Catherine Gicheru

Director, Africa Women Journalism Project

Catherine Gicheru

In her role as the director of the Africa Women Journalism Project, Catherine Gicheru leads a team of editors, mentors, data specialists, and designers who work with women journalists and newsrooms in Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Tanzania, Uganda, South Africa, and Senegal. Founded in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, the initiative is dedicated to amplifying the voices of female journalists and increasing coverage of underreported gender, health, and development issues that affect marginalised groups.

The founding editor of the Star newspaper in Nairobi, Gicheru was also the first female news editor at the Nation Media Group. In 1992, she received the International Women’s Media Foundation’s Courage in Journalism Award for investigative reporting.

Gicheru serves on various boards, including the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism and the board of directors of the Media Development Investment Fund. She is the chair of the advisory committee of the Nigeria Media Innovation Program and a member of the Mo Ibrahim Index of African Governance.

Follow Catherine Gicheru