June Chepkemei appointed new Kenya Tourism Board CEO
June Chepkemei, formerly the Acting Managing Director at the Kenya Investment Authority (KenInvest), has been appointed as the new Chief Executive Officer of the Kenya Tourism Board (KTB).
Chepkemei will serve in this role for the next three years, succeeding John Chirchir, who has been acting as the head of the tourism board since November 2022.
Her appointment was confirmed through a gazette notice dated March 19, 2024.
"In accordance with the powers granted by Section 37(1) of the Tourism Act, 2011, the Cabinet Secretary for Tourism and Wildlife appoints June Teclar Chepkemei as the Chief Executive Officer of the Kenya Tourism Board," the notice states.
Chepkemei assumed the role of Acting KenInvest MD in January 2023, appointed by then Trade Cabinet Secretary Moses Kuria. During her tenure, she was tasked with spearheading strategies to increase investments in Kenya from USD 500 million to USD 10 billion by the end of 2023.
In 2022, Chepkemei led Kenya's successful bid to host the 41st International Association of Science Parks and Areas of Innovation (IASP) world conference scheduled for 2024. She also played a pivotal role in organizing the Technology and Innovation Jamhuri event in 2022.
Additionally, she served as a member of the Taskforce on the Kenya Media Policy Guidelines, appointed by the then ICT, Innovation, and Youth Affairs CS in 2021. Chepkemei was recognized among the Top 25 Women in Digital 2021 for her leadership in pioneering the Konza Innovation Ecosystem Initiative, which brought together various industry stakeholders to promote research commercialization, innovation, and enterprise development within Konza Technopolis.
In 2017, June was appointed as the Project Coordinator for the Kenya Advance Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), a new institute of strategic national importance developed by the Ministry of ICT & Digital Economy in collaboration with the Ministry of Education (MoE).
Before joining Konza, Chepkemei served as the Communications Business Partner at Safaricom Limited, following a six-year tenure in the media industry, where she ascended from an intern to a Business News Editor.
She holds a Master's degree in Communications Studies from Moi University, a Bachelor's Degree in PR & Communications from Moi University, a Postgraduate Diploma in Professional Marketing from The Chartered Institute of Marketing of the UK, and an Executive Certificate in Innovation from Stanford Centre for Professional Development.
