Our board and executive team combine deep African market experience with global networks to advance community-led, evidence-based entrepreneurship across Kenya, Uganda, South Africa, Zambia and Namibia. Together they provide the accountable, equity-focused leadership required to absorb flexible, large-scale capital and translate it into measurable jobs, investment mobilised, and livelihoods improved.
Board of Trustees
Jacob Zikusooka – Regional Director, TBN Africa & Secretary to the Board
Jacob Zikusooka is the Regional Director for Transformational Business Network Africa and Secretary to the Board, leading TBN Africa’s strategy and operations across Kenya, Uganda and Southern Africa. Jacob is passionate about enabling access to capital for African entrepreneurs and advocates for impact investing as a tool for inclusive economic growth. His work at TBN Africa combines capacity building and capital mobilization, while fostering a community of purpose-driven and values-based founders who are passionate about using enterprise solutions to fight poverty. Together with his team they have, to date, supported 5,006 enterprises (56 percent of these are women-owned) to increase their aggregate revenues by USD 9.2M, and access USD 27.2M of much needed debt, equity and mezzanine capital. These businesses have in turn created an additional 19,624 jobs.
Jacob has, for the last 27 years, been actively involved in the Shipping and Logistics industry besides other entrepreneurial pursuits in Real Estate, Commercial Forestry, Media, and eCommerce. Zik (as he is fondly called) holds an MBA in Entrepreneurship and Innovation from York St John University and is also a graduate of the Stanford Institute of Innovation in Developing Economies, Stanford Graduate School of Business’ initiative for high-potential entrepreneurs in the developing world.
Lisa Parrott – Board Member
Lisa Parrott is an accomplished international development leader with more than twenty years of experience advancing innovative solutions that create lasting social impact across Africa. Throughout her career, she has championed approaches that shift power to local communities, strengthen locally led development, and foster sustainable social and economic transformation.
Passionate about developing the next generation of leaders, Lisa has pioneered youth-focused initiatives that combine behavior change, social transformation, and technology to create opportunities for young people to thrive. She is also an experienced trainer and facilitator, equipping organizations and leaders to navigate change, strengthen collaboration, and improve program effectiveness.
As a member of the TBN Africa Board, Lisa brings extensive experience in transformational leadership, partnership development, organizational strategy, and impact-driven programming.
Andy Kristian Agaba – Board Member
Andy Kristian Agaba is the founder and CEO of Hiinga, a faith-driven impact investing organisation that finances values-driven entrepreneurs in East Africa to create jobs and transform local economies. Through Hiinga, Andy has invested in small and medium-sized enterprises across sectors such as healthcare, education, agribusiness, and manufacturing, pairing capital with business training, coaching, and mentorship.
A Praxis fellow and frequent speaker on entrepreneurship and technology, Andy’s work is grounded in the belief that dignified work and locally-led enterprises are central to tackling poverty. On the TBN Africa board he brings experience in impact investing, SME finance, and entrepreneur support, strengthening TBN Africa’s ability to design programmes and partnerships that connect under-served entrepreneurs with patient capital and values-aligned investors.
Julius Lukwago – Board Member
Julius Lukwago is a Ugandan business leader and marketer who serves as Chief Executive Officer of Solutions Africa, a firm that provides leadership development, marketing, and organisational effectiveness solutions across the continent. His professional background spans engineering, business administration, and marketing, and he holds credentials including BSc Engineering, MSc, MBA, a marketing diploma, and Chartered Marketer status with the Chartered Institute of Marketing (UK).
Under Julius’s leadership, Solutions Africa has partnered with international providers such as Insights and the Chartered Institute of Marketing to deliver customised training and coaching to African organisations on leadership, customer engagement, and strategic marketing. On the TBN Africa board he contributes expertise in market development, leadership coaching, and organisational strategy, helping ensure that entrepreneurs in TBN Africa’s programmes build commercially viable, market-ready businesses that can grow and create jobs.
Greg Marchand – Board Member
Greg Marchand is an entrepreneur, business operator, angel investor, and advisor with over 20 years of experience building and scaling businesses across Africa. Having worked in more than 15 African countries, he brings deep expertise in entrepreneurship, technology, impact investing, and business growth in emerging markets.
Greg is a passionate advocate for Africa’s next generation of entrepreneurs and actively mentors and invests in high-potential startups across sectors including fintech, digital health, climate technology, mobility, and sustainable food systems.
He serves as a Senior Advisor at Blackstone Africa, supporting investors and businesses operating in emerging markets, and is a Partner at Avencion, a firm specializing in digital transformation, business outsourcing, and project management across Africa and the United States. Greg is also Co-Founder of Harvard HealthLab Africa, a pan-African startup accelerator implemented in partnership with Harvard University, and Co-Founder and Board Member of the Zambian Business Angels Network, where he champions early-stage investment and entrepreneurship across the region.
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Kenneth Wathome – Board Chairman
Kenneth Wathome is an experienced Kenyan entrepreneur with more than three decades of work at the intersection of real estate, infrastructure, and economic development. He is the Founder and Chairman of NW Realite, a property development and advisory business he has led since 1991, and has served on several national boards, including the Kenya Pipeline Company and the National Standards Council of the Kenya Bureau of Standards.
Kenneth provides strategic oversight on governance, risk, and impact, with a particular focus on ensuring that TBN Africa’s work expands access to opportunity for entrepreneurs in underserved markets. His leadership is shaped by long experience building Kenyan enterprises from the ground up and by public service roles that required balancing commercial, regulatory, and community interests.
