brochure

East Africa Civil Society Initiative

YOUTH ENTREPRENEURSHIP FOR SOCIAL IMPACT

Scale Kenya Forum February 22nd, 2018 iHub, Nairobi

About the Civil Society Initiative

Implemented jointly by the Aga Khan University (AKU) and the Aga Khan Foundation (AKF), the Civil Society Initiative (CSI) serves as the meeting point for the civil society efforts of the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) in East Africa. Its core function is to facilitate collaboration, skills building and knowledge creation and sharing that addresses civil society needs across the region.

What is Scale?

THE  PROGRAM

THE  PROGRAM

THE  PROGRAM

The  East  Africa Civil  Society  Initiative  (CSI)  is  a  joint  initiative  between  the  Aga  Khan  University  and the  Aga  Khan  Foundation.  The  Initiative  focuses  on  a  series  of  critical  themes  that  are  identified through  community  research  and dialogue.  Its  core  function  is  to  facilitate  collaboration,  skills building,  and  knowledge  creation  and  sharing  that  addresses  civil  society  needs  across  East  Africa.

The  East  Africa Civil  Society  Initiative  (CSI)  is  a  joint  initiative  between  the  Aga  Khan  University  and the  Aga  Khan  Foundation.  The  Initiative  focuses  on  a  series  of  critical  themes  that  are  identified through  community  research  and dialogue.  Its  core  function  is  to  facilitate  collaboration,  skills building,  and  knowledge  creation  and  sharing  that  addresses  civil  society  needs  across  East  Africa.

The Scale program is CSI’s flagship initiative to support young East Africa social entrepreneurs. With youth unemployment rates surpassing 50% in some regions, growing numbers are turning to selfemployment and entrepreneurship is becoming increasingly important to the growth of East Africa’s economies. But, the sheer size of the entrepreneurial workforce does not capture market realities. Faced with multiple and overlapping structural, systemic and environmental challenges - and because a majority are established out of necessity rather than to capitalise on market opportunity - most of these businesses have low growth potential and poor success rates.

In 2016, the East Africa Institute (EAI) of the AKU produced some of the most authoritative research on youth values, attitudes, concerns and aspirations in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda. The results were clear: unemployment is the single most pressing issue affecting youth. Still, these surveys also found that youth believe they have the power to make a difference in their country’s development processes and the capacity for professional success. The Scale program aims to leverage this potential by bringing together all stakeholders who support an enabling entrepreneurial environment for a re-energised approach to youth employment and social impact innovations.

Three Key Objectives

The  Scale program  is CSI’s  flagship  initiative  to  support  young  East  African  social  entrepreneurs.  With   youth unemployment  rates  surpassing  50%  in  some  regions, growing numbers  are  turning  to  self employment.  As  such, entrepreneurship  is  becoming  increasingly  important  to  the  growth  of  East   Africa’s  economies. In  2016,  the  East  African  Institute  (EAI)  of  the  Aga  Khan  University  produced some of  the  most  authoritative  research  on  youth  values,  attitudes,  concerns  and  aspirations  in Kenya,  Uganda,  Tanzania  and  Rwanda.  The  results  were  clear: unemployment  is  the  single  most   pressing  issue  affecting  youth.  Still,  the  vast  majority of  youth  believe they  have  the  power  to  make  a difference  in  their  country’s  development processes  and  the  capacity  for professional  success.  The Scale  program  aims  to  leverage youths’ initiative  and potential  by  bringing  together all  stakeholders to  support  an  enabling  entrepreneurial  environment  for  a  re energised  approach  to  youth employment  and  social  impact  innovations.

The Scale program  is CSI’s  flagship  initiative  to  support  young  East  African  social  entrepreneurs.  With youth unemployment  rates  surpassing  50%  in  some  regions, growing numbers  are  turning  to  self employment.  As  such, entrepreneurship  is  becoming  increasingly  important  to  the  growth  of  East Africa’s  economies. In  2016,  the  East  African  Institute  (EAI)  of  the  Aga  Khan  University  produced   some of  the  most  authoritative  research  on  youth  values,  attitudes,  concerns  and  aspirations  in Kenya,  Uganda,  Tanzania  and  Rwanda.  The  results  were  clear: unemployment  is  the  single  most   pressing  issue  affecting  youth.  Still,  the  vast  majority of  youth believe they  have  the  power  to  make  a difference  in  their  country’s  development processes  and  the  capacity  for professional  success.  The Scale  program  aims  to  leverage youths’ initiative  and potential  by  bringing  together all  stakeholders   to  support  an  enabling  entrepreneurial  environment  for  a  re energised  approach  to  youth employment  and  social  impact  innovations.

