Laila Macharia

Until her resignation in August 2016, Macharia was the elected Vice Chairman of the Kenya Private Sector Alliance (KEPSA). KEPSA is the sub-region's largest business lobby, an umbrella federation including the Federation of Kenyan Employers, the Kenya Bankers Association and the Kenya Association of Manufacturers. In her rise to Vice Chair, Macharia worked for a decade within the larger KEPSA framework, supporting market development and progressive sector reform alongside stakeholders from various industries, counties and nationalities.

In 2013, Macharia joined the Board of Directors of Centum Investment Company Limited, the largest listed private equity firm in East Africa with holdings across several sectors including health, education, renewable energy, financial services, real estate and fast-moving consumer goods. In July 2021, she was appointed Vice Chairperson.

Between 2007 and 2014, Macharia was the Founder CEO of Scion Real, an investment firm focused on urban development in Africa. The firm provides investment solutions for institutional investors and multinational corporations expanding into and within Africa. Headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya, Scion Real provided transaction advice to the governments of Guinea, Kenya, Rwanda and South Sudan in the area of public-private partnerships for housing and urban infrastructure. For private projects, Scion Real raised funding commitments of more than US$30 million. In 2013, Scion Real was appointed to structure investor opportunities for Konza Technology City and also worked on the World Bank project identifying private sector investment for commuter rail stations under Nairobi Metro 2030.

In 2004 and 2005, Macharia taught business law to undergraduate and graduate students at the United States International University in Nairobi. In 2009, she created the Real Estate Executive Program at the Strathmore Business School. She teaches periodically at the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University.

Macharia was born in Nairobi, Kenya and grew up in Kenya, Somalia and Namibia. At the age of 18, she relocated alone to the United States where she lived and worked until her return to East Africa in 2003.

Macharia holds a doctorate in law (J.S.D) from Stanford Law School. Her dissertation focused on telecommunications sector reform in Kenya. In 1995, Macharia earned a Bachelor of Laws (J.D.) and Master of Laws (LL.M) from Cornell Law School in Ithaca, New York. She also holds a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) in Planning and Public Policy from the University of Oregon. Macharia has been admitted to the bars of Maryland (1996) and New York State (2002). She is also an Advocate of High Court of Kenya (2006).