Conference Program and Speaker Bios: Harnessing Human Capital for Growth and Development in Kenya

Adem Esther is a seasoned professional serving as the Senior Insights and Market Engagement Manager within the Connected Women program (Digital Inclusion) in GSMA . In this capacity, she collaborates closely with mobile operators across Africa, to enhance the outreach to women micro-entrepreneurs, especially in the rural areas, focusing on fostering digital and financial inclusion, through informed research and strategic initiatives.

With an impressive career spanning close to 10 years in both the Telecommunication and NGO sectors, Adem has cultivated a wealth of expertise. Prior to her tenure at GSMA, she made significant contributions to organizations such as BRAC International, Safaricom PLC, and Sterling Capital. In these roles, she led process automations and worked on driving the expansion of digital financial services to empower women entrepreneurs, particularly those at the base of the pyramid in rural areas.

Her dedication and accomplishments have garnered international recognition, with the Global CIO Forum honouring her with the prestigious ‘Next Generation Global CIO’ awards for two consecutive years: 2022 and 2023. She has a master’s degree in project management from Liverpool John Moores University (UK), building upon her strong academic foundation in Finance from Strathmore University, where she earned her Bachelor's Degree. Additionally, she holds a CPA (K) and UI/UX qualification.

Deanna Ford (Managing Director, Yale Inclusion Economics; Senior Adviser Economic Growth Center)

Deanna Ford is the Managing Director of Yale Inclusion Economics and Senior Adviser at the Economic Growth Center. She also worked with Yale’s Tobin Center for Economic Policy as a Senior Adviser. Previously, she was the Executive Director of Evidence for Policy Design at Harvard Kennedy School, where she led growth, partnership development, and organizational strategy of a team of over 50 based at HKS and abroad. Her particular interests lie in building strong inroads for research and evidence to contribute to concrete policy improvements that benefit the lives of citizens worldwide. Deanna has also worked for the International Monetary Fund, Agora Partnerships, the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, the Center for Research on Children in the U.S. and the Fabretto Children’s Foundation. She has lived in Nicaragua, Zambia and Rwanda. Deanna completed her Master of Public Policy at Georgetown University and her B.A. in economics at Princeton University.

Professor Cajetan Iheka specializes in African literature, ecocriticism, ecomedia, and postcolonial literature. He serves as director of the Whitney Humanities Center, chair of the Council on African Studies, and head of the Africa Initiative at Yale. Professor Iheka is the author of Naturalizing Africa: Ecological Violence, Agency, and Postcolonial Resistance in African Literature (Cambridge University Press, 2018), winner of the 2019 Ecocriticism Book Award of the Association for the Study of Literature and Environment, and the 2020 First Book Prize of the African Literature Association. His latest single-authored book is African Ecomedia: Network Forms, Planetary Politics (Duke University Press, 2021). The monograph, which positions Africa at the center of discourses on media ecologies, materiality, and infrastructure, received six book prizes. Among other accolades, African Ecomedia won the 2022 African Studies Association Best Book Prize (formerly Herskovits Book Prize), the Ecocriticism Book Award of the Association for the Study of Literature and Environment, and the Harold and Margaret Sprout Award of the International Studies Association. He is also editor of the MLA volume Teaching Postcolonial Environmental Literature and Media (2022); and coedited African Migration Narratives: Politics, Race, and Space (University of Rochester Press, 2018), and Environmental Transformations, a special issue of African Literature Today.

Professor Iheka is currently working on a comparative study of the cultural and formal intimacies of African and Caribbean literatures. He serves as Editor-in-Chief of African Studies Review, the multidisciplinary journal of the African Studies Association. 

Aishwarya Lakshmi Ratan serves as the Deputy Director of the Economic Growth Center since March 2022. Prior to the EGC, Aishwarya managed research and evaluation investments for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s Women’s Economic Empowerment strategy, and for the Foundation’s Financial Services for the Poor team. Her previous experience includes running a financial inclusion research initiative at the EGC from 2011-2014 in partnership with Innovations for Poverty Action, leading the Monitoring, Research and Evaluation unit at Women for Women International and working as an Associate Researcher at Microsoft Research India. Aishwarya earned a bachelor’s degree in economics and women’s studies from Wellesley College and a master’s degree in public administration and international development from the Harvard Kennedy School.

