A first-time author and 2024 ACABA Awards Nominee, Grace Christine Obonyo Kyayonka is a daughter of the Most High God, a mother, and a grandmother. Now retired from formal employment, I served as the first female Academic Registrar at Nkumba University (2014-2017) following an illustrious career at Kyambogo University as Senior Assistant Registrar and Deputy Registrar.
I am a Certified Maxwell Leadership Team Speaker, Coach, and Trainer, passionate about mentoring both the young and old based on my personal life experiences. I engage in this passion alongside preaching the gospel within the Anglican Church of Uganda and also evangelizing digitally and door-to-door. I volunteer as the Parish Council Secretary at St. Luke’s Ntinda Church of Uganda and serve as Vice Chairperson of the Scripture Union Uganda National Committee. Additionally, I sit on two school boards, contributing as a member of the Board of Governors and as a Director.
This book, my first publication, was released in 2022. It is a biography of one of Uganda’s finest and pioneering corporate leaders, who broke the monopoly of expatriates leading multinational companies in Uganda.
Ivan was a leadership trailblazer who led his company with excellence wrapped in humility. He mentored and developed many leaders, including myself. One of his corporate colleagues described Ivan with these words: “Efficiency, brilliance, foresight, integrity, and compassion were his ethos in life, and he lived them to the full.”
I wrote my late husband’s biography to inspire readers to learn from and aspire to emulate such exemplary leadership, which the world desperately needs now and in the future. The content of this book will undoubtedly allow those who never met Ivan to glean from the leadership mastery he exemplified, irrespective of their field of operation. The power of the written word cannot and should never be underestimated!
My Writing Journey
Was it easy? Not at all. It was not as easy as the folklore that effortlessly flowed from my head during my childhood. Like many authors, I experienced the much-talked-about “writer’s block.” However, my block was not due to a lack of content but the excruciating pain of recalling all that was lost following Ivan’s passing.
Though I decided to write in 2015, it took seven long years to bring the idea to fruition. As long as it seemed, this delay was ordained by the Lord, as the reader will discover within the pages. My second book is underway (title still guarded), and I can’t wait to share it with a disillusioned and hurting world.
Thanks to God, who strengthens us, the book is here for all to enjoy reading.
