Leading with Impact and Reciprocity: Inside the First SUAYA Circle of Excellence Conversation

Some evenings stay with you long after they end. Not because of the speeches alone, but because of what they unlock in the room. The inaugural SUAYA Circle of Excellence Conversation, held in honor of International Women’s Day 2026, was one of those moments.

It brought together the Strathmore University Business School alumni community for something more intentional than celebration. Yes, women in leadership were recognized. But more importantly, the evening carried a shared sense of purpose: that recognition must evolve into responsibility, and success into something more collective.

The SUAYA Circle of Excellence Conversation is a new platform within the Strathmore alumni ecosystem. It invites Strathmore University Alumni of the Year Award (SUAYA) recipients to step beyond their awards and into a more active role; mentoring, engaging, and investing in the wider alumni community. It is, at its core, a shift in posture: from individual achievement to shared elevation.

Fittingly, the first edition was anchored on the International Women’s Day theme Leading with Impact and Reciprocity. But the theme didn’t remain abstract for long. It became something the room lived through together. The evening unfolded as a leadership journey shaped around four deliberate stages: Inspiration. Reflection. Commitment. Action. Each layer built on the one before it, creating space not just for listening, but for internalizing and responding.

The keynote was delivered by Christine Kahema, winner of the Corporate Leadership category at last year’s SUAYA Awards. From the moment she began speaking, the tone of the evening shifted into something quieter, more grounded. Her message cut through familiar leadership narratives. Leadership, she reminded the guests, is not a title or a moment of recognition. It is a practice of authenticity and service, showing up consistently in alignment with who you are and what you believe, even when no one is watching.

The panel that followed brought together Sarah Karingi, Prudence Mutembei, and Eva Muraya in a conversation that felt less like a formal discussion and more like an honest exchange among peers who understand the weight of leadership. Moderated by Christine, the dialogue moved naturally between professional ambition and personal responsibility, between career growth and identity, between visibility and balance.

There were no polished answers. Instead, there were lived experiences, of building careers while raising families, of stepping into leadership roles while still figuring things out, and of learning to carry others even while growing into oneself. What made the conversation powerful was not perfection, but honesty.

The evening also marked something more structural taking shape beneath the storytelling: the official launch of the Women Alumni Mentorship Network (WAMN).

WAMN emerged from a simple but important realization, while many women are advancing into leadership across industries, the transition from competence to sustained impact is still often unsupported. Mentorship exists, but not always in structured, intentional, and accessible ways. At the same time, the SU alumni community holds something powerful: a multi-generational network of leaders across sectors, experience levels, and geography. WAMN is designed to bring this together in a more deliberate way.

It is not about creating another program. It is about organizing what already exists into something stronger, more connected, and more purposeful.

So how does WAMN work?

WAMN brings women alumni together across three layers of engagement: executive mentors, mid-career mentors, and emerging professionals seeking guidance.

The structure is intentionally simple, but consistent. Participants commit to:

• Monthly mentorship conversations
• Quarterly reflection and goal setting
• Curated learning sessions anchored on five themes: Leadership Identity and Career Strategy, Executive Presence and Visibility, Navigating Influence and Power, Resilience and Decision-Making and Work-Life Integration.

Beyond one-to-one mentorship, WAMN also introduces Mentor Circle, spaces where shared experience becomes shared learning, recognizing that leadership development is both personal and collective.

WAMN is open to all women alumni of Strathmore University, regardless of career stage. Whether stepping into leadership, already leading at scale, or simply seeking community, the invitation is the same: to be part of something that values growth as a shared responsibility. Because at its heart, WAMN is not just about mentorship. It is about reciprocity, the idea that what we receive, we also pass on. And in doing so, we strengthen not just individual careers, but the ecosystem that shapes them.

For more details on how to join WAMN, write to sbsalumni@strathmore.edu

Article by Juliet Hinga