Patricia brings more than 30 years of experience in senior leadership roles overseeing the expansion of leading consumer brands in Eastern Africa, at companies including Unilever, Diageo/East African Breweries Ltd and L’Oréal. She also holds a number of board positions at organisations such as ABSA Bank Kenya PLC, TradeMark East Africa Ltd, Jambojet Ltd, British Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Vivo Activewear Ltd and is a Trustee on the Boards of Vodafone Foundation UK and M-Pesa Foundation.

Patricia is passionate about creating opportunities that improve people’s lives, and prior to her new appointment at WPP Scangroup, she was the Regional Director at the Stanford Institute for Innovation in Development Economies - Seed, an initiative out of the Stanford Graduate School of Business that aims to tackle global poverty by supporting the scale-up of small and medium businesses in developing economies and builds a network of globally-engaged leaders from SiliconValley to sub-Saharan Africa.

In 2020, Ms. Ithau was awarded a Head of State Commendation (HSC) – Civilian Division, for her work in supporting enterprise development in the country. She holds an MBA in Strategic Management from the United States International University-Africa and a B. Com from the University of Nairobi. She also completed an Advanced Management Program at Strathmore Business School/IESE Business School, Barcelona, a General Management Program at INSEAD – CEDEP, and a Certificate Program in Scenario Planning at Saïd Business School, University of Oxford.

Patricia is an accredited executive coach and a certified Emotional Intelligence practitioner, working with business leaders to encourage a holistic approach to leadership and organisational change.