Maureen Mbaka is the Chief Administrative Secretary, ICT, Broadcasting and Telecommunications at the Ministry of ICT, Innovation and Youth Affairs, appointed by H.E. the President Uhuru Kenyatta in 2020.

She is an Advocate of the High Court of Kenya and a Certified Public Secretary of Kenya.

She has formerly practiced commercial law at TripleOKLaw Advocates as well as in the commercial department at Daly & Inamdar Advocates. She has also led the commercial team at Gumbo & Associates in matters projects, contractual agreements, company compliance and corporate governance. Maureen was also previously engaged as a legal researcher for the International Development Law Organization as well as the Centre for International Sustainable Development Law.

She holds a Masters Degree in Energy Law (First Class Honours) from the University of Aberdeen, with her thesis focusing on Nuclear Energy Law. She is also an alumna of the University of Nairobi and Alliance Girls High School.

Pape Samb comes to Ashoka with seventeen years of leadership experience and an established record in strategic planning, program development and management, content management, fundraising, proposal writing, training and facilitation. At 13, he started a women’s empowerment and youth economic development organization, was president of CAP-Jeunesse, a Senegalese network of youth organizations; and was hired by the Senegalese government to train youth in entrepreneurship, business and grassroots organization management. He rose from the ranks of director of programs and COO to become the president and CEO of Phelps Stokes, America’s oldest (102 years) continuously-operating foundation. The youngest and first non-American to head the organization, he provided leadership and vision in globalization and investing in a new generation of global leaders, educators, entrepreneurs, students, and citizens, with particular attention on people of color and indigenous affiliation. A driving force and empowering ‘agent of change’ for youth globally, he not only serves as chairman, but founded, designed and developed the Global Youth Innovation Network (GYIN), a youth-run and led network of over 5,000 young leaders, entrepreneurs, innovators and farmers in approximately 100 countries. Experienced in international development, he supported Sasha Bruce Youthwork in programmatic and development operations; designed, implemented and managed Africare’s online communications in 26 African field offices; and served as micro-finance director at Cooperazione Internazionale (COOPI). Samb holds a Masters in Executive Leadership from American University and has won several awards including Leadership in Excellence and Next Generation of Leaders

Sr. Agnes Njeri is the Acting Deputy Vice Chancellor in charge of Academics and Student Life in Tangaza University College (TUC). She doubles up as the Director of the Centre for Leadership and Management in the University College, a position she has held since January 2015.She has a PhD in Applied Mathematics, a Master of Science in Applied Mathematics and a Bachelor of Education Science (Double Mathematics) from The Catholic University of Eastern Africa. In addition, she holds a professional certificate in the Practice of Organizational Leadership, Faith and Praxis.The Deputy Vice Chancellor (Designate) is also a published scholar in the field of magneto-hydrodynamic (MHD). Her articles are published in the International Journal of Mathematical Sciences and Applications (IJMSA), the Journal of Multidisciplinary Engineering Science and Technology and LAP; LAMBERT Academic Publishing, Saarbrücken. She recently presented a paper at the Strathmore International Mathematics conference.She was an adjunct lecturer at the Catholic University of Eastern Africa and the Technical University of Kenya before she joined TUC in 2013. Sr. Njeri was the Principal at St. Joseph’s Girls High School, Mang’u before she became a lecturer.Dr. Njeri earlier on served in Tanzania as a teacher at Loyola High School in Dar-Es-Salaam and doing pastoral work at Himo Parish in Moshi.

Arif Neky is the Senior Advisor for UN Strategic Partnerships at the Resident Coordinator’s Office and the National Coordinator of the SDG Partnership Platform in Kenya - co-created by the UN system and the Government of Kenya. He has also helped in the co-creation of the SDG Accelerator Lab for Kenya. He is Chairman of the Task Force for the National Advisory Board (NAB) for Impact Finance in Kenya and a member of the Africa Venture Philanthropy Alliance SAG (AVPA).

He was the founding Coordinator of the first SDG Philanthropy Platform in Kenya, Founding Co-Chair of the EA Philanthropy Network and helped create the Kenya Philanthropy Forum. Arif is currently active in broadening the SDG Partnership Platform in Kenya to unlock significant private, philanthropic, intellectual and blended finance capital and collaborations to accelerate high priority SDG impacts.

As the former Regional CEO of the Aga Khan Foundation (AKF) East Africa for over 13 years, Arif was directly responsible for a wide portfolio of programs in health, education, rural development and civil society enhancement across Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania.

Arif was previously the Regional Representative across Eastern Africa for the French & International Bank - Société Générale. He was also previously the founder and CEO of the Microsoft certified Academy of Learning in Vancouver, Canada.

Dr. Olufunso Somorin is a Regional Principal Officer with the African Development Bank, based in Nairobi, Kenya. He oversees the Bank’s climate investment programs and policies across the 13 countries comprising the Eastern African region. He is directly involved in the design, appraisal and supervision of more than 120 development projects worth about USD 9.25 billion across the region. He leads the Bank’s dialogues with national and regional government institutions, development partners, civil society and private sector on strategic development issues across multiple sectors.   Dr Somorin is a Director at Profectus Capital Group, a boutique investment firm that provides world-class financial and advisory services to SMEs in Africa. He is the President of Mindosphere Institute, a leadership platform for mentoring young leaders and entrepreneurs in Africa. He sits on the Board of Emerging Leaders Foundation in Kenya. A frequent speaker in many development, leadership and entrepreneurship events across Africa. He gives guest lectures at Strathmore University (Kenya), African Leadership University (Rwanda) and University of Guelph (Canada).   He holds a PhD in International Environmental Policy from Wageningen University, Netherlands. As an Erasmus Mundus Scholar, he holds two Masters’ degrees from Finland and Netherlands. He has received numerous executive trainings on development issues at Cambridge and Oxford Universities in the UK.  

Dr. Lisa Hehenberger is an Assistant Professor in the department of Strategy and General Management at ESADE, and Director of the Entrepreneurship Institute. She is a renowned expert on (social) entrepreneurship, venture philanthropy and impact investment.

She is a member of the European Commission's Expert Group on Social Entrepreneurship (GECES) and of the OECD's Social Impact Investment Expert group. She served on the French National Advisory Board and the Impact Measurement Working Group of the Social Impact Investment Task Force established by the G8. Until recently, she was the Research and Policy Director of the European Venture Philanthropy Association (EVPA). EVPA is the pan European association for venture philanthropy and social impact investment. She set up and ran EVPA's Knowledge Centre, conducting and publishing research, and collecting and disseminating data and knowledge. She also coordinated EVPA's policy initiatives, facilitating the transfer of knowledge between policymakers and practitioners. Lisa is a strategic advisor to EVPA on research and policy.