The  East  Africa Civil  Society  Initiative  (CSI)  is  a  joint  initiative  between  the  Aga  Khan  University  and   the  Aga  Khan  Foundation.  The  Initiative  focuses  on  a  series  of  critical  themes  that  are  identified   through  community  research  and dialogue.  Its  core  function  is  to  facilitate  collaboration,  skills building,  and  knowledge  creation  and  sharing  that  addresses  civil  society  needs  across  East  Africa. The Scale program  is CSI’s  flagship  initiative  to  support  young  East  African  social  entrepreneurs.  With youth unemployment  rates  surpassing  50%  in  some  regions, growing numbers  are  turning  to  self employment.  As  such, entrepreneurship  is  becoming  increasingly  important  to  the  growth  of  East   Africa’s  economies. In  2016,  the  East  African  Institute  (EAI)  of  the  Aga  Khan  University  produced some of  the  most  authoritative  research  on  youth  values,  attitudes,  concerns  and  aspirations  in Kenya,  Uganda,  Tanzania  and  Rwanda.  The  results  were  clear: unemployment  is  the  single  most   pressing  issue  affecting  youth.  Still,  the  vast  majority of  youth believe they  have  the  power  to  make  a   difference  in  their  country’s  development processes  and  the  capacity  for professional  success.  The Scale  program  aims  to  leverage  youths’ initiative  and potential  by  bringing  together all  stakeholders to  support  an  enabling  entrepreneurial  environment  for  a  re energised  approach  to  youth employment  and  social  impact  innovations.

OBJECTIVES

OBJECTIVES

OBJECTIVES

The Scale program seeks to inform current opportunities and challenges, leveraging media and dialogue to support the work of young entrepreneurs in East Africa. This includes storytelling training to support how young entrepreneurs engage with regional stakeholders, and national documentaries showcasing the lived experiences of local business owners.

The  Scale  program  seeks  to inform current  opportunities  and challenges  within  the  East  African entrepreneurial  environment,   leveraging media  and  dialogue  to support  the  work  of  young entrepreneurs  in  East  Africa. This includes storytelling  training  to support how  young entrepreneurs engage  with  regional  stakeholders, and  national  documentaries showcasing  the  lived  experiences of  local  business  owners.

The  Scale  program  seeks  to inform current  opportunities  and challenges  within  the  East  African entrepreneurial  environment, leveraging media  and  dialogue  to   support  the  work  of  young   entrepreneurs  in  East  Africa. This includes storytelling  training  to support how  young entrepreneurs engage  with  regional  stakeholders, and  national  documentaries showcasing  the  lived  experiences   of  local  business  owners.

The  Scale  program  seeks  to inform   current  opportunities  and challenges  within  the  East  African entrepreneurial  environment, leveraging media  and  dialogue  to support  the  work  of  young entrepreneurs  in  East  Africa. This includes storytelling  training  to support how  young entrepreneurs engage  with  regional  stakeholders, and  national  documentaries showcasing  the  lived  experiences of  local  business  owners.

By  facilitating  access  to  training   and  resources  that  support  young entrepreneurs,  the  Scale  program seeks to  build  a  network  and information  hub  relevant  to  young entrepreneurs  in  the  region.  The program  aims  to  create partnerships  with civil  society, private  sector  partners,  policy makers,  incubators  and  mentors who  can  offer  access  to  skills training  and  key  resources.

By  facilitating  access  to  training and  resources  that  support  young   entrepreneurs,  the  Scale  program   seeks to  build  a  network  and information  hub  relevant  to  young   entrepreneurs  in  the  region.  The   program  aims  to  create partnerships  with civil  society, private  sector  partners,  policy makers,  incubators  and  mentors who  can  offer  access  to  skills training  and  key  resources.

By  facilitating  access  to  training and  resources  that  support  young entrepreneurs,  the  Scale  program seeks to  build  a  network  and information  hub  relevant  to  young entrepreneurs  in  the  region.  The program  aims  to  create partnerships  with  civil  society, private  sector  partners,  policy makers,  incubators  and  mentors who  can  offer  access  to  skills   training  and  key  resources.

By facilitating access to training and resources that support young entrepreneurs, the Scale program seeks to build a network and information hub relevant to young entrepreneurs in the region and create partnerships with civil society, private sector, policy makers, incubators and mentors who can offer access to skills training and key resources.

Scale seeks to bring together entrepreneurs, government, private sector and capacity building organisations to support regional investment, policy development and the creation and growth of sustainable businesses directed towards East Africa’s most pressing developmental challenges.

Scale  seeks  to  bring  together government,  private  sector  and capacity  building  organisations  to support  regional  investment,  policy development  and  the  creation  and growth  of  sustainable  businesses directed  towards  East  Africa’s developmental challenges. The program  will  inspire  action  by featuring  the  stories  of  young,  local entrepreneurs  who  run  enterprises supporting  critical  social interventions.

Scale  seeks  to  bring  together   government,  private  sector  and   capacity  building  organisations  to support  regional  investment,  policy development  and  the  creation  and growth  of  sustainable  businesses directed  towards  East  Africa’s developmental challenges. The program  will  inspire  action  by featuring  the  stories  of  young,  local entrepreneurs  who  run  enterprises supporting  critical  social interventions.

Scale  seeks  to  bring  together government,  private  sector  and capacity  building  organisations  to support  regional  investment,  policy development  and  the  creation  and growth  of  sustainable  businesses directed  towards  East  Africa’s developmental challenges. The program  will  inspire  action  by featuring  the  stories  of  young,  local entrepreneurs  who  run  enterprises supporting  critical  social interventions.

Approach

Through a series of national forums, the Scale program will provide a better understanding of the realities of operating a business in East Africa, while facilitating opportunities to collaborate with key stakeholders. This approach creates an environment where young people are engaged and supported in their mission to grow sustainable enterprises that generate meaningful impact for their country’s socio-economic development.

