Dr. Elizabeth Mary Okelo
Kenya
Dr. Elizabeth Mary Okelo
  • Founder, Kenya Women Finance Trust and Makini Schools (Financial services; Education)
Born Busia, Kenya. BA, Makerere University, Uganda; Diploma, Institute of Bankers, London; Diploma in Early Childhood Education, Froebel College, Dublin.
“[I]n Kenya… one person earning a salary supports at least 17 people. So you see, a good business is by default already supporting a wide section of the community it operates in.”

Summary

Mary Okelo describes her experiences as a woman entering the world of bank management in the 1960s, her struggles to prove herself, and her efforts on behalf of other women in the industry. She also recounts the context of her decision to found a group of schools and the challenges of making the schools successful in the Kenyan environment.

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Mary Okelo describes her experiences as a woman entering the world of bank management in the 1960s, her struggles to prove herself, and her efforts on behalf of other women in the industry. She also recounts the context of her decision to found a group of schools and the challenges of making the schools successful in the Kenyan environment.

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Gender (1)

Mary Okelo, who pursued a successful career as an executive of British-owned Barclays Bank In Kenya before founding the only women’s bank in Africa and the Makini schools system, explains how she was regarded as a “troublemaker” when, while a manager at Barclays Bank, she advocated for women employees to have greater professional participation at the bank.
Keywords: Gender, Kenya


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Gender (2)

Mary Okelo, who pursued a successful career as an executive of Barclays Bank In Kenya before founding the only women’s bank in Africa and the Makini schools system, describes how, while a manager at Barclays, she encouraged women, who lacked contractual rights, to make use of the bank's services by opening children’s accounts.
Keywords: Gender, Kenya


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Social Impact

Mary Okelo, who pursued a successful career as an executive of Barclays Bank In Kenya before founding the only women’s bank in Africa and the Makini schools system, explains how important it is for businesses to contribute to the larger society since they benefit from that society.
Keywords: Social Impact, Kenya


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Interview Citation Format

"Interview with Dr. Elizabeth Mary Okelo, interviewed by Henry McGee, February 27, 2015, Creating Emerging Markets Project, Baker Library Historical Collections, Harvard Business School, http://www.hbs.edu/creating-emerging-markets/."