Lisa is very active in the field of practice. She sits on the advisory boards of impact investing funds such as Creas, Social Impact Ventures, Oryx Impact Fund, People & Planet Partners and Seastainable Ventures. Lisa has advised organizations such as WWF, Repsol Foundation and Meridia Capital Partners on their impact investment strategies. She launched the Entrepreneurship Institute’s Social Entrepreneurship & Impact Initiative through which she engaged in numerous research projects (e.g. on migrant social entrepreneurship, social impact bonds, venture philanthropy, impact investing in Spain, etc.) and set up ESADE’s impact community to connect ESADE students with the impact sector. Lisa is a member of the Impact & Sustainable Finance Faculty Consortium set up by Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern. She is a member of CNBC’s Disruptor 50 Advisory Council — a group of leading thinkers in the field of innovation and entrepreneurship.

Dr. Hehenberger has a PhD in management from IESE Business School and a master's degree in business and economics from Stockholm School of Economics and HEC (CEMS). Previously she worked in investment banking at UBS and GB Investment Banking in London, Madrid, and Barcelona.

Mario Molteni is a Full Professor of Business Administration and Corporate Strategy at the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Milan. He is a Founder of ALTIS, the Graduate School Business & Society of Catholic University, an international research and education institute on impact entrepreneurship and corporate sustainability.

From 1993 to 2008, he was the Scientific Director of ISVI, Institute for Business Values, a center of research for Corporate Social Responsibility promoted by important Italian universities, businesses, banks, and associations.

In 2006 he founded the CSR Manager Network, the Italian of CSR and sustainability managers from the principal Italian businesses. In 2015 he was named Ashoka Fellow for E4Impact (Entrepreneurship for Impact).

He is the author of numerous books and scientific articles on Corporate Strategy, Entrepreneurship, Corporate Social Responsibility, and Social Entrepreneurship.

Noreen spearheads the Programmes and Operations activities within the SME Advisory Unit at the Presidency, bringing on board her effective management and organization development skills that span over 12 years. She continues to assist the unit in executing the set strategy, monitoring and evaluating Programmes, over-seeing the day-to-day running of the office, ensuring that successful outputs are achieved and good relations are upheld within and outside the Unit.
In her previous professional experience, Noreen has displayed steadfast leadership dedication towards the development of teams, programmes and institutions at the World Bank Group, African Media Initiative (AMI), Hilton Hotel and Chase Bank Ltd.
She is equipped with an Executive Masters Degree in Organisational Development (EMOD), accompanied by an Undergraduate Degree in International Relations and Marketing from the United States International University-Africa (USIU).

Dr. Teresa Kinyari Mwendwa is a skilled and dedicated medical doctor, lecturer and clinical epidemiologist in the Department of Medical Physiology, Department of Immunology and the University of Nairobi Institute of Tropical and Infectious Diseases (UNITID). Since 1996 she worked as medical doctor providing services to all cohorts requiring the essential package of care. Upon qualification from the medical school, she worked under supervision as a medical intern being first on call in the mainstream departments of internal medicine, surgery, pediatric and obstetrics and gynecology.

As a medical officer at the Nyeri Provincial Hospital, she was in charge of the obstetrics and gynecology unit which included triaging high risk pregnant and non-pregnant women from the outpatient specialized maternal and child health (MCH) and antenatal care (ANC) clinics into the high risk womens’ clinic. She managed a high caseload of clients mainly attributed to referrals for emergency care and support. In the maternity department, she worked with midwives and other clinicians through in clinical mentoring for partogram monitoring to improve birth outcomes and reduce maternal deaths with emergency caesarian section, ectopic pregnancies and ovarian twists among other procedures.

Between 1999 and 2007 she has worked as a resident on a locum basis at the Gertrude Garden Children’s Hospital Accident and Emergency Department gaining competency in Paediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS), debriefing in the event of fatal outcomes (children dying on arrival, intensive care or under chronic care) and linkage to care for chronic diseases such as HIV and cancer. Specifically, she has
worked with orphans and vulnerable children with their caregivers infected with or affected by HIV infection or disease. She has been involved in occupational health reviews as a public health specialist including the promotion of workplace programs.

She has over 14 years’ experience in teaching and mentoring and over 18 years’ experience in infectious disease research especially HIV and malaria. She specifically worked as a service provider in STI and HIV clinics in Nairobi between 1998 and 2004. In 2011, she reviewed the UNICEF fund2ed community health strategy in a national end line survey targeting beneficiaries and health providers in districts currently located in Kitui, Kajiado and Machakos counties. In 2013 Dr Kinyari led a team of enumerators to map health facilities in the districts located in the Nairobi, Kajiado, Kiambu, Muranga, Kirinyaga, Nyeri and Nyandarua counties. She supervised an inventory of quality of care based on infrastructure, human resource and readiness for emergency services and routine service provision in both the public and private sector.

Marion Wanjiku Mutugi, a professor of genetics and research scientist graduated with a PhD from the University of Edinburgh, Scotland in 1994. The dynamic scholar, trainer, a manager who is widely published in her area of medical genetics and more recently bioethics has a personal motto; “What’s worth doing, is worth doing well”. Her current focus is the ethical application of research findings and advances in science to end-users thus benefiting communities.

Prof Mutugi who has worked in various public and private research institutions and universities is currently the Vice-Chancellor of Amref International University (AMIU); a Premier Pan-African University specialised in training, research and extension in health Sciences. She previously served as Deputy Vice-Chancellor in charge of Planning, Research and Development at the University of Kabianga. Prior to that, she was at the Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT) where among others she was the Director, Institute of Tropical Medicine and Infectious Diseases (ITROMID). In this latter position, she oversaw regional postgraduate training in Public Health, Clinical Medicine, Tropical Medicine, Epidemiology and Molecular medicine. She is an accomplished trainer through whose hands many biomedical and health professionals in the region have passed.

Besides, Prof Mutugi has been involved in various international and national government activities in various agencies, institutions, committees and task forces. In 2011, the President of the Republic of Kenya awarded the mother of two adult children with the “Elder of the Order of the Burning Spear (E.B.S.)” in recognition of her service to the Nation.

Dr. Elizabeth Wala has more than 15 years’ experience spanning the fields of health systems strengthening for universal health coverage, health care policy development, pharmaceutical medicine and clinical research. She is known and respected for program refinements and building credibility and partnerships across cultures and with leading national and international private, public, and non-profit health sector stakeholders. She has participated in the development of key national and international policies and guidelines across many African countries. She has served as organization representative at national and international forums, conferences, technical working groups, and advisory boards.

Robert serves as the Chief Research Officer & Co-founder, Villgro Africa where he is spearheading the replication of the Villgro incubation model of social entrepreneurship and impact investment in the healthcare and life sciences industry. He has over 10 years of experience in global health R&D as a biomedical scientist at the Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI) where he discovered his passion for impacting peoples’ lives through science and innovation.

