Media & Press

Resources for journalists, event organisers, podcast hosts, and institutional partners. Bios, approved quotes, and photos — ready to use.

Short Bio

For event programmes and podcast intros

Liza Akinyi-Owino is a Pan-African venture builder, executive coach, and founder of Msingi Lab. Based in Nairobi, she works with founders, senior executives in transition, and institutions investing in entrepreneurial ecosystems across Africa. Her coaching methodology — Heart + Strategy — integrates rigorous business strategy with deep leadership development. She has coached more than 500 founders across 20+ countries and supported the mobilisation of over $100M in venture capital. She is affiliated with Strathmore University and has partnered with organisations including UNICEF, UN Women, World Bank, Rabobank, and FCDO.

Approximately 100 words. Third person.

Extended Bio

For detailed introductions and publications

Liza Akinyi-Owino is a Pan-African venture builder, executive coach, and the founder of Msingi Lab — a digital platform for African founder leadership development.

Based in Nairobi, Kenya, Liza works at the intersection of entrepreneurial leadership and institutional capacity building. Over the past 15 years, she has coached more than 500 founders across 20+ African countries, supported the mobilisation of over $100 million in venture funding, and designed leadership development programmes for some of the continent's most respected development finance institutions and accelerators.

Her three core programmes — the Founder Transformation Program (FTP), the Executive Transition Program (ETP), and Portfolio Leadership Development (PLD) — are grounded in her proprietary Heart + Strategy methodology, which integrates rigorous business strategy with deep, evidence-based leadership coaching. Her approach draws on ubuntu-informed leadership principles and is contextualised for the realities of building ventures in emerging markets.

Liza has partnered with organisations including Strathmore University, Rabobank, UNICEF, UN Women, the World Bank, and FCDO. She is a sought-after keynote speaker, workshop facilitator, and panellist on topics including the founder leadership capacity gap, executive transition, and building infrastructure for African entrepreneurial self-reliance.

Her work is grounded in ongoing practitioner research into founder leadership development on the continent — contributing to a body of knowledge that is distinctly African in origin and globally relevant in application.

Liza holds a deep conviction that the most effective way to accelerate African enterprise is to invest in the leaders who build it.

Approximately 300 words. Third person.

Approved Quotes

Attribution-ready statements

These quotes may be used in publications, event materials, and press coverage with attribution to Liza Akinyi.

“The single most predictable point of failure in African ventures is not the market. It is the founder's leadership capacity. That is a coachable gap — and closing it is the highest-leverage investment an ecosystem can make.”

— On the leadership capacity gap

“I do not soften the truth, but I never weaponise it. Honest feedback, delivered with deep respect for context — that is what shifts founders from surviving to leading.”

— On coaching methodology

“Heart + Strategy is not a slogan. It is an operating system. The heart is conviction, identity, and resilience. Strategy is the architecture that makes those things fundable, scalable, and sustainable.”

— On Heart + Strategy

Speaking Topics