Meet the Contributors
Amanuel has a diverse background with experience in government, NGOs, and the private sector. Currently, he works for the UNDP. In his role as a solution mapper, he is responsible for identifying and co-designing grassroots solutions to address community challenges. Before joining UNDP, Amanuel worked on testing and revamping business models related to rural finance, specifically focusing on voucher-based agricultural input distribution systems and seed marketing. He has also provided analytical support to various programs and has experience in designing and conducting surveys. Amanuel holds a PhD in geography from the University of Leuven, with a primary focus on urbanism. His academic interests revolve around exploring the intricate interactions between space and society, particularly within urban contexts in the global south.
I work to drive innovation for development using grassroots solutions and pilots across a range of fields, from digital inclusion to environmental citizen science, in partnership with both public and private sectors. Through knowledge management, I aim to systematize my learnings and insights to create a more impactful and sustainable impact. My approach to my work centers around inclusivity and accessibility, using narratives and facilitation strategies to ensure that everyone is included in the conversation and no one is left behind.
Lilian leads on scoping user-led solutions/ grass root innovators/ positive deviants across different development areas in the country. She identifies underlying insights on behavior, trends, and systems that might make for solution learnings to experiment with inside UNDP and with partners, a role that can be likened to product management. Passionate about the way women experience work outside of the man-woman binary. Focused more on the unique nuances that make women entrepreneurs, business owners and leaders succeed, due to these nuances and not despite them.
Melany is an experienced project manager with a demonstrated history of working in the renewables and environment industry. She is a strong program and project management professional with an MBA focused on Project Management from MANCOSA, and she’s skilled in corporate social responsibility, analytical skills, system monitoring, and management.
Mariana joined UNDP Peru in 2020 as Head of Exploration. Before that, she worked as Public Affairs and Head of Institutional Affairs for companies like WeWork and Corporacion Breca. Mariana holds an MBA from Yale and Georgetown University. Her expertise encompasses stakeholder management, social and political monitoring, and the development of strategic corporate positioning. She is adept at fostering and leading dialogues between public and private actors, facilitating cooperation and knowledge sharing.
Leads Inclusive Growth team in UNDP Peru. Ximena is also a social entrepreneur, through Heroínas Peruanas, a non-profit association that promotes education and equal opportunities through educational materials about the lives of notable Peruvian women.
Jacqueline is passionate about R&D, and comes with a rich blend of both public and private sector experience in her experimentation role. She has worked on and coordinated various R&D projects from both the government and private sectors. Jacqueline has worked in resource-limited settings, economically empowering vulnerable communities through women’s financial inclusion initiatives. Jacqueline is a strong team player and has effectively demonstrated leadership through innovative ideas. She is a very ambitious and result-oriented human, and these attributes have helped her show the utmost professional ethics.
Eng. Tong Atak is the Head of Solutions Mapping and the Digital Advocate at UNDP South Sudan. He studied his bachelor’s degree in computer engineering at Queen Mary University of London. He is a practicing engineer and has over 5 years of experience working in telecoms with Nokia across Western Europe in Research & Development and development and technical account management. At UNDP, one of the notable projects Eng. Tong has project led was a pilot scheme to digitalize the traditional Sanduk savings scheme and migrate the analog process onto the M-Gurush platform. The success of this joint pilot with M-Gurush led to the development of a digital Sanduk called mSanduk being launched nationwide on their platform and being made available as a value-added service to their 1.7 million customer base. In addition, Eng. Tong in his capacity as the UNDP Digital Advocate works to identify and realize opportunities for digital project design and delivery in UNDP to be able to support the developmental aspirations of our lead partner the Government of South Sudan.
Moses Mwansa, holder of a Master of Science Degree in Project Management, is the proprietor of VillageSavers Technology Ltd, a fintech that promotes financial inclusion in low-income and informal business through the VillageSavers app. VillageSavers helps SMEs (Small and Medium-sized Enterprises) adopt tech-based solutions in their businesses. Moses is a 2021 Mandela Washington Fellow from the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, a YALI Regional Leadership Program alumni from the University of South Africa (2019), and a participant in the US Department of State’s Tech-Camp program in Nigeria (2019), and Ghana 2016. VillageSavers has been used successfully by Cross Border Traders through the project Digitizing Trade and Financing for Women and Youth Cross Borders Traders, which is jointly financed by the Africa Borderlands Centre and UNDP Zambia.