Davide Libralesso is a manager in the beyond profit sector who joined Etimos Foundation in 2011. He is responsible for the development of international programmes and partnerships, focusing on the role of the private sector in development. He represents Etimos Foundation in the framework of the UN Global Compact Initiative. He previously worked for international organizations, EU cooperation programmes, and Italian public institutions. He has been designing and promoting innovative financial solutions to leverage the potential of the private sector in disadvantage contexts. He has directly promoted the role of diaspora through several innovative international programmes, mainly in Sub-Saharan Africa, where migrants play a pivotal role as development actors for their Countries of origin. He is part of the working group on Migration and Development at the Italian Council for Development Cooperation at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He has been member of the Board of Directors of FEBEA, the European Federation of Ethical and Alternative Banks. Davide holds a MA in International Politics and Human Rights from the University of Padua, Italy.

Diane Holt (BSc, MSc, PhD) is an experienced teacher, researcher, and academic administrator. At Queen's University Belfast (2007-2013) she was programme leader for a suite of postgraduate programmes in the sustainability area. She previously held a position as Principal Lecturer at Middlesex University Business School (1996-2007) including 1.5 years seconded to their Dubai campus responsible for the roll out of their Business Programmes. During her time at the University Essex (2013-2019) she held various roles including Head of the Management and Marketing group, and the grant holder for three externally-funded research grants focused on various aspects of inclusive growth, poverty alleviation, social innovation, value chain and hybrid social enterprises. In summer 2019 she moved to the University of Leeds to take up a Chair in Entrepreneurship and Director of the Centre for Entrepreneurship and Enterprise Studies.

Diane has published over 100 peer reviewed journal articles, book chapters and conference papers. She has over 4800 cites in Google scholar in areas such as the role of business in development, social, entrepreneurship, green supply chain management and sustainability discourse. She has won over £800K of external funding with grants from the ESRC, NRF (South Africa), British Academy, British Council, Newton Fund and Nuffield Foundation. She was the Principal Investigator on the ESRC funded Trickle Out Africa Project (TOA) which considers the impact of social and environmental enterprises on poverty alleviation and sustainable development across the 19 countries of Southern and Eastern Africa. The online Directory now lists over 4000 social purpose ventures. Honours linked to this work include nomination and short listing as a finalist for the 'Outstanding Academic Study in Development' category of the International Development Awards - All Party Group on International Development (May 2013).

She was also the PI for the South Africa Social Innovation and Social Entrepreneurship PhD partnership in associations with Wits, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan and Pretoria Universities and held a Newton Advanced Fellowship exploring value chains in producer communities in the Amazon in Brazil. She was recently awarded a Newton Fund Impact Scheme award to continue impact activities based on the team’s fieldwork in Brazil and will be working in partnership with UFAM.

Other recent activities include contributions to the youth social entrepreneurship United Nations expert meeting in December 2018; keynote speaker at the Social Enterprise World Forum Academic Symposium held in Glasgow (September 2018); speaker, facilitator and pre-colloquium workshop organiser at Social Enterprise Colloquium Pretoria South Africa organised by Luven, Rutgers and Pretoria Universities; panel speaker at Impact!Social Enterprise 1st world event (organised by Ashoka/British Council) held in South Africa in June 2018; and keynote speaker at the ISDG and Sustainable Supply Chains in the post-global economy International Symposium held at Royal Holloway University of London. She also authored the United Nations report on Youth Entrepreneurship published in 2019.

She is also a member of the ESRC & GCRF Peer Review College, the British Council Newton Fund Social Science Panel, a Marie Curie expert reviewer, and a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.

Mr. Evans Maphenduka is a Board Member of End Poverty. He holds a Bachelor of Accountancy (Honours) 1984, from the University of Zimbabwe and a Master of Social Science, Development Finance, 1986, from the University of Birmingham, United Kingdom. During his 35-year career, Evans has developed a deep understanding of the development microfinance and inclusive banking sectors, in South Africa and globally.  He has worked in a wide range of capacities.  He has been a consultant and lecturer, an executive manager running several microfinance institutions, and a funder with both public and private funding institutions.  Evans has been part of the Opportunity International, Feed the Children International, and End Poverty Networks. His involvement in these diverse networks have taken him to almost every corner of the Globe, giving him diverse experience in working in different cultures and environments. Apart from involvement in setting up no less than fifteen microfinance funds in Africa, Latin America and Asia, Evans has provided pertinent training to large and small MFIs worldwide. At End Poverty, Evans founded the Africa Region and development seven partnerships, of which five still remain to this day. As Africa Coordinator, he became the link between the diverse needs of the Africa programmes and the donors seeking to make meaningful contribution to poor communities. As part of his personal development, Evans has also amassed experience in credit guarantees, child welfare issues, gender matters and general community development.

Kevin's over 14year career has consolidated to enabling people better their society by championing for climate change initiatives, gig economy and wealth; through business, entrepreneurship and social entrepreneurship advisory. He has an edge in programming for vulnerable communities and those in humanitarian settings, where he gets satisfaction in applying his acumen in strategy, innovation and implementation for programs with a bias to women and youth. He is the founder of Spine Global Solutions, Social-Entre- Business Consultants and is currently lead consultant in Social Entrepreneurship within Eastern Africa for Hivos Foundation. Kevin is pursuing a Masters in Development Finance, Accounting-CPA, has acquired knowledge in B.Commerce-Finance, Computer Science and Information Systems Audit.

Gilbert is the CEO and co-founder of the Newmark Group, one of Africa's leading strategic communications companies and the founding CEO of technology powerhouse Weza Prosoft. In addition to being a brand Leadership expert who has lent his expertise and experience to Fortune 500 companies in over 20 countries in Africa, Gilbert sits on the boards of several social initiatives and actively promotes social-first philanthropic programmes in East Africa.

"Muzalema Mwanza is the Founder of Safe Motherhood Alliance a social enterprise that designs, develops and distributes innovative health products for pregnant women living in low-income communities and rural areas effectively creating healthy and resilient communities in Zambia. She develops low-cost appropriate technology tools designed to meet the unique needs of women in resource-poor settings and trains women from underserved communities to function as frontline health workers, distribute essential kit supplies and other healthcare products. Signature to the Safe Motherhood Alliance brand is a convenient "baby delivery kit" that contains all the essential items a woman requires at childbirth with a goal to reduce maternal and infant mortality through improved quality of care at the time of birth by preventing deadly and debilitating infections for over 20million pregnant women across Southern Africa with no access to healthcare by giving them increased access to a clean, safe delivery and a healthy start to a new life. Muzalema's work at the bottom of the pyramid demonstrates her passion for empowering women and has led her to be selected as a Mandela Washington Fellow, Ashoka Fellow, Obama Africa Leader and an Echoing Green Fellow among other honors."

