Catherine Musakali – LL.B, LL.M, FCPSK, ACIrb

Catherine Musakali is an Advocate of the High Court of Kenya and a Fellow of the Institute of Certified Secretaries of Kenya.

Catherine is the Founder of Dorion Associates LLP, a firm specializing in governance matters and commercial legal consultancies. Prior to founding Dorion Associates, Catherine worked for Kenya Shell Limited (Now Vivo Energy Kenya Limited) as their Company Secretary and Head of Legal for over fifteen (15) years, during which period she managed the Legal Functions of Shell operations in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Sudan, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Morocco, Egypt and Tunisia. She has worked for shell in the United Kingdom during which period she specialized in Mergers and Acquisitions and other commercial transactions as well as being the Legal Focal Point for all Contracting and Procurement matters for its businesses in the 23 Countries in Africa.

Before this she set up and managed the Legal department of UAP Provincial Insurance Limited during which period she represented her employer in the Industry body, the Association of Kenya Insurers (AKI).

Catherine was, until May 2014, the Chairman of the Institute of Certified Public Secretaries of Kenya (ICPSK) and has also served as the Chair of its Education and Professional Development Committee as well as the Legislation and Corporate Governance Committee. She also sat on the Council of the Corporate Secretaries International Association, which is a global body bringing together governance professionals.

Catherine has led the development of three landmark codes of Corporate Governance. These are;

  1. Mwongozo, The Code of Corporate Governance for State Corporations in Kenya.
  2. The Capital Markets Code of Corporate Governance Practices for Issuers of Securities in Kenya; and
  • ICPSK Code of Corporate Governance for Private Companies.

She is a founder and Chairman of The Women on Boards Network and is currently the Company Secretary of a number of Companies and sits on various Boards including those in the public and private sectors. She has previously served as a Director at Nairobi Securities Exchange, Association of Kenya Insurers (AKI) and was at one time the Chairman of Kenya Seed Company Limited.

She also served as a member of the Capital Markets 10-year Master Plan Implementation Committee.

Catherine has been the Chief Judge, Corporate Governance, FiRe Awards and is a trained Corporate Governance Trainer, Governance Auditor and Board Evaluator and has developed policies on governance for a number of institutions. She also consults for the IFC.

Catherine holds a Bachelor of Laws Degree and a Master of Laws Degree from the University of Nairobi, a Higher National Diploma in Law (Kenya), as well as a certificate in Securities and Investment from the Securities and Investment Institute (London).