Scale Kenya Forum

Kenya is a youthful country, with the median age estimated at 19 years. Kenya is also East Africa’s biggest economy but holds the burden of being the country with the largest number of unemployed youth in the region. Unemployment among Kenya’s youth is estimated at 54% - one of the highest in the region and globally. Unemployment is also the most significant concern of youth in Kenya, with 63% urging action by the government. Additionally, 11% of youth want government to address issues with access to capital.

According to EAI’s Kenya youth survey, approximately 52% of youth would like to start a business, compared to 26% who preferred to pursue careers in engineering, law, medicine and teaching. Entrepreneurship within

the informal sector absorbs most of the urban and rural unskilled youth. The major reason for youth to start a business in Kenya, at 86%, is that there are no other alternatives to earning an income. Even so, 46% of businesses close within one year of opening, the major reason being a shortage of operational funds.

The Scale Kenya Forum will encourage dialogue around the role of public and private sector in supporting young entrepreneurs, in both the formal and informal sector, by featuring the stories of local young entrepreneurs, plenary and panel sessions, exhibitions, networking and training opportunities.

TIME ACTIVITY

AGENDA

SCALE KENYA FORUM

February 22nd, 2018 | iHub, Nairobi 8:00am – 7:00pm

8:00-9:00am Registration & Networking Breakfast

9:00-9:15am WELCOME REMARKS

Dr. Alex Awiti, Director, East Africa Institute

9:15-9:35am MORNING KEYNOTE ADDRESS: Entrepreneurship in Kenya – The Realities

Gacheri Maingi, Managing Director, Tri.B

9:35-9:45am INTRODUCTION TO SCALE TALKS

Safia Abji, Start-Up Advisor, Aga Khan Foundation East Africa

9:45-10:30am YOUTH ENTREPRENEUR STORIES

Scale Talk One: Peggy Ochola, Founder, Promoting Access to Community Education

Scale Talk Two: Justine Abuga, Founder, Ecobora

Scale Talk Three: Maliha Mohamed Ali, Director, Al-Maawy Boutique Limited

10:30-11:00am Networking Tea Break

11:00-11:30am Scale Talk Four: Felix Kimaru, CEO, Totohealth

Scale Talk Five: Caren Wakoli, Founder, Emerging Leaders Foundation

11:30-12:00pm Speaker Q&A

12:00-1:00pm Networking Lunch & Exhibition

1:00-1:50pm INTERACTIVE PANEL: Supporting the Enabling Environment for Kenyan Entrepreneurs (Hosted by the Transformational Business Network)

Moderator: Daniel Maison, CEO, Sky.Garden

Reuben Coulter, CEO, Transformational Business Network

Carole Kariuki, CEO, Kenya Private Sector Alliance

Rebecca Mincy, Portfolio Manager, Acumen Isis Nyong’o-Madison, Founder, MumsVillage

1:50-2:20pm Panel Q&A

2:20-2:40pm AFTERNOON KEYNOTE ADDRESS: Entrepreneurship in Kenya – The Way Forward

Brian Bosire, Founder, HydroIQ

2:40-2:50pm CLOSING REMARKS

Graham Wood, CEO, Aga Khan Foundation East Africa

2:50-5:00pm BREAKOUT SESSIONS: Scaling Your Business

Track 1: Growing Your Business with Social Media, Facebook

Track 2: Leadership Foundations, Young African Leaders Initiative

Track 3: Perfecting Your Pitch, Graduate School of Media and Communications

Track 4: Innovation and Opportunity in Eco-Tourism, Serena Hotels

Track 5: Scale Kenya Pitch Competition

5:00-7:00pm EVENING RECEPTION

Co-Hosted by iHub

SPEAKER PROFILES

MASTER OF CEREMONIES

Asha Mweru is an Investment Associate at Novastar Ventures where she is tasked with assisting the next generation of exceptional entrepreneurs who are designing and executing innovative business models to profitably serve East Africa’s aspiring mass market. She also serves as an advisor to Startup Grind (a Google-powered community of entrepreneurs) and Nexus CoWork (a boutique coworking space in Nairobi). In the past 5 years, she has been focused on entrepreneurship in Africa from cofounding and running her own companies, to implementing and executing strategies for startups, SMEs and entrepreneurial support providers. She began her career at Sinapis Organisation, a business accelerator for mid-stage companies, where she eventually rose to head partnerships and regional expansion and was able to build a scalable model that grew the organisation’s impact to 750 entrepreneurs trained in 3 years. This in effect had a catalytic impact of 1500 jobs created and a total of $7.2 million in investment capital raised by the entrepreneurs. In addition, Asha was selected as a University of Cape Town Young Leader Fellow and represented Kenya at the Women of the Future Summit.

WELCOME REMARKS

Alex O. Awiti is the Director of the East Africa Institute, a policy research, analysis, capacity building and public engagement platform of the Aga Khan University. He is also an Assistant Professor and leads the undergraduate science curriculum design in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences; a curriculum founded on the principles of knowledge integration and systems thinking. As one of very few resilience experts in Africa, Awiti sits on the Board of the Resilience Alliance, a research organisation comprised of international interdisciplinary scholars. Awiti also chairs the Africa group of scientists who provide technical support to the Africa Group of Negotiators on agriculture and climate change. He is also the Africa editor for Environmental Development, the Transdisciplinary Journal of the Scientific Committee on Problems of the Environment. As a public intellectual, he writes a weekly newspaper column and maintains a blog and an active Twitter account. Awiti holds a PhD in Ecosystems Ecology from the University of Nairobi and he is an alumnus of the prestigious Earth Institute fellowship program at Columbia University in the City of New York.

