Phyllis Gathoni Mathenge is an award-winning Engineer, with over a decade of experience in the energy sector and currently working at the Geothermal Development Company as a Drilling Planning Engineer. She is also the founder, and Managing Director of Amani Thrive Hub Limited, a company that focuses on building capacity (through soft skills training, coaching, and mentorship) for Technical professionals beyond their technical competence to increase their visibility and support them to achieve their maximum potential.
Phyllis holds a BSC in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from the University of Nairobi and an MA in Project Planning and Management from the University of Nairobi. She is an Alumni of the Women in Geothermal (WING) Future Leaders Cohort (2020-2021), a program focused on developing female leaders and supporting the increased presence of women in business and community leadership roles.
Phyllis is the African Queen of Energy Professional Technical Award winner 2020, and the WING (Women In Geothermal) core values award winner in 2021 in the Category Courageous.
She was a finalist and the 1st runners-up in the Accenture Gender Mainstreaming Awards 2022, in the category of Positive Role Model-East Africa.
In her Organization, Phyllis has served as a member of the Gender and disability mainstreaming committee and is a gender Champion. She is the current country Ambassador for Women in Geothermal (WING) in Kenya, a global network that aims to promote the education, professional development, and advancement of women in the geothermal community; and the single-largest geothermal organization in the world.
She was recently appointed as a champion in the University of Nairobi Engineering mentorship and coaching program. In addition, she was appointed as a champion for the implementation of Science Technology & Innovation (STI) mainstreaming, a government initiative through NACOSTI.
Phyllis is an Advisory Board Member for the Women for Sustainable Energy and Climate Action (W4SECA) Central Africa network in Cameroon. W4SECA aims to promote the role of women and contribute to the increased leadership and development of women involved in the African energy sphere and climate action.
She is a gender equality enthusiast who is passionate about mentorship, quality education, clean energy, and women empowerment. She is a STEM mentor who volunteers with various organizations and networks such as WING (Women in Geothermal), UNESCO, IEK (Institution of Engineers of Kenya) and GN3(A structured program under Fanusi that mentors Girls in Engineering). She encourages the recruitment and retention of women in STEM. Her goal is to equip professionals with skills to achieve their maximum potential. She strongly believes that technical competence is not the only competence you require to achieve your maximum potential and therefore encourages professionals to develop soft skills like public speaking, communication, and leadership. She has been a trainer on soft skills and Expectations in the Engineering Graduate Development Program hosted by Viscar Industrial Capacity Building Limited. In addition, she has previously trained on confidence and Assertive Skills for Women under the DTI Group Limited.