Valentine Maithya-Okungu

Building on my journey as Head of HR, I’m now more focused on strengthening leadership capacity, deepening HR governance, and shaping an agile, values-led, high-performing workforce across Africa and Asia. I continue to partner with BIHBV’s Senior Management, Microfinance CEOs, Country Heads of HR, and our Centre of Excellence HR peers to co-create people strategies that are inclusive, context-responsive, and anchored in our Growth for Impact strategy. I remain passionate about nurturing talent, especially women leaders in critical roles and championing a coaching-led culture that enables performance, drives internal mobility, and builds strong succession pipelines, while positioning HR as a strategic partner in delivering impact at scale. https://bracinternational.org/microfinance/

I lead the HR teams in the countries where BRAC International Microfinance (BI MF) operates in Africa and Asia, to deliver tactical and operational HR. My role involves driving talent management strategies to help achieve our Growth for Impact Strategy. BRAC International Holdings B.V. (BIHBV) was set up in 2010 as a private limited liability company and is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Stichting BRAC International which was formed in 2009 as a non-profit foundation in the Netherlands. The core focus of BIHBV is to provide microfinance services outside Bangladesh to people living in poverty who are unbanked and unserved by mainstream financial institutions. Particularly focusing on women living in poverty in rural and hard-to-reach areas to create self-employment opportunities, build financial resilience, and harness women’s entrepreneurial spirit by empowering them economically. As a member of BIHBV's Senior Management team, I collaborate with BIHBV Management Board, Microfinance CEOs & Heads of HR to create talent management strategies that focus on identifying, nurturing, and retaining high-potential female employees within the microfinance program. At BI MF, I work closely with performance and talent management experts to lead talent reviews, development, management, and succession planning strategies across our Microfinance entities. Together, we create a culture that prioritizes and delivers high performance. I am responsible for ensuring that the BI MF and Microfinance Management Teams acquire the best talent and maintain a high-quality applicant pool, I drive strategic internal talent mobility and expatriate assignments and oversee organization redesign and development to help drive our Growth for Impact strategy at BI MF and our Microfinance Entities. Offering valuable staffing solutions and collaborating with legal experts to minimize legal risks. I work towards instilling a culture of safety providing vital support on Safeguarding.

East Africa Reinsurance Company is a leading reinsurance company based in Nairobi, Kenya. It was the first privately owned re-insurer to be established in Kenya and commenced operations on 1st January 1995. The company was established through a joint initiative of leading insurance companies in Kenya and the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private sector arm of the World Bank Group. As the head of the department, I was responsible for designing and implementing effective HR strategies to drive the Company strategy. Some of the achievements that I'm proud of include;- - Established and developed the HR function from scratch thus embedding the people agenda across the organization. I successfully established the HR Strategic Plans, linking HR objectives to business goals to achieve a committed, talented and productive workforce; - Successfully rolled out an online Learning Management System (LMS) that improved efficiency and saved L&D-related costs, and, enhanced overall staff competencies and organizational capability; - Streamlined the organization from a mechanistic to a matrix structure leading to better decision-making, collaboration, and growth for the business and employees. - Developed strategic talent acquisition methods, HR and Admin budgeting processes, and talent management initiatives; - Established a performance-oriented culture; - Set up a strategic Corporate Social Responsibility program for the Company

Cellulant is a technology business in the mobile and digital services sector in Africa. Cellulant operates a payments ecosystem connecting financial sector customers, Mobile Network Operators, and businesses to their increasingly mobile consumers. I was appointed as a key member in advising the business leadership team, guided numerous HR functions, achieved all targets, and drove continuous improvements. Aligned objectives with staff/management in business units. My achievements; • Absorbed as HR Manager after consultancy. • Introduced knowledge-sharing program to boost team comprehension of company systems and products. • Designed group-wide performance management system resulting in 74% of personnel receiving positive performance feedback. • Drafted recruitment and selection SOP for talent acquisition within the leadership team. • Endorsed transparency and accountability amongst employees through staff engagement/welfare issues. • Aligned labour laws to HR practices across various locations

I was appointed as an HR Manager serving Cellulant Kenya Ltd, provided consultancy advice, delivered services, outlined company issues, requirements, and targets with the team, and conducted research. Inspected problems, developed strategies, advised on HR policies/procedures and resolved issues. Recommended changes, evaluated human capital analytics, administered analytical reports, and aligned activities with goals. In addition, I supported the recruitment and training process. Expanded knowledge of industry standards. My achievements; • Implemented solutions after the needs assessment. • Fostered employee relations to boost staff engagement. • Complied with labour laws within numerous markets.

I oversaw the entire HR process, led recruitment, monitored attrition/salaries/leave, and enforced HR policies and procedures. Prepared reports for senior Management, endorsed HR activities, and was recognized as a major contributor within the department. My achievements; • Designed training and knowledge base material for insurance industry training. • Rewarded for developing training program after appraisal. • Successfully automated recruitment process for mass hiring of call-center executives. • Digitised leave process. • Ensured HR manual compliance of personnel files. • Drafted performance metrics for all call centre staff.

Recruited and trained customer care agents/interns/technicians, produced reports, appraised staff performance, and automated call-center database of personnel and customers. Supervised call-center staff. • Initiated weekly staff meetings to gather departmental achievements and challenges – issues were escalated to Management. • Introduced knowledge-sharing program to enhance team understanding of processes/products and improve productivity. • Nominated to complete a two week Training of Trainers (ToT) course.