Safia Abji is currently the Start-Up Advisor for AKDN’s East Africa Civil Society Initiative. Previous to this role she worked with Aga Khan Foundation’s Yetu Initiative, building program strategies and tools to support the community fundraising efforts of Kenyan civil society organisations. Safia started her career in Canada, working for almost a decade in both relationship and program management for multiple multinational companies including KPMG, Deloitte and Rogers Communications, often in areas of organisational restructuring and redesign. She is also very active in the community, and was the recipient of KPMG’s National CEO Community Excellence Award, HSBC’s Financial Literacy Award and the All-Around Graduate academic award for her contributions. She holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of British Columbia, and is a trained Coach through the Coaches Training Institute. Outside of work she mentors aspiring entrepreneurs, and provides personal and professional coaching to individuals and through community workshops and speaking engagements.

ASHA MWERU Investment Associate, Novastar Ventures

DR. ALEX AWITI Director, East Africa Institute

SAFIA ABJI Start-Up Advisor, Aga Khan Foundation East Africa

MORNING KEYNOTE ADDRESS

GACHERI MAINGI Managing Director, Tri.B

SCALE TALKS

PEGGY OCHOLA Founder, Promoting Access to Community Education

JUSTINE ABUGA Founder, Ecobora

Gacheri Maingi is the Managing Director at Tri.B, a firm that works with Business Enterprises (startups and established business enterprises) to ‘put-the-housein-order’ by developing structures, systems and processes, as well as providing in-house training and coaching to enable them to drive execution of strategy for the attainment of set business goals. The intention is to ensure that businesses articulate their overall plan, have the right team running the operations and are able to build awareness around their products to attract and retain the ideal customers. She holds an MBA in Entrepreneurship and has a wealth of experience in HR, Marketing, IT and Operations spanning over 18 years. She has honed her business skills through her various employment assignments at Consolidated Bank, YuMobile, Copy Cat to mention but a few. Gacheri’s guide to life and business is passion, ambition and change.

Peggy Ochola graduated from Harvard University where she majored in Chemistry and East Asian Studies. She worked as a mentor and tutor in the Harvard-Alston Educational Portal, Campus Ambassador with Teach for China and Captain at Harvard DormCrew. She’s the Founder of Promoting Access to Community Education and the PanAfrican Scholars Program, both which engage passionate youthful volunteers in expanding educational access to African students. In 2015, Peggy was listed in the Business Daily as one of Kenya’s Top 40 under 40 and won the Spark Changemaker of the Year Award. Peggy mentors recent high school graduates, helping them access university scholarships in the US, Ghana and South Africa. Peggy is a Board Member of the International Youth Foundation.

Justine Abuga is an award-winning social impact entrepreneur. He is the CEO and founder of Ecobora Company. This is the first social venture in Kenya (located in Ruai, Makongeni) that has deployed pelletizing technology that produces wood pellets from waste recyclable organic matter such as saw dust, rice husk and coffee husk. The pellets are very affordable and are used to cook in rural and peri-urban regions of Kenyan homes cutting down cooking costs by 50%.

MALIHA MOHAMED

ALI Director, Al-Maawy Boutique Limited

Maliha Mohamed Ali is the Director of Al-Maawy Boutique Limited situated in Lamu town. She opened the company in partnership with Khadija Abubakar with the hope of empowering the youth of Lamu, especially women who were falling prey to early marriages and drug abuse, by giving them opportunities to explore their talents profitably. The company has grown from offering haircare services and making Swahili kofias, to making hotel uniforms, printing t- shirts, badges and ties for primary and secondary schools, in addition to organising events. Maliha believes in making the most of the opportunities accorded to her. In a previous role as Deputy County Returning officer for Lamu county with IEBC, she encouraged several youth from Lamu town to get employment as casuals and poll clerks and in her current role as the Financial Manager of Almaawiya Development Group school, she supports many bright girls from Lamu to join secondary school by sponsoring their education. Maliha graduated from Technical University of Mombasa – Lamu Campus, with a first class honors degree.

FELIX KIMARU CEO, Totohealth

Felix Kimaru is the Co-Founder and CEO of Totohealth. He has a passion to connect every mother in Africa for them to easily access care. The inspiration to start Totohealth came from the loss of his aunty during pregnancy. He has been able to raise $700,000 and has 65,000 active mothers registered across Kenya and Tanzania. Totohealth has won several awards globally. Last year, it was awarded the most Innovative Startup in ICT at the Connected East Africa Summit organized by the Kenya ICT Authority. In October last year, Totohealth also won the Entrepreneurship Award in Budapest, Hungary beating startups from over 70 countries across 5 continents. Totohealth was recently named one of the most innovative companies in 2016 by Fast Company in addition to being featured on National Geographic, TechCrunch and Vanity Fair Magazine.