Abu Musuuza is the Co-Founder and CEO at FLIP Africa, a tech company that is ensuring dignity, accountability and predictability in the African gig economy. Abu is reversing decades of inefficient employment systems by disrupting the how we define employment, how young people find work and how we utilize talent to drive development. Prior to FLIP Africa, Abu co-founded and was the CEO of Village Energy Limited one of the leading solar companies in Uganda. He currently serves on the board of directors of the company. Before that he was the East Africa Director of Ashoka. Currently, Abu is the Director of the Ashoka Visionary Program an innovative co-creation and learning space that is creating a new generation of leaders who are equipped with the knowledge and tools to drive changemaking and systems change within their communities and/or their institutions. Abu is an archaeology enthusiast: understanding how pre-historic man came to shape the way we live today and tomorrow.    

Annie Gitau holds a Master’s Degree from International Leadership University and a Bachelor’s Degree in Communication from Daystar University with a minor in Community Development and another in Theology. She holds a Diploma in Graphic Design and another in Social Media Strategy. She is also a graduate of the 1st cohort of the African Women in Media 2020.

Ms. Annie has worked in the Media Industry for over 10 years and has unequalled creativity skills in marketing and unmatched journalism capabilities. She is the founder of the Newspaper-in-Education program at The Standard Group PLC and is the Project Manager for the Great-Places-to-School Initiative – a high-status ranking for schools that is making its mark in both private and public schools in Kenya. Passionate about education, coupled with extensive reporting skills, Annie was instrumental in the launch of one of the unrivalled business newspapers in Kenya in 2004 – the Business Daily.

She published her first book in 2009 and is currently pursuing her PhD in Social
Transformation. She also currently sits on the board of EndoSisters EA Foundation.

Simon Manyara works with Boehringer Ingelheim sub-Saharan Africa as Product Manager, where he is responsible for the cardiovascular and respiratory portfolio. Prior to this, Simon was responsible for Boehringer Ingelheim’s Access To Healthcare program where he had oversight over social business initiatives and other access initiatives in sub-Saharan Africa. Simon is passionate about sustainable healthcare delivery and disruptive innovation, and has spent most of his professional career innovating in solutions that address patients’ barriers to accessing quality healthcare. Simon holds a Bachelor of Pharmacy degree from the University of Nairobi and a Master’s degree in Global Health from the University of Edinburgh. He is currently pursuing his MBA at the IE Business School.

Andrew is an agribusiness professional working across multiple value-chains with a vision of restoring human dignity, productivity and creating safe food. His mandate cuts across the entire value-chain from seeds, production to market access. He also possesses extensive experience in financial services. He has advised SME’s, local and global corporates on working capital solutions anchored on trade finance and commercialization of business models. His areas of expertise are in agribusiness, financial services and business management. He has research interests in leadership, change management, job satisfaction and agribusiness.

Professional highlights:
- Head, research and commercialization of business models at Endless Africa Ltd.
- Senior manager trade finance and correspondent banking at Gulf African Bank which involved trade finance sales and management of correspondent banks.
- Head of trade finance at Bank of Africa which involved deal origination and structuring coupled with managing financial institutions.
- Corporate sales dealer which involved foreign exchange sales to local and global corporates.
- Market leader in structuring deposit arbitrage transactions for commercial banks with commodity traders.
Andrew possesses a Doctorate degree in Leadership and change management (USIU- Africa), an MBA in Strategic Management (University of Nairobi), a MSC in International Business Administration (USIU-Africa) and a Diploma in Risk Management (IRM, UK).

Emma Naylor-Ngugi is the Regional Director for CARE in East, Central and Southern Africa.  CARE is a leading international non-governmental organisation, responsible for programmes focused on women and girls in 15 countries in the region, including work on health, education, livelihoods, protection from violence and abuse, and in emergencies.  Prior to joining CARE, Emma worked for Oxfam and the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation. Emma was born and educated in the UK, but is a Kenyan national and Nairobi is home.  In her spare time, Emma works to support animal welfare in Kenya and has a house full of family members and foster puppies.    

Dr. Said Benamar is the director of executive education and member of the university council at the International University of Casablanca. He obtained his doctorate in Educational Sciences, specializing in higher education leadership from Walden University in the USA, and his Master in Business Administration from the University of Quebec in Montreal; he capitalizes on more than 22 years of experience in higher education as a lecturer and leader of academic institutions in Morocco and internationally as well as in the field of publishing and journalism.

Dr. Benamar is a strong believer in the student-centered academic model and the
transformative educational strategy that flows from it. His involvement in international academic transformative projects and his travels to Africa have helped support his own professional research on how to reshape education in the 21st century.

Rebecca Amukhoye is a seasoned agriculturalist and a business development practitioner with vast experience in the development sector. She has over 20 years work experience successfully directing impact oriented Programmes that have empowered smallholder farmers on areas of food security, agriculture and enterprise development in Kenya and other East African countries.Her background is in Agriculture, Rural Development and Strategic Management. In her career, she has been instrumental in providing leadership, planning, implementing projects and ensuring that the operations of the organization are aligned to its vision and strategic direction.Prior to joining MESPT, Ms. Rebecca was the Country Director at Self Help Africa where she was responsible for providing leadership to the Kenya Country Programme.

During her tenure, she actively participated in addressing the challenges encountered by small scale farmers in Kenya, ensuring that they remained a central focus for development. At MESPT her focus will be to create decent job opportunities for youth and women, promote food safety and improve access to finance for businesses to thrive.

Ms. Rebecca holds an MBA in Strategic Management from the University of Nairobi, MSc. Agriculture & Rural development from Kenya Methodist University and BSc. Agriculture and Home Economics, Agroecology & Sustainable Agriculture from Egerton University.

Ronald has 16 years of experience in the private sector, Public Service and entrepreneurship having held various leadership positions in technology, ICT, telecommunications, media, banking and finance, and government corporations. He is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of iGov Africa Limited and an entrepreneur invested in ICT infrastructure development, construction, healthcare, FinTech and Public Policy consultancy. As the Head of Public Sector at Oracle Corporation, Kenya, Senior Manager for Government Relations and Public Sector Sales at Safaricom Limited, and Chairman of Youth Enterprise Development Fund, he set up high performance teams that shaped policy decisions both at the national and county government levels while maintaining a private sector approach to socio-economic solutions. He is a Tutu Fellow, Aspen Institute graduate and a Crans Montana Leader of Tomorrow and serves a Trustee of Uzima University and Vice Chairman of the Uzima University Foundation.

