Entrepreneur of the Week: Gina Din-Kariuki

Gina Din-Kariuki (born on October 23, 1961) is an East African business woman specializing in strategic communication and public relations in Kenya. She is best known as the Founder & Executive Chair of Gine Din Corporate Communications (GDCC) which she started after leaving her job as a Communications Manager at Barclays Bank of Kenya in 1997.

On October 1, 1997, after leaving her job at Barclays Bank of Kenya, She founded Gina Din Corporate Communications, with Barclays Bank as her first client. “I started my business with a lot of faith and prayer. It has been like a natural progression for me. Barclays Bank was my first account and I thank God because they helped me pay my initial bills.” Other corporate clients then began to work with her as well including Old Mutual, Association of Kenyan Insurers, CIC Insurance, Kenya Commercial Bank, Safaricom, Kenya Red Cross and Kenya Airways.

Gina has also worked on multiple charitable works such as On August 18, 2008, Gina Din-Kariuki was named the Goodwill Ambassador to the Kenya Red Cross. In 2011, as part of the Red Cross, launched the ‘Kenyans for Kenya’ (K4K) initiative to combat the worst drought affecting Kenya in 60 years. On March 22, 2016, the United Nations Population Fund, designated Gina Din-Kariuki as Honorary Ambassador, supporting the Fund’s efforts to empower women and adolescent girls, with a focus on advancing their health and rights.

She has also received multiple awards In 2011, as part of the Gina Din group, she received accolades for championing the ‘Kenyans for Kenya’ campaign in response to the famine and deaths in Turkana. The campaign raised more than 700 million Kenya Shillings. in 2013, Gina Din-Kariuki was named New Africa Magazine’s 100 most influential Africans. In 2015, Gina Din-Kariuki was named East Africa Business Woman of the Year for which she received the CNBC Africa All Africa Business Leaders Awards (AABLA).