Catherine Gicheru is a pioneering journalist, editor, and digital media innovator whose trailblazing work has helped shape journalism in East Africa and across the continent. An ICFJ Knight Fellow, she is the Founder of the Africa Women Journalism Project (AWJP)—an initiative launched in response to the COVID-19 pandemic to empower women journalists and data analysts to produce data-driven, impactful stories on underreported health, gender, and economic issues.
Through AWJP, Gicheru leads a pan-African network of editors, mentors, data specialists, and designers who collaborate with women journalists in eight countries, including Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Tanzania, Uganda, South Africa, and Senegal. Her leadership is redefining how journalism centers women’s voices and data in public discourse.
Earlier in her fellowship, she launched WanaData (“Daughters of Data” in Swahili), a women-led African data journalism network developed in partnership with Code for Africa and ICFJ. The initiative trains and supports women in telling deeply researched, data-rich stories that elevate women’s experiences and policy gaps.
Catherine Gicheru is also a co-founder of PesaCheck, Kenya’s first fact-checking newsroom, where she continues to be a leading voice in the fight against mis- and disinformation across sub-Saharan Africa. Her advocacy for ethical, credible journalism has established her as a trusted figure in regional and global media development.
She was the founding editor of The Star newspaper in Nairobi and made history as the first female news editor at the Nation Media Group, East Africa’s most influential media organization. Her work has earned her global acclaim, including the International Women’s Media Foundation’s Courage in Journalism Award and recognition by New African magazine as one of the 100 Most Influential Africans of 2018.
Catherine serves on the Board of the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at Oxford University, the Board of Directors of the Media Development Investment Fund (MDIF), and the Advisory Committee of the Nigeria Media Innovation Program.
She is a Nieman Fellow at Harvard University, a Reuters Institute Journalism Fellow at Oxford, and a 1992 IWMF Courage in Journalism Award recipient.
Catherine Gicheru continues to lead efforts that center women, data, and integrity at the heart of African journalism—cementing her status as one of the continent’s most visionary media leaders.