Originally from the island of Menorca, Spain, Elena has lived and worked in Switzerland, Germany, Russia, and the United States. She currently serves as a Fund Manager at Oryx Impact, a fund manager currently launching a multi-manager strategy focused in economic development, climate change mitigation and adaptation, and female empowerment in the continent of Africa. Prior to joining Oryx Impact, Elena was the Director of Microfinance at MCE Social Capital, where she led the firm’s microfinance strategy as well as managed a portfolio of investments in Latin America. Earlier in her career, Elena served as an Associate Director at Sonen Capital, where she focused on business development, industry research, and supporting the firm’s investment process.

Michael Sudarkasa is the CEO of Africa Business Group (ABG) (www.abghq.com), a South Africa based continentally active, African economic development company. Founded in 2005, ABG focuses on three key areas: 1) economic and business development consulting, 2) agriculture, tourism and renewable energy projects, and 3) capacity development. The Group specializes in the areas of private sector development, trade and investment within Africa and between Africa and the global business community. In January 2020, ABG was appointed to serve as the Country Coordinator – South Africa, Eswatini and Lesotho for the Private Financing Advisory Network (a global network of climate and clean energy financing experts) of UNIDO and REEEP; and in April 2020 ABG was appointed to serve as the Southern Africa Regional Coordinator of the UNDRR’s private sector network, ARISE. ABG’s sister company, Africa Business Energy, is the vehicle through which the group provides renewable energy and energy efficiency focused: a) training; b) advocacy; c) consulting and c) project design, development, and implementation. ABE has a particular focus on providing renewable energy solutions for agribusiness and agriculture complex needs, and production, and pre- and post-harvest projects that involve processing, water and waste management, product transformation and value addition, and post-harvest loss reduction related projects. For young agripreneurs, ABG also has designed and manages the Global African Agribusiness Accelerator Platform (www.gaaap.biz) as the company’s principal capacity development initiative.

A U.S. commercial attorney by training, Michael has lived, travelled, and worked in 50 countries around the world (including 35 in Africa), and is the author of several publications, including: The African Union Commission’s Africa Business Directory: Toward the Facilitation of Growth, Partnership and Global Inclusion (African Union, 2014), A Field Guide to Inclusive Business Finance (UNDP 2012) and Investing in Africa: An Insider’s Guide to the Ultimate Emerging Market (John Wiley & Sons, August 2000). Michael currently serves as the Chair of Impact@Africa, a continentally focused impact investment ecosystem development platform, as a member of the University of Michigan Provost’s Advisory Committee and as Chair of the Advisory Board of the African Studies Center of the University of Michigan. He holds a B.A. degree from the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor (High Honors in History), a J.D. degree from Harvard Law School, and is currently pursuing is PhD in Management of Technology (his thesis is focused on development of a framework to accelerate private investment in productive use focused mini-grids in Africa) at the École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), a leading European engineering research university based in Lausanne, Switzerland.

Susan is currently the Head of SME Banking at Absa Bank Kenya Plc, a role she has held for close to 5 years. In this role she is responsible for growing the SME business for the bank. Prior to joining Absa, she was Head of SME & Agribusiness at KCB Bank. She has a wealth of banking experience spanning over 20 years, working in various roles. Her areas of expertise include SME strategy development, SME finance, product development, credit analysis, risk management, client relationship management and managing large sales teams. She has a great passion for serving and finding solutions for SMEs. She has over 14 years of experience in this area, having started as an SME Banker to running the bank’s SME business. She has been involved in several key SME initiative's in Kenya as a speaker, notable ones being the 1st Kenya SME Day facilitated by the World Bank and the 1st Africa SME Finance Forum facilitated by the International Finance Corporation. Susan has done various banking and leadership trainings. Most recently in June 2020, she graduated from an Executive training on the Female Future leadership program facilitated by the Federation of Kenya Employers, that emphasizes network building and peer mentoring, as well as Board competence. In August 2020, she received recognition from her Absa colleagues for being Authentic as a Leader for her inspirational leadership.

Professor Ranga Zinyemba is the Rector and Vice Chancellor of the Catholic University of Zimbabwe, a position he has held since January 2013. He has previously served as Lecturer, Chairman of Department, Dean of Student Affairs and Registrar at the University of Zimbabwe as well as Visiting Professor at various universities in Africa, Canada and the USA. Prof Zinyemba is an Organizational Development (OD) Consultant and Capacity Building Specialist who has worked with many organizations in a variety of sectors (private, public, Church, Educational, NGO, United Nations Agencies, World Bank, Embassies, etc.) in various countries in Africa and South Asia on a variety of OD assignments. His last fulltime appointment before joining the Catholic University of Zimbabwe in 2013 was the position of Capacity Building Specialist in the Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan (2009 – 2012). Prof Zinyemba’s overriding passion is facilitating the transformation of lives and institutions.  

Mama MK Manneh is an Executive Director for Njawara Agricultural
Training Centre. He is an accomplished season development specialist with over 35 years of working experience in integrated rural development, and he enjoys using his skills to contribute to the sustainable technologies that could make an impact on the lives and livelihood of rural people more in particular the women and youth who are considered must vulnerable to development challenges and opportunities.

Since 2010 he has held an Ashoka Fellowship. As a member of this fellowship he has been able to grow personally and professionally in many different domains through relationships and opportunities He was able to take advantage such as scaling up his intervention in the area of Climate Change Cum Food and Seed Security as a strategic sfit in building and supporting communities resilience to mitigate the effects of climate change in their farming practices through integrated rural development projects that can improve and enhance their livelihoods.
2010 received a project funding from President Clinton's climate change fund through submission of a project concept this project runs for 12 months and was implemented in both the Gambia and Senegal.
2012 he participated and competed in the Clobal Climate Change Forum hosted and organized by the University of Oxford UK by submitting a concept on a balance agro-ecological village attended among 3000 delegates.
As a member to Action Aid Magazine editing board, he has developed series of articles in development and has participated in many development researches being under taken by Action Aid International The Gambia. He was a member to a policy document on seed multiplication strategy commissioned by Action Aid. He was hired by European Union Gambian Office to Join 1German Forester to review their funded community forestry program initiative in the upper river region of the Gambia for 1 month and followed by another consultancy singlely given to him for 2 months to conduct a case study on cotton production in the Gambia by EC. He led a case study team in conducting a Participatory Rural Appraisal in 10 villages in the Gambia and Senegal a funded project by CIDA
DEVELOPMENT AND MANAGERIAL SKILLS
 Head of National Student Union Gambia (NUGS) and President of the main campus
student body for 2 years.
 Served as chairperson of AATG medical committee for 6 years.
 Member of AATG staff Association Executive committee for 12 years.
 Facilitation to many regional workshops organized by AATG.
 Part time lecturer at both community health Nurse (CHN) at Mansakonko and School
of State Enrolled Nurse (SEN) at Bansang on Nutrition and Principles of Extension for
3 years.
 Member of the YIRIWA KIBARO editorial board (AATG) Development Magazine.
 Member to the 3 man task force in the preparation of the seed banking strategic
document for the Agency (AATG) and other players in the seed industry programme.
 Member to AATG Natural Resource Management and Research Committee.
 Representative of AATG to the National Seed Council of The Gambia for 6 years.
 Member to the Research Team for the identification and appraisal of a new
development Area in Wuli and Sandu then known as RDA 4.for AAITG intervention
 Invited by the University of New Hampshire in the State of Durham Boston for 3 weeks
to facilitate discussion on sustainable development in rural communities in the Gambia
for year 1 & 2 students.
 Invited by the University of New Hampshire in the State of Durham Boston for 3 weeks
to facilitate discussion on sustainable development in rural communities in the Gambia
for year 1 & 2 students in 1997