Alex Mwaura is the Country Director at Digital Green, where he leads the implementation of AI-powered agricultural extension services in Kenya. Prior to this role, he served as Country Director at Food for the Hungry, Inc., managing the organization’s operations and programs in Kenya. He is currently pursuing a Doctor of Leadership in Global Perspectives at George Fox University. He also holds a Master of Science in Sustainable Development from the University of Sussex and a Master of Science in Organization Development from United States International University. He is passionate about building impactful teams, systems practice, and leveraging technology to improve the lives of marginalized communities and promote sustainable development.

Dorothy Naivasha is the current County Executive Committee Member overseeing the Education and Vocational Training Docket in Tharaka Nithi County. She holds a degree in Economics from Kenyatta University and a Master of Business Administration candidate specializing in Strategic Management. She has over seven years of experience in local government administration. Her role entails ensuring the effective implementation of county and national legislation, coordinating administrative functions, and providing strategic advisory support to the Governor and County Executive.

Her commitment to the education sector is evident in her efforts to enhance quality assurance by uniting key stakeholders to improve learning outcomes. She is also a passionate advocate for gender equality, actively integrating gender mainstreaming into County policies and programs and improving financial management, reporting, efficiency, and decision-making in Tharaka Nithi.

Dorothy is the Co-Principal Investigator for a pioneering randomized evaluation assessing the impact of a preschool intervention on child learning and women’s empowerment in Tharaka Nithi County. Her work reflects a strong dedication to inclusive, evidence-based governance and sustainable community development and a vision for improved learning outcomes for all learners in Kenya who stand to benefit from innovative interventions in the education sector.

Simon Onywere (Associate Professor, Kenyatta University)

Simon Onywere is an Associate Professor Department of Spatial and Environmental Planning, School of Engineering & Architecture, Kenyatta University, and balances academic roles with impactful research and community engagement. He is currently leading a Gates Foundation-funded study on preschool intervention on effects of child learning and women’s economic empowerment in Tharaka Nithi County. In Oct. 2020 - March 2021 he was part of the Government Multi-Agency Technical Committee that assessed the socio-economic impacts of rising water levels in the Great Rift Valley Lakes, Turkwel Gorge Dam and Lake Victoria. As the ESRI GIS Education Users Ambassador in Africa since 2018, he promotes GIS use in education and championed ESRI’s 100 African Universities Programme in 2014. Onywere specializes in Integrated Environmental Management, developing participatory catchment management plans for communities. He led disaster risk management studies and training across East Africa, including IGAD states. Currently, he chairs KU's Global Tourism Resilience and Crisis Management Centre (GTRCMC - EA) board and actively contributes to the Early Childhood Development Education (ECDE) Network in Kenya.

Rohini Pande is the Henry J. Heinz II Professor of Economics and Director of the Economic Growth Center at Yale University. She is also the faculty director of Inclusion Economics at Yale. She is an elected member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, an Econometric Society fellow, and a former co-editor of American Economic Review: Insights. Pande received the 2018 Carolyn Bell Shaw Award from the American Economic Association for promoting the success of women in the economics profession and the 2022 Infosys Prize in Social Sciences. Formerly, Pande was the Rafik Harriri Professor of International Political Economy at Harvard Kennedy School.

Pande’s research, which has influenced policy in South Asia and globally, focuses on how institutions shape power relationships and patterns of economic, political, and environmental advantage in low-income countries. She is interested in the role of public policy in providing the poor and disadvantaged political and economic power, as well as how notions of economic justice and human rights can legitimize and enable such change. With Inclusion Economics India Center, she is working with Indian state governments on gender-inclusive rural development and digital policies and with Inclusion Economics Nepal, she is evaluating policies to strengthen quality of policy-making by elected local governments.

Pande received a PhD in economics from the London School of Economics, a BA/MA in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics from Oxford University, and a BA in Economics from Delhi University.

Abraham Rugo is the Executive Director of Bajeti Hub, formerly International Budget Partnership Kenya, where he leads transformative public finance work through deep collaboration with citizens across Kenya. In this role, he works to create opportunities and support the team to reach its highest potential—drawing on 19 years of experience in development and public finance. Abraham holds both Master's and Doctoral degrees in Public Management from the University of Potsdam, Germany, and brings a long-standing commitment to homegrown solutions and inclusive development.

Nena Sanderson is Chief Product Officer at M-KOPA, a leading fintech platform that provides digital credit to underbanked customers in Africa. Nena leads M-KOPA’s product, impact, and sustainability work. Prior to M-KOPA, Nena served as MD, Tanzania at Zola Electric, a consultant at The Boston Consulting Group and a fellow at Acumen and TechnoServe. Nena holds an MBA from Stanford University and a BA from Duke University. 

