Shiru Mwangi (USA 82-84) was part of the pioneer year at UWC-USA and is now Executive Director for Corporate and Investment Banking (Kenya) for Stanbic Bank.

 

“It was a real culture shock for me to go to UWC-USA,” says Shiru. “Once I arrived, the differences continued – it was a mixed boarding school, the teachers were so much less formal than I had been used to, and the Dutch and the English were so liberal! But I had an amazing time. I did learn, however, that I’m not cut out for wilderness work – I hated it. Being cold, trying to cook things in temperatures where nothing would boil…but in hindsight, I can see that it was good for me!”

 

Shiru also participated in community service at the local state hospital for mentally ill young people and the old, and felt the contrast with her UWC life sharply. “The young people were our peers, age-wise, but they had very little hope for their lives, whereas we had so much belief in our ability to do things and change things. In fact, that belief in each person’s ability to change things was one of the most fundamental things to come out of my time at UWC. The College opened me to the extent of human potential and gave me confidence that we can make a difference.”

 

After graduating from UWC, Shiru completed a BA in Biology and Spanish (pre-med) at Amhurst College, and took a year out in Colombia, before returning home to Kenya with the intention of going to medical school.

 

“I wanted to focus on tropical medicine, and I thought it would make sense to study where I wanted to practise. But in retrospect I was a bit naïve. It was very difficult – the Kenyan system didn’t recognise the International Baccalaureate, and the local university wouldn’t accept me because I already had a first degree. I was very disappointed as I had always wanted to be a doctor.”

 

However, Shiru took a practical approach, working on various short-term contracts both with the UN and with IT consulting firms while she tried to figure out what to do. In 1992 she went back to school and completed an MBA in Finance at Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, during which time she worked as a summer intern for Women’s World Banking (WWB), which focuses on micro finance and women, making finance available to the poorest of the poor.

 

“I felt I didn’t have enough banking experience to be really useful at WWB, however, so I spent some time working for Toronto Dominion in New York and subsequently with Citibank, first in Tanzania, then in Kenya with a brief stint in Bahrain. Eventually, I moved to Stanbic, which has been a really interesting challenge.”

 

Stanbic is an African bank, a subsidiary of the Standard Bank Group of South Africa. “Foreign banks are generally quite risk averse in Africa,” says Shiru. “Stanbic is more willing to take risks on Africa and on African businesses. I see more interesting, challenging situations here than I would elsewhere. I also like Stanbic’s approach to business, and the bank is very focused on personal and leadership development, appropriate training and support to develop its people.

 

“I also like to use my skills to help out elsewhere. I have worked with committees to help revamp dealing and trading systems, and I have also done some work with local universities to brainstorm on coursework on management training and to support their students through internships. For me, what really counts is that every day you ask yourself, ‘Do I care enough? Have I shown that I care enough? ‘How much of a difference can I make where I am?’ That’s the UWC legacy.”