New US ambassador to Kenya Meg Whitman arrives in Nairobi

Ms. Whitman, a business executive who formerly served as CEO of Hewlett Packard (HP), was appointed the ambassador to Kenya by US President Joe Biden last December.

She was confirmed in a unanimous vote by the US Senate as the eighteenth United States Ambassador to Kenya on July 14, 2022.

Her arrival was confirmed by the US Embassy to Kenya in a tweet on Monday. “Welcome to Kenya Ambassador Whitman!” read the post that was accompanied by a photo of Ms. Whitman being welcomed at the US Embassy by outgoing Chargé d’Affaires Eric Kneedler.

Whitman boasts an extensive resume as  a business executive and former candidate for Governor of California. 

She is also a Member of the Board of Procter & Gamble and General Motors, and National Board Chair at Teach for America. 

Whitman is the former CEO of Quib- a streaming content platform for mobile devices and has held senior leadership positions at Hasbro and StrideRite Corporation. 

A Princeton graduate, she went on to Harvard for her MBA and worked for a number of major US corporations, including P&G, Disney, and Hasbro, before joining eBay in 1998.

"Among numerous honours, Meg has been inducted into the Bay Area Business Hall of Fame and the U.S. Business Hall of Fame. She received an Honorary Doctor of Business Practice from Carnegie Mellon University," the White House said in a statement following her appointment.

The 65-year-old billionaire succeeds Ambassador Kyle McCarter and becomes the second US female envoy to Kenya since Prudence Bushnell's appointment in 1999.