Kellen Maganjo

Kellen Maganjo is a corporate and commercial lawyer who has practiced law in one Africa’s leading corporate law firms. During her time as a practicing lawyer, Kellen Maganjo specialized in private merger and acquisition (M&A) law and restructuring, including distressed M&A. Kellen has had the opportunity to work on high profile cross-border acquisitions while based in Kenya, assisting clients to navigate legal issues associated with foreign investment within the East African regional economy.

Kellen has also gained experience advising on employment law matters in Kenya as a member of the top ranked employment advisory team in the region, as well as in traditional and alternative dispute resolution.

Kellen has advised both local and international companies including multinational corporations, private equity funds and financial institutions in relation to investment and related activities across a wide range of business areas and sectors including the pharmaceutical industry, commercial real estate and the healthcare sector. She has had the fortune of being part of a team of advisors who have advised on innovative and novel deals that have helped shape the M&A landscape in her region.

Recognizing the importance of giving back to her community, Kellen has advised not-for-profit organisations and social enterprises during her time as a practicing lawyer and was nominated as the TrustLaw Pro Bono Lawyer of the Year in 2023 by the Thomson Reuters Foundation together with her colleague.

As a consequence of the breadth of experience that was offered in private practice, Kellen developed a passion for international commercial law and specifically, the intersection between national commerce, foreign investment and growth of her country’s economy on the global economic stage through investment in the private sector.

This passion, coupled with a “family of economists” informed Kellen’s decision to pursue the MILE program at the World Trade Institute. Kellen’s desire is to cultivate a deeper understanding of international investment law and the economic factors that influence trade and investment policy. She intends to use the specialized training that she receives at the World Trade Institute to consult and advise the actors in the private sector in navigating the complex legal and economic issues that they may face in the course of their international dealings; be they trade or investment related, and consequently, to help promote her country’s economic growth through these pursuits.

Kellen is a lover of music and can be found humming to herself or singing jazz music wherever there is a microphone near her. She loves hiking and summited Mt. Kenya in 2022 and takes the lessons she learnt on this challenge with her. She looks forward to embarking on her journey and her career.