Name: Caroline Simba
Position: Chief Legal & Regulatory Affairs Officer
Company: Jamii Telecommunications Ltd

Sector/Industry: Telecommunications
Worked in the current position for (number of years/months): 13+ years
Total years as an in-house lawyer: 13+ years

A day in the life: Provide a brief overview of your current role (what you do, how you spend your time etc):
My typical day starts at 5 am and ends at 10 pm. I enjoy listening to audio books and an array of business and personal development podcasts on my way to work. I am in the office by 7.00 am and spend the first hour on self-development. I always strive to read material that provokes my thinking outside my scope of work.

The remaining part of the day is spent in business meetings, check-in sessions with my team, a big chunk on researching and preparing submissions and parliamentary or regulatory memoranda on new legislation, policy or industry guidelines. Stakeholder engagements also take up much of my time. This could be triggered by an industry regulator, a new business venture, new law or could simply be geared towards maintaining good relations with policymakers. Frequently, I am invited by third party’s such as the Ministry of ICT & Digital Economy, World Bank, GSMA or local industry associations to participate in discussions on how to increase connectivity, bridge the digital divide and create sustainable businesses.

Somewhere in this schedule, I try to fit in sessions with the department’s internal customers and occasionally, external customers. It is very important for leaders to walk a mile in their customers’ shoes and understand their challenges as well as evolving needs. This is the only way one can develop innovative and real solutions, whether it is through the contracting process or in policy formulation. Unless I have an after-work engagement, I head to the gym at 6 pm. Interestingly, this is the time I get to decompress and recharge. Physical fitness is very important for my overall productivity and mental wellness. I am home by 7 pm for dinner with the children before they retire to bed at 9 pm. I get to catch up with my other personal commitments such as board work between 9 pm and 10 pm and settle for bed at 11 pm.

The best thing about my current job is: (On video)

The most challenging thing about my current job is:  Talent retention especially when it comes to Millennials and Gen Z, who abhor routine and structures.

Most pivotal career decision: Definitely moving in-house from private practice. At the law firm, I was accustomed to working under partner supervision which gives one a sense of security in knowing that their legal advice or opinion is carefully vetted before it is sent to the client. I moved in-house in a managerial capacity, to a company that was in its start-up phase, which meant that I was ultimately responsible for setting up a legal department from the ground up and putting up structures and processes that would enable the business to achieve its desired outcomes. This was no small feat!

One of the biggest challenges I’ve had to face in my in-house career journey is: Venturing into public policy. I am a trained lawyer. The nature of our work is inherently individualistic with siloed structures, which is greatly at odds with the collaborative nature of the public policy. Making the mental shift needed to adjust one’s character is never an easy task but is necessary for growth.

What advice would I give my younger self? Believe in yourself. Fear only serves to inhibit growth!

Key influencers that have shaped my journey: Certainly, my late mother. A woman of high integrity. She taught me to always do the right thing always, especially when no one was looking! She was selfless and very compassionate, traits which I acquired. Unfortunately, these traits can be mistaken for weakness in the cut-throat business environment we operate in, and I have had to learn how to wisely tinker my hardwired empathy for purposeful execution, whether it is when managing teams or in boardroom engagements.

One cool thing I’ve observed in the legal industry recently? Without a doubt, this has to be growth of Tech-Hubs within law firms. Driven by a realisation that the very rigid traditional law-firm practice models are not serving the evolving needs of clients, and that the best approach to addressing these challenges is to break down the siloed walls, whether they are based on legal expertise, legal area structures or sector specialisations. These are indeed exciting times for the legal profession!

Favourite pro bono/ volunteer or charitable activity: I cannot say I have a favourite because I have a deep passion for all my personal engagements, from mentoring youth, to working with PWD’s, to paediatric cancer research. Maybe I will admit that this latter one is very close to my heart. With all the advancements made in biotech and genomics studies, it is puzzling that we still don’t have a cure for cancer. A child diagnosed today with Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma (DIPG), faces the same fate they would have faced 20 years ago! Do we really have our priorities right as a society?

If I were not practising law, I would probably be: A Navy Seal, as a harboured far-reaching passion, and a fashion designer to nourish my creative juices.

What (singular) achievement are you most proud of? Definitely, raising my two teenage children who have turned out to be respectful, responsible, resilient and empathetic human beings. No level of professional success can bring peace to a family in turmoil.

Something you love doing but you’re not that great at? I generally enjoy all fitness-related activities but running seems to be the one exercise I struggle with the most. I have participated in three marathons, and each time I have vowed never to run again!

Something you dislike doing that you’re pretty good at? Dislike might be a strong word, but I am quite impatient spending time in the kitchen cooking, yet I am pretty good at it. My mother was a very good cook and all my four sisters and I spent days in the kitchen with her, learning all her special recipes. We do throw down a mean feast when we get together as a family. But personally, I prefer to pay someone to cook. There are just too many balls in the air to juggle which conflicts with the time and patience needed to prepare a great meal.

In 5 years-time I’d love to be: As many will agree, the midlife phase of one’s life, is the great consolidation of our purpose; when we seek a greater meaning of our life on earth and focus on building a great legacy. In 5 years’ time, I desire to have created a body of work in the telecom policy and regulation space that promotes growth of local businesses in Kenya. Whether it is through favourable tax policies, to supporting growth of a digital and knowledge-based economy where no Kenyan is left behind, regardless of their socio-economic status. I am also very keen on ESG and the climate change conversation. Already we are experiencing extreme weather events like never seen before. Science tells us that in the absence of drastic action to significantly reduce greenhouse gases in the next decade, global surface temperatures will exceed the 1.5C threshold!

Each of us is affected and leaders must be relentlessly proactive and violently passionate, if we are to achieve the net-zero targets by 2050. It is my hope that in 5 years, I will have helped the business fully transition to a sustainable green business. Finally, I intend to double down on the volunteer causes I am deeply passionate about and focus on building strong structures that can independently sustain themselves.