Sofia Silva is the Head of Exploration at UNDP Accelerator Lab in Cabo Verde, where she leads a portfolio of experiments that explore emerging trends, implications for systemic impacts and risks, and their potential for accelerating progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). She has over 16 years of experience in Information Systems and Electronic Governance in Cape Verde and Lusophone countries. With an MBA in Leadership and Innovation from Fundaçao Gertúlio Vargas - FGV, Brazil, Sofia has a solid background in working with state organizations, international NGOs, and private companies on projects that leverage technology, data, and design thinking to solve complex development challenges. She has also coordinated the software production department of NOSi, the most recognized ICT institution in Cape Verde, and worked as a consultant for projects in East Timor and Mozambique. Sofia is passionate about exploring new ways of thinking and doing that can enhance the lives and livelihoods of the poorest and most vulnerable.
Experienced in Sustainable Development and Social Innovation. Worked repeatedly in academic research, survey development, and market insight. Elected Global Shaper by the World Economic Forum & Chevening Scholar for an MSc in Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the University of Warwick.
I have spent most of my career creating order from ambiguity, whether it's charting my own vocational journey, supporting an African entrepreneurial leadership center launch, building the first pan-African network of tech hubs, or decoding early-stage investing in Africa. In other words, I like to help great people build great things, ideally by marrying vision (dream+strategy) with implementation (getting stuff done). African tech entrepreneurship and innovation trends on all of my feeds, with a special emphasis on building enabling infrastructure (think hubs and accelerators) enhancing the capacity of those enablers (especially early stage investors).
Originally a development/environmental economist, now more of a quantitative social scientist. Anthropology, ethnography, network science. Interested in epistemology. Committed citizen. Runner. Ex-minor rockstar.
Alik is a strategic designer and researcher with a background in product and graphic design. She holds an MFA in transdisciplinary design, and a bachelor’s degree in product design.
A development researcher, Marwa holds an MSc in Development Studies from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) and is a graduate from the American University in Cairo (AUC), with a B.A in economics and a minor in psychology.
As Head of Solutions Mapping, Salome co-creatively supports the development of grassroots initiatives aimed at tackling broader challenges affecting our world. She has over 20 years of work experience in programme management, transformational training, and leadership development, and has earned a a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Education and a Master of Arts Degree in Communications for Development.
Equipped by my deeply rooted moral imagination and the critical thinking that emerges from having had roles that crossed so many programs, I embarked on a learning journey with the United Nations Programme for Development using an experimental approach to development and poverty alleviation - combining research, locally grown solutions and technology with saving the world.
Ravi has played a prominent role and is a nationally recognized expert in the farm & non-farm value chain, livelihoods promotion, entrepreneurship development and financial inclusion ecosystems. He has previously worked and co-founded non-profit and for-profit companies in agriculture, microfinance, bamboo, handloom & handicraft focusing on B2B & B2C segments.
Adedapo is an inventive and dynamic software developer with experience designing state-of-the-art web, mobile, IoT, and cloud engineering solutions. He is proficient in a variety of frameworks and programming languages, specializing in developing scalable and resilient applications. He utilizes cutting-edge technologies to address intricate challenges, propel digital revolutionization, and generate memorable user experiences.
Jessica Massie is a technical assistant for DFL and financial capability programmes for UNCDF based in Kigali, Rwanda. She has lived and worked in a variety of African countries for almost 20 years, and specializes in curriculum development, training, research and writing, with a focus on skill-building and behavior change.
Karima Wardak is the knowledge and communication manager for the inclusive digital economy team at UNCDF; she is based in Brussels, Belgium. She has worked in digital financial inclusion and microfinance for over 15 years and can provide information on a broad range of programmes in financial and digital inclusion in Africa, Asia, and the Pacific.
Lina joined the Accelerator Lab in Colombia in 2023 as Head of Exploration but has been part of UNDP for more than 12 years leading the private sector and inclusive finance agenda. She is a skilled project manager with experience in the public sector and multilateral organizations for the design and implementation of development and innovation policies and initiatives and the design of multi stakeholder strategic partnerships within the financing for development agenda.
Political scientist with a master's in public and social policies. 11 years of professional experience in monitoring and evaluation of public policies, developing tools and methodologies for the efficient use of public resources, budget programming, private sector contribution to SDGs and working with development Banks such as IDB, Korea Eximbank and the World Bank.