Mr. Innocent Makwramiti is a seasoned Economist who holds the following qualifications- Bsc Economics, Msc Economics and MBA. He has worked in the public and private sectors for several years as an economist. Over the years he has worked for Central Statistical Office (CSO) as a Statistician, Agribank as an Economist in the Strategic Planning Division, Old Mutual Investment Zimbabwe as an Investments Analyst, Southampton Assurance Zimbabwe as an Investments Analyst, Telone as Director Strategic Planning and later as General Manager of the Manufacturing Unit of Telone , Zimbabwe National Chamber Of Commerce (ZNCC) as the Chief Executive Officer. He is a currently with the COMESA Regional Economic Community of 21 countries based in Lusaka, Zambia. His portfolio where he has vast experience includes trade facilitation, investment promotion, cross border investments industrial and private sector development in 9 the region. His strengths are in Strategic and General Management, investment analysis, trade facilitation and infrastructure development.

Passion about youth employment, entrepreneurship and technology.Co-founder Sote Hub, nurturing young talents in Kenya, incubation of early stage startups & SMEs and scaling ideas around SDGs, Climate Change and Agriculture, passionate about women in Tech, rural youth and economies.Sote Hub uniquely develops entrepreneurship pipeline from school to workplace. Worked with over 50 high schools and impacted over 10,000 students in our projects in rural Kenya.Africa can feed herself and be prosperous. We need to invest more in Agriculture, Manufacturing & Ease of doing business.I can be contacted for consulting jobs. Among organizations is Ten Senses in a 2M Euro project developing agro value chains for small holder farmers, export business & food security. Countries of my projects include Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Ethiopia and Tanzania. I consulted for Oxfam to identify best practices on digitizing education in South Sudan and countries with refugee challenges. A former Programs Officer International Fund for Animals (IFAW), I occasionally write blogs, wildlife & nature enthusiasts especially birdwatching, and soccer fan. I get invited for speaking roles and have delivered lectures in over 15 universities in Slovakia, Poland, Cyprus & Germany.Venture Capital | Africa | Startups | Program Development | Strategic Thinking| Business Insights| Civic engagement | Facilitation | Jobs | Leadership | Youth Employment | WomeninTech |Impacts |Social Entrepreneurship

Mr. Jared Ochieng’ is an agriculturalist with 7 years cumulative experience in teaching and in projects focussing on rural development and livelihood improvement for small holder farmers. He holds a BSc in Agriculture and an MSc in Plant Breeding from Egerton University, and a Post graduate training certificate in Food Chains in Agriculture from the University of Applied Sciences Weihenstephan Triesdorf.  He is well versed with design, coordination and implementation of projects, monitoring, learning and evaluation (MEL) with bias towards value chain development/M4P and Data Analyses (SAS, GENSTAT, Excel and R). Mr. Ochieng’ currently works as a Value Chain Officer at the Micro Enterprises Support Programme Trust. 

Judy Mwangi is an experienced Public Affairs and Communication professional with demonstrated experience in developing and implementing effective communication strategies, events and campaigns that engage and drives for results.    She has proven work experience across various industries from construction, agriculture to food & beverages around strategic communication, stakeholder and reputation management, government relations, environment sustainability and community development.       Judy is currently the Corporate Communicational and Public Affairs Manager at Nestlé East and Southern African Region and has a passion for public affairs and got into this field to make a difference in the lives of people by making it possible for them to make informed decisions about their lives through awareness and effective programs they can adopt.   

Alessandro is Senior Lecturer and Director of the Modular Executive MBA at The Business School (formerly Cass), City, University of London. His research investigates innovation in entrepreneurial ecosystems mainly from the perspective of 'pro-social' intermediary organizations such as incubators, accelerators, venture associations, government agencies, etc. He is particularly interested in business model innovation, particularly if digitally-enabled and for social innovation, in Sub-Saharan Africa where he regularly collaborate with E4Impact on research projects. In 2020, Alessandro was included in Poets & Quants’ “Best 40 Under 40 Business School Professors” list, with the highest number of votes on record.

Chiza Charles CHIUMYA is an experienced policy practitioner with a demonstrated global experience in international trade policy affairs. He has a strong persuasion that unlocking Africa’s trade potential is key to its socio-economic development and achieving prosperity for all. He has deep understanding of international trade policy issues with a focus on the role of regional integration in trade development, stemming from his vast experience at the national and continental levels for the past 20 years.   In his current position at the African Union Commission as the Acting Head of Trade Division of the Trade and Industry Department, Charles leads the Division’s contribution African Union’s Agenda 2063 through the provision of integrated solutions that combine trade policy reforms and advisory as well as implementation support to challenges of trade policy harmonization and competiveness in African Union Member States and Regional Economic Communities. This has includes conducting research, developing strategies and policy recommendations aimed at enhancing trade policy formulation, trade information, trade facilitation, trade and logistics, customs reform and modernization as well as sustainable utilization of information and communication technologies in enhancing trade.   He holds a Master of Economics degree majoring in International Economics, Public Policy and Taxation from the International Graduate School of Social Sciences, at Yokohama National University in Japan and a BSc degree in Economics from the University of Malawi.      

