Mary Ngunjiri

Director - Blended Finance, Impact & ESG Practice

Mary Ngunjiri, is a Kenyan national, with over 23 years of professional experience as a financial services expert. A driver of financial inclusion in the emerging African market, building financial institutions’ capacity for impact investment, catalyzing water and sanitation financing initiatives for households, Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), banking and microfinance.

Part of her work experience includes close to 8 years with Water.org where she worked as a Portfolio Lead for Africa. In this role, she provided valuable guidance to financial institutions and led successful initiatives that directed more than $50M towards water and sanitation projects in 9 Sub-Saharan countries, resulting in an impressive 70% increase in the investments for WaterEquity (an impact investor) within a period of 2.5 years. She directed a comprehensive market landscape assessment on water and sanitation investment prospects in Cote d’Ivoire, leading to the strategic discovery of 3 potential partner organizations. Previously, she worked as a Senior Program Manager, managing Water.org’s watercredit Programs in Kenya and Tanzania, where she worked extensively with various banks, microfinance institutions and other stakeholders in the water and sanitation ecosystem. Some of the partners include Family Bank, Equity Bank (Kenya & Tanzania), Association of Microfinance Institutions in Kenya (AMFI), Kenya Women Microfinance Bank, Tanzania Commercial Bank, Tanzania Association of Microfinance institutions (TAMFI), USAID WASH programs, UNICEF, KEWASNET, FINISH MONDIAL.

Mary has worked in the banking and microfinance sector to expand access to financial services and has demonstrated expertise in various roles, from Micro Enterprise Development Officer to the head of SME lending in the bank, witnessing financial inclusion and driving impact for the customers.

Mary holds an MBA in Entrepreneurship Development from Kenyatta University and a Bachelor’s degree in Agricultural Engineering from Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and technology (JKUAT). Additionally, she has certificates in Sustainable Finance and Corporate Finance: Environmental, Social and Governance. Through her working career, she is recognized for exceptional leadership and significant impact, earning six promotions in a span of 20 years. She possesses versatile skills in project management, development of funding proposals, stakeholder management & collaboration, staff capacity building in credit management, WASH financing and marketing strategies. She has broad experience in market research for financial products’ development including (WaSH) and program monitoring visits. Mary is fluent in English and Kiswahili and has basic proficiency in French.