuring Africa’s foremost voices in art,
culture and finance. At its height, The Scoop reached an audience of over 300
million viewers.

Salim Amin

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Janice Muthui Janice Muthui is a legal professional with a Bachelor of Laws LL.B (Hons.)
degree from the University of Leeds, UK and has vast experience working in
the fields of development law and human rights particularly working with
vulnerable groups such as refugees, women and children. She has worked at
UNHCR, which saw her work in both Nairobi and at the Kakuma Refugee camp
in Northern Kenya. Until 2016, she served as the Foundation Manager for the
Community Cooker™ Foundation which has won numerous international awards
in the alternative waste management field. In this capacity she has written an
article for the Financial Times and sat on an esteemed judging panel for the FT/
Citi Ingenuity Awards: Urban Ideas in Action.

Over the last 5 years, she has taken time to focus on her family and business
interests, however, also during this time, she has served as the Chair of the
Hillcrest Preparatory School, Parent Representatives Forum and has been
instrumental in helping to draft Child Safety Policies and guidelines as well as
the School’s Code of Conduct, among other important child centric documents.
Indeed, she has become more involved in the education space and to this end
has done relevant courses on Family Engagement in Education and Child
Protection: Children’s Rights in Theory and Practice from HarvardX. She has a
true passion for advocacy, mentorship and social responsibility and is involved
in various charitable initiatives. She has also been involved with prisoners
rights and has particiated in pro bono legal aid clinics with the Legal Resources
Foundation and civic rights education with People for Peace in Africa. She is a
member of various professional bodies and resides in Nairobi, Kenya with her
family.

Ken is the immediate former Managing Director of Rafiki Microfinance Bank.
He has previously held leading roles and has vast experience in the Banking,
Transport and Manufacturing sectors – Chief Finance Officer of Chase Group,
General Manager of Beverage Services Limited, Managing Director of Kenya Bus
Services, General Manager of Nairobi Bottlers Limited, amongst other roles.
He is currently a business consultant.

He is a qualified CPA, who holds a BSc.in Statistics from the University
of Nairobi, and an MBA in Strategic Management from the United States
International University.

Ken Obimbo

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Semper Prospice

Dr. Huwaida leads the clinical research operational activities in East, Central
and West Africa for Roche, a Swiss multinational healthcare company. Huwaida
is a leader with almost two decades of experience in primary healthcare and
the biotech industry, supporting the advancement of scientific discoveries,
and addressing barriers in clinical trial participation via Advancing Inclusive
ResearchTM initiatives. She is also responsible for the recruitment, retention
and development of diverse local talent within the clinical research space on the
continent.

Dr. Huwaida Bulhan, Prior to her role at Roche, Huwaida worked as a medical doctor for the Ministry
MBChB, MPH of Health in Kenya, in Nairobi and Garissa, before later moving to clinical
research oversight and management in private industry as well as academia in
Europe and North America. She acquired her medical training at the University
of Nairobi, and further training in Public Health with a focus in Global Health
research, at the University of East London. Huwaida is passionate about health
inequity, and how research can be transformative to healthcare practice and
policy in Africa.

Huwaida has been a member of the Hillcrest parent community since 2019,
and prior to that at the GEMS Cambridge International School since 2017. She
is a native of Nairobi, and in her spare time loves music, trying new culinary
flavours, and spending time with family and friends out in nature.

Enrico is an Italian national and father of three,who has been based in Nairobi
since 2013. He is currently the Chief Financial Officer of Maris Africa Group.
Previously he worked with Equity Bank- Kenya as the Executive Director of
Mobile Banking. Prior to moving to East Africa, he worked in Singapore as CFO
of DOCOMO Intertouch and in Europe and Asia for Hewlett Packard. He has an
MBA from the University of Chicago, Booth School of Business and a Masters
Degree in Industrial Engineering from the Polytechnic of Milan.

Enrico Nora

3

Mary Arnal Mary is an applied linguist with a Master’s degree from Edinburgh University.
She is a senior teacher and university lecturer, who has taught in both
the private and maintained sectors. Her specialist subjects are English
Language, English Literature, Psychology, Philosophy and Spanish. She has
vast experience as headmistress and manager of boarding schools in the UK,
Sherborne International School Dorset, and St Mary’s School Shaftesbury,
Dorset. She has established excellent partnerships abroad and worked on plans
for the development of some of these schools.

Previously, she was the headmistress at St. Teresa’s Prep School in Surrey
and prior to this, she was the Senior Housemistress at St. John’s School
Leatherhead where she was also an English and Psychology teacher for 10
years. She oversaw the academic and pastoral welfare of the Sixth Form girls’
boarding house, including their successful admission to their university of
their choice. She also taught English at Colegio Anglo-Americano Prescott in
Arequipa, Peru.

Her teaching has also taken her abroad where she worked at the Mary Ward
Catholic College’s in Spain. She has been proprietor of an International Summer
School in Ireland, has experience in business and finance and holds a diploma
in Marketing from the University of Ulster. She is a fellow of the Royal Society of
Arts and is a qualified examiner and inspector.

She is married to a mathematical analyst, Don Antonio Arnal, and has two
sons. As a Catholic, she describes herself as British by birth, Irish by blood and
Spanish in spirit!

Paulina has a degree from the Cornell University School of Hotel Management
and over 30 years of experience in building renowned hospitality brands -
The Palacina Collection (Palacina Berlin, Palacina Nairobi, On The River
Inn- Vermont, and Mountains Meadows Lodge- Killington) and The Zanzibar
Collection (Baraza Resort & Spa, Breezes Beach Club & Spa, The Palms,
and Zawadi Hotel Zanzibar). She is also the founder and creator of Palacina
Interiors, a leading interior design firm in East Africa with a specialization in
Hospitality Design.

Paulina Raguz
Macksoud

4

Semper Prospice

Samira Leakey Samira is a Writer, Editor and a Communications and Public Affairs specialist.
She has conducted independent consultancies in communications and project
management fields with the Turkana Basin Institute, the African Conservation
Fund, World Bank, Institute of Economic Affairs, African Medical and Research
Foundation and the UNDP Global Environment Facility, Africa Bureau. She co-
authored the auto-biographical book of Meave Leakey’s life in search of human
origins.

Ms. Samira holds a master’s degree in Public Affairs – International
Development Policy Focus from Princeton University, and a Bachelor of Arts in
Politics from The University of London, School of Oriental and African Studies.

She is a member of the Board of Directors of Transparency International TI-
Kenya and has sat on the Governing Body of Hillcrest International Schools
since 2016.

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Inspire. Encourage. Empower