Simone Schaner is an Associate Professor (Research) of Economics at the University of Southern California. She studies how the social and economic environment shapes choices, elucidating how beliefs and power affect decision-making in households, economies, and societies.  Her work studies economic mechanisms that contribute to inefficiency and misallocation in low-income settings and associated policy solutions, with a focus on labor, financial, and healthcare markets. 

Dr. Schaner is the Scientific Director for Gender at Inclusion Economics. She is also an affiliate of the Bureau for Research and Economic Analysis of Development, the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab, the Center for Effective Global Action, and a Faculty Research Fellow at the National Bureau of Economic Research. She has a Ph.D. in economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and an A.B. in economics from Princeton University.

Dr. Benson I. Wairegi, EBS was until recently the Chancellor of Kenyatta University and was the Group Managing Director of Britam Holdings Plc for 26 years until 2021. He is also a director of Housing Finance Group, and a former chairman of the Association of Kenya Insurers. Dr. Wairegi holds a Honorary Doctorate Degree from Kenyatta University, Masters of Business Administration, and Bachelor of Commerce degrees both from the University of Nairobi. He is a certified public accountant.

Dr. Wairegi’s name is synonymous with the insurance and asset management industry in Kenya. He steered Britam's growth from a small home service insurance company to a leading diversified financial services group listed on the Nairobi Securities Exchange. The group has presence in seven Africa countries in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, South Sudan, Mozambique and Malawi.

Madam Anne Wang'ombe is the Principal Secretary (PS), at the State Department for Gender and Affirmative Action, in the Ministry of Gender, Culture, the Arts, and Heritage in the Republic of Kenya. An accomplished leader, she has a proven track record in public service and a deep commitment to advancing the rights of marginalized groups, particularly in the realm of Gender Equality and Women Empowerment.

Ms. Wang’ombe holds a Master's degree in Education Administration and Planning from the University of Nairobi and a Bachelor's degree in Education from Kenyatta University. Additionally, she possesses an advanced certificate in Human Resource Management from Highpro Skills Training College in South Africa.

Throughout her career, Ms. Wang’ombe has held various influential positions within the public sector, including roles at the Kenya Revenue Authority Staff Pension Scheme and the Kenya Medical Research Institute, as well as serving as a lecturer at several universities and colleges.

In her capacity as Principal Secretary for Gender, Ms. Wang’ombe oversees the formulation and implementation of policies and programs aimed at promoting gender equity, empowering women, fighting Gender Based Violence and advancing affirmative action for disadvantaged groups. She is dedicated to fostering a culture of equality, respect, and opportunity for all individuals, regardless of gender or background.

Outside of her professional responsibilities, Ms. Wang’ombe is a passionate football fan, supporting community-based teams. She also enjoys hiking, volunteering, and reading in her free time.

Ms. Grace Wasike (Director Social Economic Empowerment, State Department for Gender and Affirmative Action, Kenya)

Grace Margaret Wasike is the Director responsible for Socio-economic empowerment at the State Department for Gender and Affirmative Action in Kenya. She has a Master of Development Specializing in Gender, Social Inclusion & Rural Livelihoods from Larenstein University, in The Netherlands, a Bachelor of Agriculture & Home-Economics from University of Egerton in Kenya and a Postgraduate Diploma (PGD) in International Relations from the University of Nairobi. Her major achievements at the State Department responsible for Gender include successfully coordinating the development and adoption of the National Policy for Women Economic Empowerment as well as development of the National Care Policy (that is currently under consideration by the Cabinet). Ms. Wasike has previously worked as a Gender expert worked at the Ministries of Agriculture, East African Community and Mining.

Professor Judith Waudo holds a PhD in Nutrition Education from the University of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. She is currently the Director of Gender Equity and Empowerment at Kenyatta University and the hub leader of the Kenyatta University Women Economic Empowerment hub. She is a Full Professor in the Department of Food, Nutrition, and Dietetics. She has 38 years of teaching and research experience and is the author of fifty publications. She is the chair of the Technical Committee for the African Centre for Transformative and Inclusive Leadership Center based at Kenyatta University. Currently, Professor Waudo heads the Bill & Melinda Gates project on "what works to improve women's economic empowerment in Kenya". She has participated in the development of the UN women's economic tools and the review of the Kenya National Policy for Women's Economic Empowerment. In addition, she has been involved in research on sexual harassment. Administratively, Prof Waudo has 30 years of experience in leadership. In addition, to the above-mentioned responsibilities, Prof Waudo sits on many Vice Chancellors committees such as chairperson, of the University Ranking Committee and member of the University Bursary Committee.