Charity Wayua (born 1985) is a Kenyan
chemist and
researcher, who serves as a Corporate Strategy Associate at
International Business Machines (IBM), based in the
Greater New York City area.
Background and education
Charity attended
Alliance Girls High School
Alliance Girls' High School (AGHS) is a public national boarding school for girls located near the small town of Kikuyu in the Kiambu District of the Central Province of Kenya, 20 km from Nairobi. Founded in 1948 as the African Girls High S ...
, in the town of
Kikuyu, in
Kiambu County, where she obtained her
High School Diploma
A high school diploma or high school degree is a North American academic school leaving qualification awarded upon high school graduation. The high school diploma is typically obtained after a course of study lasting four years, from grade 9 to gra ...
, in 2002.
She holds a
Bachelor of Science degree in
Chemistry
Chemistry is the science, scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a natural science that covers the Chemical element, elements that make up matter to the chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules and ions ...
, from
Xavier University in the United States, obtained in 2007. Her
Doctor of Philosophy degree in
Medicinal and Pharmaceutical Chemistry, was awarded in 2011, by
Purdue University, in the state of
Indiana, United States.
Her studies in the United States were sponsored by scholarships awarded by the
Zawadi Africa Education Fund', founded and supported by
Susan Mboya
Susan Mboya is a corporate executive and philanthropist who is the Principal and International Advisor for Navigators Global a Washington DC based consulting firm. Susan has been a corporate executive for over 25 years and has held a number of se ...
, a daughter of the late
Tom Mboya, one of Kenya's
founding fathers
The following list of national founding figures is a record, by country, of people who were credited with establishing a state. National founders are typically those who played an influential role in setting up the systems of governance, (i.e. ...
. The Zawadi Fund, an American 501(c)3
non-profit, sponsors academically gifted, disadvantaged rural girls in Kenya, to study in American universities, then return to Kenya and contribute to national development.
She later married Peter Ayiro who is currently working as a German teacher at her alma mater, Alliance Girls' High School.
Work experience
For a period of two years following her undergraduate degree, Charity taught undergraduate chemistry as a
teaching assistant, at Purdue University, at
West Lafayette
West Lafayette () is a city in Wabash Township, Tippecanoe County, Indiana, United States, about northwest of the state capital of Indianapolis and southeast of Chicago. West Lafayette is directly across the Wabash River from its sister city ...
, Indiana, until August 2009.
Following the completion of her doctoral studies, she was hired by IBM as
research scientist for the Africa region, based in
Nairobi, the capital city of Kenya.
The team of researchers that she leads are charged with developing "commercially viable technologies" that improve how governments work and serve their citizens. The work her team carried out in collaboration with the Kenyan government, between 2013 and 2014, is credited with improving Kenya's ranking on the World Bank annual Ease of Doing Business ranking, advancing by 21 spots.
In June 2018, Charity Wayua was promoted to Corporate Strategy Associate at IBM, and continues to work both in Nairobi, Kenya and at corporate headquarters in
Armonk,
New York State.
Other considerations
In September 2018, ''
Business Daily Africa'', a Kenyan,
English language, daily newspaper, named Charity Wayua, among the "Top 40 Under 40 Women in Kenya in 2018".
See also
*
Gladys Ngetich
Gladys Chepkirui Ngetich (born c.1991) is a Kenyan engineer, and a Rhodes scholar, pursuing a doctorate degree in aerospace engineering at the University of Oxford, in the United Kingdom. She is the recipient of the Tanenbaum Fellowship and the ...
*
Sianto Sitawa
Marley Sianto Sikawa (born c. 1990) is a Kenyan communications and marketing professional, who served as the tourism marketing coordinator and currently the Assistant Director, Tourism and Wildlife Narok County, one of the 47 administrative ...
*
Cynthia Wandia
*
Kagure Wamunyu
References
External links
Profile of Dr Charity Wayua As of 2017.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wayua, Charity
Living people
1985 births
People from Nairobi
Kamba people
Kenyan scientists
Xavier University alumni
Purdue University College of Pharmacy alumni
Alumni of Alliance Girls High School
21st-century Kenyan women scientists
21st-century Kenyan scientists
Kenyan women chemists