Winnie Pertet is a seasoned leader with over twenty-five years of experience in people leadership and organizational transformation, gained largely from roles in multinational and large regional organizations. She brings to the boardroom more than eight years of governance experience at both Board and Board Committee levels. Notably, as the founding Board Chairperson of a government start-up corporation, she successfully steered the establishment of the entity—building strategic relationships across government and key partners while navigating the complexities of public sector leadership.
Her corporate career includes senior HR leadership roles across East and Central Africa. At Diageo, she served as Group HR Manager for Regional Supply, and later at UAP/Old Mutual, she held the role of Group HR Director for six countries: Uganda, DRC, Tanzania, South Sudan, Rwanda, and Kenya. Winnie has led several high-impact strategic projects, including post-merger people integration for UAP/Old Mutual, culture change and rebranding at KCB Bank and East African Breweries, and organizational restructuring initiatives at Delphis Bank, KCB, Diageo, and UAP/Old Mutual.
Current and Past Board Roles
Winnie currently serves as an Independent Non-Executive Director at Britam General Insurance, a subsidiary of Britam Holdings PLC, where she is a member of the Strategy and Investment Committee.
Her previous board roles include:
– Chairperson of the National Employment Authority, a government corporation mandated with employment promotion in Kenya, where she led efforts to align the board with the Authority’s strategic agenda.
– Non-Executive Director at KenGen, Africa’s largest power generation company, where she served on the Audit & Risk Committee, chaired the Strategy Committee, providing oversight on the company’s strategic direction. She also chaired the HR & Nominations Committee, providing leadership in succession planning, executive appointments, and organizational governance.
– Trustee of the Management University of Africa.
– Chairperson of the Association of Retirement Benefits Schemes (ARBS), serving for three years.
In her executive capacity, Winnie is the CEO and Lead Consultant at Serian Consulting Limited, a strategic HR advisory firm. She specializes in organizational transformation through the entire employee life cycle, strategic activities, organization design ,mergers and acquisitions (with a focus on people integration), culture and performance management, and employer branding.
She holds an MBA in Human Resource Management and a Bachelor’s Degree in Education from Kenyatta University, alongside a Higher National Diploma in HR Management. Winnie is also a certified Executive Coach from the Academy of Executive Coaches (AOEC), a member of the Organization Design Community, and has attended various leadership and governance programs.
Her leadership style is centered on nurturing teams for success, with a strong emphasis on coaching, mentorship, diversity, and inclusion. Winnie is also an avid Rotarian, committed to service and community development.