Prof. Michael Porter

A six-time winner of the McKinsey Award for the best Harvard Business Review article of the year, Professor Porter is the most cited author in business and economics. Professor Porter’s core field is competition and company strategy. He is generally recognized as the father of the modern strategy field, and his ideas are taught in virtually every business school in the world. Professor Porter’s work has also re-defined thinking about competitiveness, economic development, economically distressed urban communities, environmental policy, and the role of corporations in society. Recently, Professor Porter has devoted considerable attention to understanding and addressing the pressing problems in health care delivery in the United States and other countries. His book, Redefining Health Care (with Professor Elizabeth Teisberg), develops a new strategic framework for transforming the value delivered by the health care system, with implications for providers, health plans, employers, and government, among other actors. The book received the James A. Hamilton award of the American College of Healthcare Executives in 2007 for book of the year. His New England Journal of Medicine research article, “A Strategy for Health Care Reform—Toward a Value-Based System” (June 2009), lays out a health reform strategy for the U.S. His work on health care is being extended to address the problems of health care delivery in developing countries, in collaboration with Dr. Jim Yong Kim and the Harvard Medical School and School of Public Health. In addition to his research, writing, and teaching, Professor Porter serves as an advisor to business, government, and the social sector. He has served as strategy advisor to numerous leading U.S. and international companies, including Caterpillar, Procter & Gamble, Scotts Miracle-Gro, Royal Dutch Shell, and Taiwan Semiconductor.

Professor Porter serves on two public boards of directors, Thermo Fisher Scientific and Parametric Technology Corporation. Professor Porter also plays an active role in U.S. economic policy with the Executive Branch and Congress, and has led national economic strategy programs in numerous countries. He is currently working with the Presidents of Rwanda and South Korea. Professor Porter has founded three major non-profit organizations: The Initiative for a Competitive Inner City (ICIC) in 1994, which addresses economic development in distressed urban communities; the Center for Effective Philanthropy, which creates rigorous tools for measuring foundation effectiveness; and FSG-Social Impact Advisors, a leading non-profit strategy firm serving NGOs, corporations, and foundations in the area of creating social value. He also currently serves on the Board of Trustees of Princeton University. Professor Porter received a B.S.E. with high honors in aerospace and mechanical engineering from Princeton University, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa and Tau Beta Pi. He received an M.B.A. with high distinction from the Harvard Business School, where he was a George F. Baker Scholar, and a Ph.D. in Business Economics from Harvard University. Professor Porter has won numerous awards and honors, including Harvard's David A. Wells Prize in Economics for his research in industrial organization, the Academy of Management’s highest award for scholarly contributions to management, the Adam Smith Award of the National Association of Business Economists, and the John Kenneth Galbraith Medal. He has been elected an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh and other honorary societies. The recipient of seventeen honorary doctorates and several national honors, he received the first ever Lifetime Achievement Award from the United States Department of Commerce in 2008 for his contribution to economic development. For further information, see the web site of the Institute for Strategy and Competitiveness (www.isc.hbs.edu).

Sunny Bindra

SUNNY BINDRA is Kenya's renowned management consultant, writer, educator and public speaker. Sunny's primary work has been as a management consultant and board advisor. He has worked in a senior capacity with a number of leading management consultancy firms in Kenya and the United Kingdom. Sunny has two degrees in Economics from the London School of Economics, and specialises in business strategy and corporate governance. Sunny works with chief executives and board directors in a select group of Kenya’s top companies, helping them to develop strategic thinking and implement programmes aimed at organisational improvement. His experience has spanned Africa, the United Kingdom and Asia Pacific. He has worked both with blue-chip corporate leaders and leading public-sector organisations. His clients have included East African Breweries, Diageo Africa, Nation Media Group, Equity Bank, TPS Serena, Unilever Tea, The Nairobi Hospital, London Underground, The World Bank, USAID, the US Military and DFID, amongst many others.

Sunny is an Executive Fellow at the Strathmore Business School. He leads flagship corporate strategy and corporate governance programme for business leaders. He is also a member of the Advisory Board of the Business School. In addition, he runs 'Fast Forward', his own leadership development programme with a strong following amongst Kenya's elite business leaders. Sunny is a weekly columnist on the Sunday Nation ('A Sunny Day') and the Business Daily ('Thought Leadership') and writes on issues relating to the economy, management, governance and society. His first book, 'Crown Your Customer' was released in 2007. 'The Peculiar Kenyan' will be published in 2010.

Rt. Hon. Lynda Chalker, Baroness Chalker of Wallesley
Former U.K. Minister of State for Overseas Development,
Former Member of Parliament
London, England

Prof. Terry Ryan
Former Economic Secretary, Kenya Ministry of Finance
Director, African Centre for Economic Growth
Chairman, Strathmore University Governance Council
Professor of Economics, Strathmore University
Nairobi, Kenya

Prof. John Odhiambo
Vice Chancellor and Professor of Mathematics and Statistics
Strathmore University
Nairobi, Kenya

Prof. Xavier Santomá
Professor of Financial Management
IESE Business School
University of Navarra
Barcelona, Spain

Prof. John Deighton
Harold M Brierley Professor of Business Administration
Harvard Business School
Boston, Massachusetts USA

Prof. Laura Alfaro
Professor of Business Administration
Harvard Business School
Boston, Massachusetts USA

Mrs. Kellen Kariuki, CPA
Senior HR Officer, Middle East & Africa
Citigroup, Inc.
South Africa

Mr. Titus Naikuni
Managing Director
Kenya Airways
Nairobi, Kenya

Mr. Gerald Mahinda
Chief Executive Officer
East African Breweries
Nairobi, Kenya

Mr. Thomas H. Pyle
Executive Director
Strathmore University Foundation
Princeton, New Jersey USA

Prof. Richard E. Leakey
Professor of Anthropology
Stony Brook University
Stony Brook, New York USA