US President Joe Biden on Wednesday nominated former Hewlett Packard CEO and president Meg Whitman as America’s ambassador to Kenya.
If approved by the Senate, she will replace Kyle McCarter who left in January 2021.
The position is currently under Eric Kneedler, who became chargé d’affaires ad interim for Kenya last January.
“Kenya is a strategic partner of the United States, and if confirmed, I look forward to working with the Kenyan government on a wide variety of issues to advance peace, prosperity and health in the country and throughout the region,” Whitman said in a statement issued by the White House.
Margaret C. Whitman (Meg), a business executive and former candidate for Governor of California, is a Member of the Board of Procter & Gamble and General Motors, and National Board Chair at Teach for America.
She is the former CEO of Quibi, a streaming content platform for mobile devices, and a former President and CEO of Hewlett Packard Enterprise, the Hewlett Packard Company, eBay, and FTD.
She has held senior leadership positions at Hasbro, StrideRite Corporation and the Walt Disney Corporation, and she is a former partner at Bain and Co. Whitman received a B.A. from Princeton University and an M.B.A. from Harvard University. Among numerous honors, Meg has been inducted into the Bay Area Business Hall of Fame and the U.S. Business Hall of Fame. She received an Honorary Doctor of Business Practice from Carnegie Mellon University.
She is a recipient of the Alumni Achievement Award from Harvard Business School and was awarded the Corporate Citizenship Award by the National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering, Inc.
