With over a decade of experience of global marketing for several L’Oréal brands and five years as Vice President of Marketing & Sales at Laureate International Universities (Laureate), Laura Kakon is now Global Chief Growth & Strategy Officer at pan-African private university group Honoris United Universities. We talked to her about her own experience of carving out a successful career and explored how female talent can be fostered in individual organisations and across Africa, where female participation in the workforce can range from as high as 86% to as low as 15% in Algeria, World Bank data shows.