CAREN WAKOLI Founder, Emerging Leaders Foundation

Caren Wakoli is a certified leadership coach, a transformational leadership trainer, a certified 7-Habits of Highly Effective People trainer, a mentor, and social entrepreneur who delights in mentoring young women and men to be able to achieve their greatest potential in life. She is the Founder and Executive Director of Emerging Leaders Foundation, an organisation that focuses on raising young people as positive agents of change in society through effective participation in governance and decision-making processes. She has over 15 years’ experience of doing youth empowerment work in Kenya and Africa at large and believes that a better world is possible – a world free of poverty, where people live in dignity. She also serves on various boards, governmental and non-governmental – she is the Chair of The Youth Congress, and is a board member at Impact Africa Industries and Siasa Place. She is also an Assembly member at DSW Kenya Chapter. She has previously served in the Uwezo Fund Oversight Board, Advisory Board of NACADA, National Council member of African Peer Review Mechanism and Nairobi City County Interim Youth Advisory and Resource Mobilization Board (as the Chair). She previously served as Advisor to the President of ECOSOCC of the African Union on matters Youth and Agenda 2063.

Caren has received several recognitions such as qualifying to be a finalist in the CEO Global Most Influential Women in Business and Government (Civil Society and Welfare category) 2017. She is an Acumen Fellow 2014, Spark* Kenya Changemaker 2013 and Young Female Achiever 2006 at the University of Nairobi.

FAST FACTS

24% of youth report they are self-employed.

30% of youth believe corruption is profitable.

70% of youth believe they have the power to make a difference.

INTERACTIVE PANEL

DANIEL MAISON

CEO, Sky.Garden

MODERATOR

Daniel Maison is the CEO of Sky.Garden which is a successful eCommerce startup. He is an entrepreneur by passion and definition. He has lived and worked across multiple regions in Africa and has an affinity for scaling businesses across physical and cultural borders. His work experience includes retail management, marketing consulting and corporate incentives.

PANELISTS

REUBEN COULTER

CEO, Transformational Business Network

CAROLE KARIUKI

CEO, Kenya Private Sector Alliance

Reuben Coulter is the CEO of Transformational Business Network, a global impact investing network focused on alleviating poverty through entrepreneurship in emerging markets. Prior to this he was a Fellow and Associate Director for Africa at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland. He has also been the founding CEO of Tearfund Ireland, a Christian development organisation, Chair of the Irish Humanitarian Committee and advisor to Openwell, a social enterprise consultancy. He completed an Executive Masters in Leadership with Wharton, Columbia, London and INSEAD Business Schools and a Masters in Public Health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

Carole Kariuki holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Economics and Sociology from the University of Nairobi and a Master’s Degree in Public Administration and International Affairs from Bowling Green State University in Ohio. She has a wealth of experience in leadership having worked for Barclays Bank of Kenya, Nairobi Chapel and Sagamore Institute for Public Policy Research where she acted as a liaison between the Kenya Private Sector Alliance and the Institute before formally joining KEPSA and later being appointed as CEO. Ms. Kariuki is credited with transforming KEPSA from a little-known business institution to one of the most influential institutions in Kenya. She is a member of several professional bodies including the Rotary Club of Langata and the Kenya Institute of Management, in addition to her roles on several boards including Harvard’s Center for African Studies and the Danish Embassy’s Business Advocacy Fund. Ms. Kariuki has also been recognized with several awards for her leadership and role in the development of the private sector, including the Global Female Leadership Impact Award and the Women Super Achiever Award by World Women Leadership Congress in 2017.

REBECCA MINCY Portfolio Manager, Acumen

Rebecca Mincy started working for Acumen as a Short-Term Associate for the Portfolio Team in 2012. She worked on the deal teams for Ethio-Chick (Agriculture), First Access (FinTech) and Devergy (Energy). Rebecca briefly left Acumen to be the In-Country Manager for IDEO.org’s Amplify Program, a series of innovation challenges that invests in early-stage solutions to some of the world’s toughest problems. Prior to Acumen, she worked in the foreign service, for a disaster relieffocused NGO, an emerging market debt hedge fund and in academia. Rebecca has an MBA in Finance from Columbia Business School and a BA from Stanford in French. She currently serves as a Trustee for UK-based charity TechForTrade, and is Co-Founder of Catwalk to Freedom, a non-profit that uses fashion to help educate and provide sustainable employment training to South Sudanese refugee girls facing or fleeing early marriage.

Isis Nyong’o-Madison has made her mark scaling media and digital businesses across Africa over the past decade. She’s extremely passionate about advancing entrepreneurship given her background as both an experienced operator for the Africa businesses of global companies and as a founder her own enterprises. Isis is a founding principal of the strategic advisory firm Asphalt & Ink and Founder of Kenya’s leading parenting platform, MumsVillage. Prior to this she led the Africa team for global mobile advertising network InMobi, specialized in mobile and local content partnerships in Africa at Google and led MTV Network’s commercial entry into Africa. Isis makes a concerted effort to address gender bias in leadership and entrepreneurship both influencing structural barriers and mentoring women entrepreneurs to overcome gender-specific challenges they face (she recently coauthored a blog post on this topic 5 Ways to Advance Gender Lens Investing in Africa). Isis holds degrees from Stanford University and Harvard Business School. She has been named as a Forbes Afrique’s Top 100 Women in Africa, Top 40 women under 40 in Kenya for several years as well as shortlisted on the Forbes Top 20 Youngest Power Women in Africa. She is a Senior Advisor to the Albright Stonebridge Group and serves on the boards of Finserve, the technology arm of Equity Bank Group in East Africa and Rancard, a leading mobile technology company in Ghana. The World Economic Forum selected her as a Young Global Leader in 2012.

