Young innovators make it to KQ list for maiden US flight

Boeing 787 dreamliner at the KQ headquarters along Airport North Road in Embakasi, Nairobi, on April 26 last year /ENOS TECHE

Two young innovators are among the 235 passengers who will fly to New York during the historic Kenya Airways inaugural direct flight to New York on October 28.

The passengers will depart from Nairobi’s Jomo Kenyatta International Airport aboard the Kenya Airways Boeing 787 Dreamliner.

They will be joined by 233 other passengers for the return flight from JFK International Airport on October 30.

Shirlene Nafula and Evans Wadongo, both aged 26, were handed their return tickets at State House, Nairobi, by spokesperson Kanze Dena and Kenya Airways corporate social responsibility boss Jacquie Muhati.

The two entrepreneurs were picked on the basis of their creativity and innovativeness in biotechnology and solar energy — areas that fall within the Big 4 agenda.

Nafula, a University of Nairobi Bachelor of Science in Microbiology and Biotechnology graduate, is the founder and CEO of Crystal River Products, which manufactures bio-based beauty and hygiene products.

Her company seeks to be the leading producer and supplier of the best bio-based beauty and cleaning products in the world