Political scientist specialized in Social Policy, with over 14 years of experience in public and private sectors managing social development initiatives, leading and coordinating programs and projects focused on financial inclusion. Experience working in financial institutions and international cooperation agencies specialized in rural development, leading the design and implementation of financing tools with strategic partners aimed at serving vulnerable populations.
Professional in Business Administration with over 12 years of experience in designing, formulating, managing, monitoring, and evaluating projects aimed at addressing economic, social, and environmental issues involving stakeholders from the private sector, government, and civil society at national and international levels. He has worked with different international cooperation agencies such as UNODC Colombia and UNDP in the Latin America and Caribbean Bureau, contributing to knowledge management and innovation. Passionate about technology and driven by curiosity.
María Adelaida is a lawyer with 14 years of experience in women's human rights, development, and gender. Her career includes collaborations with social organizations, the State, and academia. She currently works as a gender analyst in the Colombia office, where she uses her expertise to understand and address the needs of women, proposing innovative solutions that consider gender as a central axis to promote significant changes.
Juan David joined the Accelerator Lab in 2019 as Head of Experimentation. Juan is an industrial designer with a master in strategic design and over 15 years of experience as a team leader and project manager. Driven to investigate problems, uncover opportunities and create value for end users and businesses. As a design thinker, have worked in service design, innovation management, public and social innovation, brand implementation, brand strategy and business model innovation. While helping develop businesses through a design-driven perspective, he creates strategies to sustain and share value between end users and the product service systems they use. He combines hard and soft skills to guide a structured process and create business ideas and innovative products and services that enhance user experience.
Richard Ndahiro works at the intersection of the digital economy and the real economy, specifically on how digital innovation can be applied to Health, Education, Agriculture, Finance, Energy sectors. His career of over 15 years spans across financial services (retail banking, microfinance, DFS), rural development/poverty reduction, and academia. Richard holds an MSc in Applied Economics, a post graduate diploma in Innovation and Design thinking, a Diploma in Professional Marketing (CIM) and is an Alumni of the Oxford University Fintech programme.
Kehinde Bolaji is Programme Manager/ Knowledge and Innovation Advisor at the Africa Borderlands Centre. Working with all units of the Borderlands Programme, he provides substantive leadership on programme management, integrated advisory services, partnership management, research, data and knowledge support. In particular, he shapes the conceptualization and operationalization of the ABC innovation work. Bolaji most recently served as UN Peace and Development Advisor (Caribbean) where he worked with the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), its Technical Agencies and Member-States in designing strategies and in implementing programmes on community mediation, Prevention of Violent Extremism (PVE), counterterrorism, climate-related security risks mapping, as well as women and youth inclusion in peacebuilding mechanisms. Prior to that, he served as Governance and Peacebuilding Team Leader at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Nigeria. He holds a PhD in Political Science from the University of Ibadan, Nigeria and is an alumnus of the Peace and Security in Africa Programme (PASA) at Uppsala University, Sweden.
Dr. Lily Murei is a Policy and Research Data Specialist at the UNDP Africa Borderlands Centre. A program management specialist, Ms. Murei has vast experience in inclusive program management, policy technical advisory, program assessments, and action research, result-based monitoring and evaluation, and project information management for evidence-based program design and reporting. Before joining the UNDP Borderlands Centre, she worked as a Technical Specialist for the UNDP REDD+ Project; before that, she coordinated the UNEP/UNOPs /UNDP Switch Africa Green project in Kenya. Ms. Murei holds a Doctor of Philosophy in Project Planning and Management, specializing in Monitoring and Evaluation, from the University of Nairobi; a master’s degree in project planning and management from the University of Nairobi; and a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in Sociology and Geography from Egerton University.
Enock Omweri is a seasoned professional at the forefront of cross-border development, digitization, and technology-driven solutions. With over a decade of experience in innovation, development, and humanitarian work, he currently serves as the Solutions Mapping Specialist at the UNDP Africa Borderlands Centre. Enock’s journey into the realm of international development began with his tenure at the United Nations Monitoring Mechanism (UNMM), where he played a pivotal role in facilitating cross-border operations across Syria, Jordan, Iraq, and Turkey. Prior to his work with the UNMM, Enock honed his skills at the World Food Programme (WFP). Before his international engagements, Enock contributed to academia as a lecturer at the University of Nairobi, where he imparted knowledge and fostered critical thinking among future leaders.