AFTERNOON

BRIAN BOSIRE Founder, HydroIQ

Brian Bosire is a Kenyan serial entrepreneur, social innovator and creator, advocating for development through technology with a focus on water and agriculture technologies. He has passion for emerging technologies and applying them to solve the biggest challenges in Africa. He is the Founder of UjuziKilimo and HydroIQ. UjuziKilimo is an agricultural technology company that brings affordable precision farming to smallholder farmers in Kenya. HydroIQ focuses on bringing intelligence in access and distribution of water by developing smart water grids with a mission to bring value in every drop of water.

ISIS NYONG’OMADISON Founder, MumsVillage

CLOSING REMARKS

GRAHAM WOOD CEO, Aga Khan Foundation East Africa

Graham Wood joined Aga Khan Foundation East Africa as the CEO in May 2017 and is responsible for ensuring that the Foundation delivers quality programs. He was previously the Senior Vice-President in charge of Program Advancement at Pact Inc., USA. Graham has over 25 years’ experience working with vulnerable populations in Afghanistan, Cambodia, DRC, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kenya, Lebanon, Pakistan, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, Syria, Tanzania, Thailand, Uganda and Vietnam. He has a wealth of expertise in areas of humanitarian assistance; education; HIV prevention; livelihoods; gender; economic reconstruction; resource management; change management in a variety of contexts; extensive strategic planning knowledge; effective fundraising from statutory, trusts and public sources; and working in partnerships and alliances. In addition, Graham has impacted development globally through publications, the media and senior representational work with governments, the United Nations and academic institutions.

BREAKOUT SESSIONS

TRACK 1: Growing Your Business with Social Media

In this session, you will learn how to launch your business using social media. We will focus on using Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp to attract new customers and retain existing customers. Together, we will cover the basics of creating an online presence and an attractive brand. You’ll have the opportunity to meet other Kenyan entrepreneurs that have succeeded in using social media to amplify their reach and revenue.

FACILITATORS

PROUD DZAMBUKIRA Strategic Platform Partnerships Team, Facebook

Proud Dzambukira joined the Facebook Strategic Platform Partnerships team in 2016. In his role, he works with entrepreneurs and startups in Sub-Saharan Africa to create value by leveraging Facebook’s platform products. His passion is to aid the digital transformation of African business to unlock sustainable economic growth. He also collaborates with technology leaders in the region to help develop and expand the tech ecosystem. Before joining Facebook, Proud worked for an online media company, AllAfrica Global Media, for 9 years as the head of business and software development. Originally based in the Washington DC Head Office, Proud moved to Cape Town where he was involved in expanding AllAfrica’s operations in Sub-Saharan Africa. Proud is a Zimbabwean national and holds a BA in Economics from Harvard University.

FAST FACTS

52% of youth have knowledge of government initiatives for youth.

76% of youth have benefited from government-initiated youth programs.

20% of youth strongly agree that their government cares for them.

ALTAF JIWA Founder, Marketingscapes Consulting

Altaf Jiwa has over 20 years’ experience in bringing together his knowledge of marketing, strategic planning, brand management, business in developing countries, advertising, digital media, and a background in communications and management consulting towards building long-term brand equity through innovative thinking and creative excellence. Some of his work has been featured on CNN and won international awards for outstanding advertising, digital excellence and best integrated ad campaigns. He graduated from McGill University in Montreal, Canada with a B. Comm and an MBA, and also studied Communications Planning at Miami Ad School, one of the leading global thought leaders in advertising. Between 2011 and 2015, he was Head of Marketing at Basco Paints and managed the Duracoat brand. He has also worked with clients in insurance and financial services, construction, paint, property development, agriculture, travel, FMCG and healthcare, amongst others. Altaf Jiwa is the founder of Marketingscapes Consulting, providing solutions to marketing and business development issues that require objective evaluation and action. He is excited to share his marketing experiences and what he thinks brands should be doing on digital to succeed.

HANNAH MURICHO Senior Financial Coordinator, SunCulture Kenya

Hannah Muricho is a Senior Financial Coordinator at SunCulture Kenya. She believes in great engagement with both clients and staff making her one part Monitoring and Evaluation Officer, two parts Social Media Lead and three parts baker.

TRACK 2: Leadership Foundations

The Leadership Foundations program was developed at the YALI Regional Leadership Center – East Africa, to enable participants to draw up a clear leadership and personal development plan and empower them in the process of clarifying their leadership legacy. The program is based on the Center’s leadership pillars that include fostering a greater culture of collaboration, enhancing the participants’ skills in networking, building the young leaders’ capacity in influencing others, enhancing creative problem solving and encouraging risk taking.

FACILITATOR

FRANCIS

WAMWANGI Director for Learning and Curriculum, Young African Leaders Initiative

Francis Wamwangi is a leadership development facilitator and has worked across not-for-profits and corporate organisations. He joined the Regional Leadership Center - East Africa in July of 2015, and is currently the Director for Learning and Curriculum and also facilitates the ‘Leadership Foundations’ and ‘This is Africa’ programmes. In previous assignments, he was involved in sustainability reporting and in the management of Fairtrade Projects. He has spoken at various forums in Ethiopia, Tanzania, Zambia, USA, UK, Hong Kong, Netherlands and Austria and has attended programmes by the Institute of Leadership and Management.

