Mary Kinyua

Mary Kinyua is a Kenyan human-capital strategist and Director of Human Resources and Administration at Oserian Development Company, one of the world’s largest and greenest cut-flower farms on Lake Naivasha. Since 2016 she has driven a “people-positive, planet-positive” agenda that fuses worker welfare with clean-energy innovation. Partnering with engineers, she expanded Oserian’s closed-loop geothermal network, replacing diesel boilers, powering 60 electric vehicles, and heating 200 ha of glasshouses that now produce premium roses such as Queen of Africa, Vuvuzela, and the 2025 Pink Safari line.

Kinyua oversees a community of 11,000 employees and dependants, running onsite schools, a 64-bed hospital, and subsidised housing. Her micro-loan scheme for seasonal pickers maintains a two-percent default rate and has funded 150 tertiary scholarships. Under her leadership Oserian captured the International Grower of the Year Award in 2022 and the Federation of Kenya Employers’ Employer of the Year (Large Enterprise) accolade in 2023.

Recognising her transformative approach, Business Daily named Kinyua to its Top 40 Under 40 Women list in 2019. She now chairs Fairtrade International—the first African woman to hold the post—sits on the Global Floriculture Sustainability Initiative council, and mentors girls through the Naivasha STEM Club, championing climate-smart agribusiness that leaves no worker behind.