Ory Okolloh (or Ory Okolloh Mwangi) is a Kenyan activist, lawyer, and blogger. She is a Partner at Verod-Kepple Africa Ventures, a Pan- African investment firm based in Lagos, Nigeria, with offices in Nairobi. [1] [2] [3]
She previously served as the Managing Director at Omidyar Network, [4] [5] [6] and as the Policy Manager for Africa with Google. [7] [8]
She earned an undergraduate degree in Political Science from the University of Pittsburgh and graduated from Harvard Law School in 2005 with a Juris Doctor. [9] [10]
In 2006 she co-founded the parliamentary watchdog site Mzalendo (Swahili: "Patriot"). [11] [9] [12] The site sought to increase government accountability by systematically recording bills, speeches, MPs, standing orders, etc. [11] [13]
When Kenya was engulfed in violence following a disputed presidential election in 2007, Okolloh co-created Ushahidi (Swahili: "Witness"), a website and tool that collected and recorded eyewitness reports of violence using text messages and Google Maps. [9] [14] The technology has since been adapted for expanded purposes (including monitoring elections and tracking pharmaceutical availability) and used in a number of other countries. [15] [16] [17]
Okolloh has a personal blog, Kenyan Pundit, which was featured on Global Voices Online. [18] [14]
She has worked as a legal consultant for NGOs and has worked at Covington and Burling, the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights, and the World Bank. [19] [10]
Okolloh was appointed to the Board of Thomson Reuters Founders Share Company, the body that acts as a guardian of the Thomson Reuters Trust Principles in May 2015. [20] She retired from the company in December 2024, having served as the deputy chair in her last year. [21]
Okolloh has also served as an independent director at Safaricom since February 2023. [22] [23] [24] She departed from the position in July 2024. [25] She also previously served in the board of Stanbic Bank Foundation Kenya, from April 2020 to July 2024, [26] and as a Non Executive director to Stanbic Bank till December 2020 when she resigned. [27] [28]
Ory is a member of the Africa Advisory Board of Harvard University's Centre For African Studies. [29]
Additionally, she is involved in the following organisations' boards:
| Organisation | Role | Appointment Date | References |
|---|---|---|---|
| Van Leer Group | Board Trustee | July 2020 | [30] [31] |
| East African Breweries Ltd | Non Executive Director | October 2020 | [32] [33] [34] |
| Deloitte Africa | Non Executive Director | June 2021 | [35] |
| Adecco Group Foundation | Board Member | July 2021 | [36] [37] |
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