Biko Chachah

by Elivs Muturi | May 27, 2020

Biko Chachah

Chief Operations Officer

Biko is the Chief Operations Officer and heads the social/digital, creatives and production units. He has over 10 years’ experience in the communications industry having worked with various public and private organisations. Biko is a seasoned professional with expertise in strategic project management, business development and logistics co-ordination, branding and digital communications.

He has worked in various roles at BSD Group and APN where he led the development, execution and successful delivery of key projects.

Some of the clients that Biko has worked for include the Family Bank Ltd Corporate Bond, Longhorn Publishers Rights Issue and the rebrand of Mwalimu National Sacco and Agricultural Finance Corporation. Others are UNICEF, the African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF) and the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) Competitiveness Project, a World Bank Funded Project implemented by the Ministry of Industrialization, Internet Solutions, Liberty Life, Mwalimu National Sacco, Keroche Breweries, Communication Authority of Kenya and DUIS Africa Ltd.

Some of his notable achievements include Worked together with the Porter Novelli Africa Team that put together the proposal and pitched for the P&G business in Africa, the launch and communication of Wadi Degla Club Brand, the development, launch and roll out of the Goodlife Pharmacy Brand and Metropolitan Canon Insurance and the launch and the rebrand of Central Depository & Settlement Corporation Limited.

Biko holds a Bachelor of Economics degree from University of Nairobi and has undergone trainings such as the BrandQuad Series; Columbia Business School and attended the Porter Novelli EMEA Conference 2013.

Mercy Kamau

Account Executive

Mercy is a communication specialist with more than 5 years’ experience working in government, in the media industry, in the NGO world, and as a PR professional.

Mercy is currently the account executive for Novartis and Watu Credit and is in charge of the day to day running of these clients. She is experienced in content development, media relations and event management. Prior to joining Apex Porter Novelli, she worked in the Public Affairs Department at Oxygene, a marketing and communication consulting firm. In her Account Executive role, she honed her abilities in collecting and collating data for research, policies and regulatory issues, creating awareness through public communication, preparing white papers and managing the Vellum weekly website and its social media accounts. She also undertook Parliament monitoring and drafted notes and advisories for the clients. She prepared stakeholder engagement plans and did media monitoring for clients. Some of the accounts she managed were Meta/Facebook, Diageo, Safaricom and Tullow.

Previously, she worked for the Star Newspaper at the Radio Africa Group. At the Star, she served as communication officer and also undertook sub-editing roles for the publications. She has also worked as a Hansard Officer at Migori County Assembly.

Mercy has an interest in writing in health and while at the Star she wrote several articles on health including issues such as nutrition, respiratory diseases, fertility, among others. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Linguistics, Media and Communication

Carol Wanza

Senior Account Manager

Carol is a communications strategist with expertise in public relations, media relations, corporate communication, events management, and issues and crisis management.

Offering over seven years’ experience in communication, she has a passion for development communication and brand storytelling. In her years of practice, she has developed communication strategies for local, regional and pan African brands to achieved desired outcomes. Some of her past assignments have been with notable brands such as AstraZeneca’s Healthy Heart Africa programme where she supported communication and activities across nine African countries, Zipline- an instant logistics company, British Council, Boston Consulting Group, Center for Agriculture and Bioscience International (CABI), Dubai Tourism, Pfizer Upjohn, Janus Continental Group and Aga Khan Academy Mombasa. At Apex Porter Novelli, she manages communication for the Kenya Reinsurance Corporation alongside other accounts.

Some of her achievements include been awarded the Media Relations Campaign of 2019 at the Public Relations Society of Kenya (PRSK) awards, being awarded a media relations certificate of excellence in the 2018 SABRE Africa Awards for the ‘Pima Pressure’ campaign and being acknowledged as a first runner up in the PRSK Awards for 2017 in the Media Relations category for the Pima Pressure campaign.

Carol is a Master’s student at the University of Nairobi where she is pursuing a degree in Development Communication and is a full member of the Public Relations Society of Kenya.

James Kariuki

Senior Account Manager

James Kariuki is an Account Manager at APN, where he joined after practicing as a
journalist for over 25 years.