Track 3: Perfecting Your Pitch

What’s your story? That’s the question every business, corporation and non-profit must answer to effectively clarify and propel your brand. You must understand your values and priorities as an organisation and then summarize them in a concise, compelling way. That’s what it means to tell your story. And that’s what investors and donors are looking for. This workshop will teach you how to come up with a narrative that energizes potential supporters and, most important, moves them to action.

FACILITATOR

Stephen Buckley is the Professor of Practice and oversees the professional development program at the Aga Khan University Graduate School of Media and Communications, in Nairobi. He began his career at The Washington Post, where he spent 12 years as a local reporter and foreign correspondent, based in Nairobi and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. In recent years, he has conducted numerous trainings in both leadership and communication skills for journalists, corporate communicators, and non-profits throughout the United States, Europe, the Caribbean, East Africa and South Africa. He also served for four and a half years as Dean of the faculty at The Poynter Institute, a world-renowned training school for journalists and other professional communicators, and nearly a decade at the St. Petersburg Times (now Tampa Bay Times) – one of America’s leading regional newspapers as a National Reporter, Assistant Managing Editor and Digital Publisher. He has also served four times as a juror for the Pulitzer Prizes, American journalism’s highest honor, and has also taught at National Writers Workshops and at the Nieman Narrative Conference at Harvard University.

TRACK 4: Innovation and Opportunity in Eco-Tourism

Serena Hotels prides itself in focusing on innovation and programs that respond to the needs of the environment, economy and society – the fundamental tenets of sustainability. In this session, sustainability experts from Serena will answer the following question: How can sustainable tourism support job creation in and around Kenya?

FACILITATORS

JANELLE

Janelle Deniset is currently a Special Projects Officer with the Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability Department at the Serena Group of Hotels –Africa. She is a graduate of the University of Toronto and holds a Master’s degree in Global Affairs from the Munk School of Global Affairs. Janelle has experience working in both the private and public sectors, as well as with NGOs. She has previously worked at the Canadian Permanent Mission to the United Nations (Geneva) as well as with the Journal of International Law and International Relations. She has also consulted for the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network and the International Development Research Centre. Over the course of her career, Janelle has broadened her knowledge by gaining experience around the world. Having lived, worked, studied and travelled across 25 countries, Janelle brings with her a global perspective to cross-cutting issues such as youth, climate change and public-private partnerships. Janelle is particularly interested in the effects of climate change on the risk of human conflict which is inevitably linked to issues impacting youth across the globe. She is excited to participate in the Scale Kenya Forum and inspired to be surrounded by exceptional youth entrepreneurs who are passionate about sustainability.

DENISET Special Projects Officer, Serena Hotels

STEPHEN BUCKLEY Professor of Practice, Graduate School of Media and Communications

RICHARD NDIGA Head of Sustainability and Environment, Serena

Richard Ndiga has 15 years’ project management experience across a range of business disciplines including sustainability and conservation, primarily in Eastern and Southern Africa. He is currently the Head of Sustainability and Environment at the Serena Hotels which has 24 properties across Africa, most of which are based in national reserves and game parks. In the past five years, his domain has been generating new business ideas through partnership development in areas ranging from conservation, education, health, environment, agriculture, renewable energy and product development. His role currently involves managing a team of environmentalists across East Africa, which has enabled him to use his creative skills and build on his innovation skills to support Serena’s move towards being a more sustainable partner in business sustainability. He has been an advocate of early childhood education and conservation and has spearheaded this cause working with various partners such as World Wildlife Fund (WWF), Nature Kenya, Eco-Tourism Kenya, Ocean-Sole, Global Business Coalition and UNICEF. His negotiation skills and partnership engagement skills have been key in managing a range of stakeholder relationships, donor and corporation budgets, timelines and superior delivery. He is adept at identifying business development opportunities, designing and pitching solutions to management, board members and partners. Richard has working knowledge of Portuguese and offers a diverse wealth of knowledge and expertise.

JOB ODHIAMBO Research and Students Program Coordinator, Sustainable Travel and Tourism Agenda

Job Odhiambo is the Research and Students Program Coordinator at Sustainable Travel and Tourism Agenda (STTA). He considers himself a sustainability evangelist and professional with an interest in tourism development, natural resource management and conservation. He has specialized in ecotourism and hospitality management. He is a member of the Green Destinations Ambassadors, and has participated as a judge in the Ecowarrior Awards 2017 and also assisted in the judging process of the 2015 and 2016 Ecowarrior Awards. He participated in the development of Kenya Green Destination Guidelines for Ecotourism Kenya, development of Kenya’s first Destination Sustainability Report for Kenya Tourism Board and also review and validation meetings of wildlife regulations. He is a trainer on fundamentals of sustainable tourism at STTA and co-facilitator of STTA student seminars on sustainable tourism. He has also been involved in the development of sustainable tourism and natural resource management field courses among other tourism and conservation research related activities. Before joining Sustainable Travel and Tourism Agenda, Job worked as a volunteer for Ecotourism Kenya’s Eco-rating program. He writes opinion and researched articles on tourism and conservation for Sustainable Travel and Tourism Agenda’s publication, the Sustainable Tourism East Africa Report and blogs for Utalii Bora Blog.

FAST FACTS

78% of youth have completed a secondary level of education.

39% of youth have completed a post-secondary level education.

