Francis Ayieko is founder and publisher of The Shepherd, a monthly Nairobi-based Christian newspaper he launched in 2005. He is also the founder and lead trainer at The Op-Ed Experts, where he helps ambitious, upwardly mobile professionals become thought leaders in their fields through opinion writing. Francis served as an editor with The Standard Group for ten years. Prior to joining Standard, he worked for ten years as a writer with the Nation Media Group. Before launching The Shepherd newspaper, he edited the now defunct End Time News, a monthly Christian newspaper that was published by Nairobi-based Redeemed Gospel Church. Francis earned a B.A. from the University of Nairobi in land economics. He is a 2012 World Journalism Institute fellow and is a member of the Kenya Union of Journalists. He is a 2019 Sinapis Entrepreneur Academy graduate. Francis graduated from MTI’s Business of Magazine Publishing course in Kenya in 2018, and served as a trainer for MTI’s Introduction to Magazine Publishing course in Côte d’Ivoire in 2019 and Ghana in 2022.