Prior to joining APN, James Kariuki was a business reporter at the Nation Media Group where he wrote for NMG publications the Daily Nation and the Business Daily. He reported on issues around trade, technology, banking, insurance, tourism and agriculture among other sectors. Over the past decade, he has covered global, regional and national business forums. During the World Anti-Counterfeit Day in 2018, James was awarded by the Anti Counterfeit Authority for his consistent reporting on the plight of local manufacturers and the challenge they face from counterfeit goods.

At APN, James is currently working with clients such as Google, Absa, and the Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS). He is a Kenyatta University alumnus where he obtained a diploma in public relations, marketing and journalism.

Nicholas Mundia

Account Manager

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Alex Mahugu

Business Development Manager

Alex is a high-impact sales and business development leader with over 14 years of experience spearheading B2B and B2C initiatives across various industries within the Kenyan market. Leveraging his robust academic and professional foundation, Alex demonstrably excels in cultivating new business opportunities, fostering high-performing teams, and securing revenue growth.

At Apex Porter Novelli (APN), Alex spearheads the revenue generation pipeline. His comprehensive responsibilities encompass opportunity identification, strategic prospecting, meticulous pipeline management, client acquisition, and crafting tailored solutions with negotiation expertise to ensure client satisfaction. Furthermore, Alex champions business growth initiatives and regional expansion, cultivating and managing strategic partnerships that fuel these objectives.

Alex’s holds a master’s degree in Entrepreneurship and a Bachelor of Arts in Economics & Political Science. He further bolsters his expertise with a diverse range of professional qualifications which include CPA II, IT Diploma, and COP in Insurance. Throughout his career, Alex has actively participated in leadership and sales training programs, solidifying his ability to lead and empower teams towards achieving exceptional results.

Joan Maritim

Finance & Commercial Manager

Lawrence Gikaru

Managing Director

Lawrence Gikaru is the Managing Director of Apex Porter Novelli (APN), a full-service Public Relations and Strategic Communications agency, which he founded more than 15 years ago.

Over the years, Lawrence has overseen the design and implementation of strategic communication and public relations programmes for clients in the private, government, non-profit and international sectors, that have tackled complex corporate and national issues.

Some of the clients that his firm has worked for include; the European Union, Unilever, Proctor and Gamble, Trade Mark East Africa, the National Treasury, the Kenya Bureau of Standards, Google, Philips, Vivo Energy, Bamburi Cement, Sanofi Aventis, Kenya Commercial Bank, the International Finance Corporation and the World Bank.

Drawing from his vast experience, Lawrence now concentrates on bringing clarity and structure to clients’ business challenges. He achieves this by coaching the APN leadership team to build alignment between APN’s resources, talent and capabilities and the challenges faced and opportunities presented by clients. This he believes helps integrate communication as both a strategic input and a steering wheel to deliver what matters most to client organizations— results directly linked to their business goals.

Lawrence draws from a rich multi-disciplinary base of education combining the sciences, business management, strategic communication, social impact/sustainability and responsible business practices. He has an equivalent of an MA obtained under a Fulbright Fellowship programme at the University of Minnesota in the US, a bachelor’s degree in science and education from the University of Nairobi as well as a post-graduate diploma in mass communication from the same university. A life-long learner, Lawrence has undertaken executive education courses at the Harvard Business School, Strathmore Business School and the Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health in the US among others.

He has served as an independent board director in two national government institutions through appointments by the respective governments of Presidents Mwai Kibaki and Uhuru Kenyatta and draws from this experience, realities and insights that he brings to client challenges.

Before setting up APN, Lawrence had previously worked in Kenya, Tanzania and the United States. He worked for the Kenya Medical Research Institute, the Commonwealth Regional Health Community Secretariat in Arusha, UNICEF in New York and the Johns Hopkins University Center for Communication Programs Regional Office in East Africa. He is also a social entrepreneur and co-founder of a social enterprise—Doctors for Healthy Living.