Dr. Esther Kimani is the Chief Executive of Pesticide Control Product Board (PCPB) and a former Managing Director of Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Service (KEPHIS), between 2014 and March 2020. She is a founder of a start up company Kovifood International Ltd., a company offering agricultural consultancy on best practices in selected agricultural value chains and on sustainable agricultural market access; besides other services that promote access to quality seeds, Plant health, food safety and quality of agriculture produce. She holds a PHD in Crop Protection, MSc. in Plant Pathology and BSc. Agriculture from the University of Nairobi. She is a student of MBA strategic planning.
Dr. Kimani worked as a researcher at Pyrethrum Board of Kenya for 10 years before joining KEPHIS in the year 2000. At KEPHIS she worked for over 19 years in various capacities that included officer in charge of Plant Quarantine Station, Head of Department of Phytosanitary and Biosafety, General Manager incharge of Phytosanitary Services and Biosafety and Managing director. She has been involved in harmonization of SPS standards and seed trade standards in COMESA and East Africa region and was a member of the International Plant Protection Standard Setting Committee for 6 years. The Standards guide Crop Protection and Trade Facilitation. She also played a great role in opening markets for agricultural produce in countries such as China, USA among others through carrying out pest risk analysis and trade negotiation on SPS requirements. In the area of biosafety Esther has played a vital role as a Board Member at the National Biosafety Authority and was incharge of National Performance Trials conducted by KEPHIS, that approved the first high yielding varieties of BT cotton that could be commercialized in Kenya.
She is passionate in building capacity of youth and women for wealth creation through agriculture. In her career she trained, coached and mentored many businesses to enable them participate in seed production and farming for export markets during her tenure as Managing Director at KEPHIS and previously as an agriculture researcher. She streamlined the seed industry to ensure farmers in Kenya can have access to certified seeds reducing the previous complaints on fake seeds in the market. On imports she ensured effective enforcement of Plant Breeders rights and effective seed certification enabling safe foreign investments in the agricultural sector with over 40 potato varieties being introduced into Kenyan farming systems. Her uncompromising enforcement of standards contributed greatly towards creating an environment that promote investment in production of certified seed for both local and foreign varieties. She also worked closely with local and international breeders to enable Kenyan business persons to invest in seed production and smallholders farmers to participate as out

Adun Okupe CA PhD has over ten years’ research and advisory experience in Infrastructure, tourism, and sustainable development projects.

Her work focuses on various aspects of the tourism system, looking at strategic leadership of the various components of the tourism supply-side of tourism. She is also passionate about the role of leaders as instruments of economic and social development and has a keen interest in exploring and understanding business leadership in Africa. She lectures part time in sustainability at the Lagos Business School, Nigeria and is a tourism consultant. Adun is also the executive director of The Sahara Centre, a not-for-profit committed to advancing the socio-cultural dimension of development in Nigeria through culture and tourism. She has led research projects to unlock the value chain of the creative sector for the private and public sector in Nigeria. In May 2020, she was selected as part of the Governor’s Covid-19 Committee for the creative and tourism sectors.

Adun holds a PhD in Tourism Leadership, looking at strategic leadership in dynamic organizations from the University of Surrey. Her Masters in Globalization and Development Studies was from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS, University of London), and she has a first-class Business Economics degree from University of Keele.

Adun is a member of The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland and a fellow of The Higher Education Academy. She is an associate of the Sustainable Business Initiative of the University of Edinburgh. She has worked with Lagos Business School (Pan Atlantic University), W Hospitality Group, the Sustainable Business Initiative of the University of Edinburgh Business School, The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) and KPMG, London.

Adun works on several projects in the creative and tourism industry. She sits on the boards of Open House Lagos and Zonta e-Club West Africa.

Wamuyu was elected as an Ashoka Fellow in 2010 in recognition for her social innovation, entrepreneurial qualities and potential to achieve impact in the area of youth employment. Wamuyu Founded the Youth Banner in January 2010 to create a generation of enterprising young people, most of whom are women and the majority of whom are rural. Wamuyu is energized by the success she has had in sparking youth entrepreneurship and has taken steps through The Youth Banner to establish a framework that others can tap into to emulate her success. Prior to founding the Youth Banner, she worked in Technoserve, Allavida, and Kenya Youth Business Trust. In 2016 while in Technoserve She spearheaded the first national youth Business Plan competition in partnership with the Ministry of Youth dabbed ‘chora bizna’. The competition created a pipeline of youth businesses for funding by the Youth Enterprise Development Fund.

Wamuyu is also a strong advocate of social and business co-creation which connects social entrepreneurs and businesses with complementary strengths to collaborate for maximum social impact. Wamuyu is currently a Consultant working with Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). Wamuyu holds a Masters degree in Business Administration (MBA) from University of Nairobi and is currently pursuing a Doctorate in Business Administration (DBA) from United States International University. Her doctorate research is investigating the effect of team leadership on collaborative impact within social enterprises in Africa.

Joyce is a strategic Leader, financial analyst and NGO Sustainability expert, committed to changing lives of people through social enterprises that touch lives within Africa and Globally. Joyce is currently the Co- Founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Capital Solutions Ltd a Social enterprise aiming at enabling Social entrepreneurs in Africa to thrive. Joyce has previously served as the Managing Director (MD) & Director Finance & Investments with the Uganda Health Marketing Group (UHMG) for 10 years a leading social marketing organization dedicated to improving the quality of life for Ugandans through the provision of superior and affordable health care solutions. Prior to UHMG, Joyce worked with other reputable companies such as the Eastern African Sub-Regional Support Initiative for the Advancement of Women (EASSI), Save the Children, and PwC. 

Joyce is a fellow of the global professional accountancy body, the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) UK, a member of ICPAU, a passionate Social Entrepreneur, and a woman activist, with over 20 years’ experience working in the private and social sector. Joyce possess a Master’s in Business Administration and a Master’s in Public Health from John Hopkins University USA. 

She serves on a number of Boards of Directors, she is currently the Chairperson of the Forum for Women in Democracy (FOWODE) a leading women’s rights Organisation, the Chairperson of the Institute for social Transformation, Board Member of Humentum USA, Board Member with the Uganda Reinsurance, and she founded the 3,000 members Luzira Alliance Savings and Credit Cooperative Society (LASCCO). Joyce previously Chaired the ACCA Uganda Members’ Network Panel (2014-2016).

‘Gbenga Sesan is the Executive Director of Paradigm Initiative, a pan-African social enterprise working on digital inclusion and digital rights through its offices in Cameroon, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe. He is also a Non-Resident Fellow at the Digital Civil Society Lab at Stanford University. Prior to starting Paradigm Initiative, 'Gbenga led the Lagos Digital Village, a joint project of Junior Achievement of Nigeria, Microsoft and Lagos State Government. Originally trained as an Electronic & Electrical Engineer at Obafemi Awolowo University, he completed Executive Education programs at Lagos Business School, New York Group for Technology Transfer, Oxford University, Harvard University, Stanford University, Santa Clara University and University of the Pacific. 'Gbenga's consulting experience includes assignments completed for numerous institutions, including Microsoft, Harvard University and United Nations agencies, among others, in over 35 countries. A Schwab Foundation Social Entrepreneur of the Year and former member of the United Nations Committee of eLeaders on Youth and ICT, he is a CyberStewards Fellow, Crans Montana Forum Fellow, Archbishop Desmond Tutu Leadership Fellow, Ashoka Fellow, Our Common Future Fellow and Cordes Fellow. ‘Gbenga served as a member of the Presidential committees on Harmonization of Information Technology, Telecommunications and Broadcasting Sectors (2006) and Roadmap for the Achievement of Accelerated Universal Broadband Infrastructure and Services Provision (2013), and was listed by CNN as one of the Top 10 African Tech Voices on Twitter and by Ventures Africa as one of 40 African Legends Under 40. ‘Gbenga is married to Temilade Sesan, PhD, an expert on Energy Poverty and Development. He has been advising the World Health Organisation on Data Privacy during the ongoing pandemic and is also advising the World Economic Forum on its Operationalising Trust Project, to develop rights-respecting Data Policy for businesses