Lawrence is active in preparing the next generation of professionals and has served as an adjunct faculty at the United States International University – Africa where he co-created and taught a case-based module graduate course on strategic communication based on practical work undertaken by APN.

He is also the founding chairman of the Association of Public Relations and Communication Management Firms (APReCoM) that brings together more than 30 communication agencies in Kenya. He has been a featured conference speaker in Kenya, South Africa and the UK. Lawrence is also active in humanitarian service and has served as the president of the Rotary Club of Milimani.

Steve Kimani

Account Director

Stephen is a corporate communications specialist with over 12 years of experience in strategic planning, development and implementation of communications plans, media relations, content development and crisis management. Stephen is currently an Account Director at APN and he is responsible for leading various teams in Strategic Communications planning. Event management and planning, Brand Management, Public Relations counsel and implementation of plans and programmes for various clients and in business development.

He has grown his career in managing brands and organisations such as Kenya Tourism Board, De La Rue plc., Co-operative Alliance of Kenya (CAK), Cereal Growers Association (CGA), Agricultural Industry Network (AIN) and the Business Advocacy Fund (BAF) among many others. Stephen also has extensive experience in editorial management having worked with Royal Media Services, Mediamax Network Limited, Metropol TV and Nation Media Group and understands the local and regional media landscape very well.

Previously Stephen has worked for IMG Communications and Cleartone Communications. He was provided media relations support for the Dispute and Conflict Resolution International (DCRI), an organization that seeks to promote alternative dispute resolution mechanisms in Kenya resulting in better relations among warring communities in the region.

Stephen holds a an Executive Masters’ Degree in Media Leadership and Innovation from Aga Khan University, Graduate School of Media and Communications, a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the Catholic University, and a Post Graduate Diploma in Mass Communication from Kenya Institute of Mass Communication.

Steve Biko

Production Executive

Steve is a well-versed video and photography wizard with a documented history of quality multimedia storytelling using photography, videography and information that accurately informs, entertains and engages the target audience each frame at a time. He has 11 years working experience in broadcast journalism and production.

At APN, Steve is responsible for creating video and sound production, including field shooting, editing and live streaming. His recent assignments include productions for clients such as the European Union, Philips and Kenya Bureau of Standards.

Biko was the Head of Production for 7 years in his recent post at Think Tank Marketing Limited. At the helm of the department, he pioneered live stream services for Equity Bank, Equity Foundation and the Co-operative Bank. He was instrumental in documentaries production and event coverage for organizations and corporates including Britam, the European Union, Nairobi Securities Exchange, The International Center for Transitional Justice, TJRC Kenya, Kenya Bureau of Standards, Judges & Magistrates Vetting Board, UNDP, KTDA just to name but a few.

Edgar Nyandong

Account Manager

Edgar is an Account Manager, skilled in Content Development. He has worked with various accounts within APN among them Google, the European Union (EU), Kenya Association of Pharmaceutical Industry (KAPI), The Karen Hospital and RTI International.

He is a trained journalist in Journalism and Media Studies from the University of Nairobi, holds a Diploma in Mass Communication, and is a registered Member of the Media Council of Kenya and the Public Relations Society of Kenya (PRSK).

Prior to joining APN, Edgar worked with Global Village Publishers as a media correspondent, a writer and an editorial coordinator. Earlier, he was a columnist with the People Daily newspaper.

Edgar has gained a wealth of experience across Customer Service, Tele-Sales and Marketing industries; having worked as a Customer Care and Tele-sales Team Lead for Horizon Contact Centers. He also held the position of Customer Service and Communication Representative at Milimani Resort in Kisumu.

“My one love is nature, and watching things grow provides me with profound pleasure.” Edgar says.

Biko Chachah

Biko Chachah

Chief Operations Officer

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Mercy Kamau

Account Executive

Carol Wanza

Senior Account Manager

James Kariuki

Senior Account Manager

Nicholas Mundia

Account Manager

Alex Mahugu

Business Development Manager

Joan Maritim

Finance & Commercial Manager

Lawrence Gikaru

Managing Director

Steve Kimani

Account Director

Steve Biko

Production Executive

Edgar Nyandong

Account Manager