Africa Digna Foundation for more than 15 years has promoted a dignified life for the African people, providing the local social entrepreneurs with economical support for finalist and self-sustainable projects. Africa Digna is convinced that investing in social entrepreneurs is one of the main pillars to reach progress and social well-being. In this regard, Africa Digna has a fund to support established business and established startups with a high social impact.

Chukuka is an investment banker, entrepreneur and partner at Racecourse Capital, a private investment and advisory firm. With a career spanning over twenty years at world class financial institutions like Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan, Salomon Smith Barney, Citibank Nigeria, Afrinvest West Africa, and Stanbic IBTC Bank, Chukuka has executed deals in corporate and project financings across multiple sectors. He specializes in structuring and raising large, complex, multi-source and multi-currency financings from cradle to grave. Chukuka is committed to raising the economic potential of Africa through investments in human capital, the arts, technology and infrastructure where he sits on the board of several companies like; Sponsors for Educational Opportunity (SEO) Africa; Evaluation & Staffing Africa (ES Africa); Hofstede Insights Nigeria (Hofstede) and DBH Solutions (DBH). Chukuka is committed to empowering more Africans and is making significant inroads through SEO Africa; a world-class training and mentorship program that is modelled after the SEO USA career program. Since 2012, SEO Africa has impacted the lives of over 350 students from 10 African countries placing them in well regarded firms across 4 continents. ES Africa is a Nigerian-American leading training and executive search firm. Hofstede is a Dutch-Finnish Consulting firm which uses data-driven tools and methods to help organizations improve workplace cultures and leverage diversity as a competitive tool. DBH is an undisputed leader in infrastructure and technology solutions. As part of his contributions to raising the next set of entrepreneurs in Africa, he mentors new entrants in the Nigerian market and provides strategic insights on innovation. Chukuka draws from his wealth of experience across various markets in Nigeria and globally, while leveraging his extensive network to help startup entrepreneurs bring their ideas to the market and scale globally.

Ronald is a researcher and practitioner working on the  internet of Things application and  Information and Communication Technologies for sustainable development (ICT4D and IoT), He is also technologist and social entrepreneur, who has a passion of working with rural communities in technology and entrepreneurship. With a focus on agriculture, Health and natural resources management in developing and emerging regions. As a practitioner Ronald is the FOUNDER OF AFROSOFT IT SOLUTIONS AND JAGUZA TECH UGANDA he has supported many rural healthy Centre and agriculture organization by developing them application that help healthy communities and farmers improve for standard of living and various NGOs in rural development projects, and assisted them in the applications  to promote improved water management ,Healthy centers and providing farming innovation.    

Misganaw Solomon Mengistu (PhD) is Vice President for Research and International Relations at St. Mary’s University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. His higher education experiences range from teaching to administration. He has been teaching different courses and engaged in research for the last 18 years. He holds a PhD in Educational Research and Evaluation.     

Caroline is the co-founder of Social Initiative. In active partnerships with corporates and philanthropists Social Initiative provides funding and capacity building to enable social entrepreneurs in India, Sub Saharan Africa and Sweden to scale and deepen their impact. Together we transform lives and societies.   Through her work at the World Bank, WHO and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, Caroline has over 25 years’ experience from managing social projects in Sub-Saharan Africa, Asia and Latin America, collaborating with governments, corporates and social entrepreneurs across the world. Caroline holds an MBA from the Stockholm School of Economics.

Social Entrepreneur, Innovation Enthusiast, International Development Expert, Political Ecologist, Collective Impact Catalyst, Systems Thinker, Renewable Energy Advocate, Action Anthropologist,...

15+ years of experience in developing and executing projects and programs in the field of climate change and energy, sustainable development, innovation, social entrepreneurship and inclusion across the world.

10+ years in leading and executive positions. Highly organized and multi-tasking; strong skills in operational and strategic management, guiding international teams and networks to reach their full potential.

Established and managed partnerships with bilateral and multilateral actors, international funding mechanisms, state institutions (Ministries, National Agencies and Municipalities), corporations, foundations and NGOs. Set-up a number of hybrid social businesses.

Advised more than 400 social and green entrepreneurs from all parts of the world to accelerate their impact; set-up and advised national and international incubator and accelerator programs; founder of social business leadership programs and the world´s first transfer agency for localizing the innovations of social entrepreneurs.

Published academically and in popular media, managed policy and knowledge products, organized and presented at international conferences, designed and led multi-stakeholder and collective impact initiatives.

Held a large number of trainings and lectures on social entrepreneurship, social innovation, climate change adaptation and mitigation, environmental conflicts, international development, and civil society research. Frequent speaker and moderator at national and international conferences, universities and policy forums.

Mathias Kure is a dedicated and passionate NGO worker with skills in social entrepreneurship programming, partnerships, implementation, and fundraising. He has led ActionAid’s social entrepreneurship programme in Kenya since 2018. Mathias has a background in Political Science, Social Entrepreneurship and Global Development from the University of Copenhagen and Copenhagen Business School. Mathias has vast experience in connecting community-based organizations and social enterprises in meaningful, innovative, and sustainable partnerships, and he is known for his feminist leadership principals.

Sophie is a Professional Certified Coach (PCC), Coach Supervisor and Mentor-Coach. She enjoys working with a wide variety of people in both East Africa and international market. Her client focus has been senior management who wish to develop their leadership and explore further their professional development. Leading teams in various international contexts for the past 20 years enhanced her expertise in coaching across cultures.Sophie’s approach is strongly influenced by the humanist perspective that people are resourceful, creative and whole and places her work in a wider environment applying a systemic perspective in her coaching practice. Using a very direct style she looks for strong lasting solutions that impact positively her client’s leadership and professional developmental goals.

Dennis is a Msc.E4-Impact global entrepreneurship. Chartered marketer, CIM UK. BA. Mass communication MUKCEO and founder Pure Products ltd, a social business enterprise that produces and avails affordable clean-safe drinking water to the unserved and Underserved BOP population through innovative technology of Water ATMs.