74% of youth feel that they have the life skills and education to excel in their career of choice.

Hotels

TRACK 5: Scale Kenya Pitch Competition

JUDGES

Adedana Ashebir joined Village Capital after nearly three years at the African Leadership Network, a community of the continent’s young, dynamic and influential leaders. At ALN, she built and managed the Africa Business Fellowship, a program that matched young American business leaders with leading African corporates and startups for short term work placements in five countries. Prior to that role, she served as Chief of Staff to the ALN CEO and was a communications strategist for the Sino-Africa Centre of Excellence, a think tank and research hub dedicated to China-Africa private sector engagement. Her early research and work has taken her to Ethiopia, China, South Korea, Nicaragua and now Kenya. Adedana holds a Masters in Environmental Management from Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, a Certificate of Chinese Language and Culture from Beijing Normal University and a BA in Environmental Studies from Yale University. She speaks Spanish and Mandarin and survival Amharic and Tigrinya.

JACOB ZIKUSOOKA

Regional Director for East Africa, Transformational Business Network

Jacob Zikusooka is TBN’s Regional Director for East Africa. The Transformational Business Network is a global movement of impact investors and entrepreneurs who are leveraging the power of enterprise to fight poverty. Jacob has, for the last 18 years, been actively involved in the shipping and logistics industry besides other entrepreneurial pursuits in real estate, commercial forestry, media, and more recently, eCommerce. For the last seven years he has also served on the board of Hiinga Inc, a nonprofit, high impact microenterprise development organization. Hiinga currently invests in 24 village cooperatives with a membership of over 30,000 farmers in Uganda.

Sheena Raikundalia is a Senior Advisor with Intellecap Africa, providing strategic advisory services to financial institutions, start-ups, corporates, funds, development agencies and NGOs across the East Africa market. She has a Bachelor’s degree in law from the University of Bristol and an MBA from Lord Ashcroft International Business School, UK. She has over 10 years of experience in the financial services and insurance sector for organizations across Europe and Africa, with five years board experience as a Non-Executive Director for a special needs school in London.

SHEENA RAIKUNDALIA Senior Advisor, Intellecap Africa

ADEDANA ASHEBIR Regional Manager, Village Capital

PRESENTER

Peggy Ollonde

Maina Wambui

Tony Nyagah

Ethredah Chao

Bro McKnight

Edward Mbogo

Dennis Mwangi

Victor Nyangweso

Kelvin Gacheru

Mlati Ochieng

FINALISTS

ORGANISATION

Drawstring Enterprises

Presicity Enterprises

Strauss Energy

Afya-Plan

Bro McKnight & Associates

MyRide Africa

THALIA

Unganisha 911

MobiTech Water Solutions Ltd

EnviBuzz Consule Ltd

FAST FACTS

23% of youth do not use the internet.

Unemployment is highest among women at 62% and even higher among rural women at 68%.

Youth between the ages of 18 and 25 are twice as likely to be unemployed compared to their peers between the ages of 26 and 35.

Civil society is increasingly recognised globally as a building block for democracy and economic development. A vibrant civil society exists when communities work together towards shared goals. This includes civil society organisations, citizens, businesses, government and all institutions that contribute towards improving quality of life. In East Africa, AKDN agencies engage with civil society players across the region in support of this vision.

AKDN Facilitates Collaboration

The Civil Society Initiative (CSI) is a joint initiative between the Aga Khan University (AKU) and the Aga Khan Foundation (AKF). CSI serves as the meeting point for AKDN civil society initiatives, and supports their collaboration in East Africa. This collaboration ensures a united – and therefore more effective – approach to civil society interventions.

AKDN’s Civil Society Framework

AKDN’s civil society programmes are developed based on a proven framework of evidence, engagement and evolution. This model allows for more meaningful and sustainable impact for individuals and the communities they serve.

EVIDENCE

The East Africa Institute

AKU’s East Africa Institute (EAI) generates insights and supports policy and decision-making through research, evidence-based dialogue, public engagement and partnerships. Recently, the Institute launched its East Africa Youth Survey Reports to understand the aspirations, attitudes, concerns and values of East africa youth aged 18-35. Findings of the surveys are stimulating dialogue and debate over how to prepare youth for the future. To learn more about the Institute and download the reports, visit aku.edu/eai.

ENGAGEMENT

The East Africa Dialogue Series

EAI’s East Africa Dialogue Series provides a platform for individuals and groups to address critical issues facing East Africa. At its core, the dialogue series challenges existing paradigms, asks new questions, focuses on solutions and raises the level of public debate and engagement among all stakeholders. To learn more and get involved, visit eadialogueseries.org.

The Graduate School of Media and Communications

AKU’s Graduate School of Media and Communications (GSMC) aims to foster a diverse, independent, innovative, ethical and economically thriving media and communications sector that contributes to the creation of successful and sustainable societies in an era of technological and social change. To learn more about GSMC programmes, visit akumedia.aku.edu.

The Social Accountability Media Initiative

GSMC, in partnership with the World Bank’s Global Partnership for Social Accountability (GPSA), has launched the Social Accountability Media Initiative (SAMI) to enhance the effectiveness of information and advocacy activities by civil society organisations and other key stakeholders. Designed as a mentoring initiative, the SAMI programme provides ongoing support in implementing strategic media and communications activities to improve social accountability across East Africa, as well as South and Central Asia.

EVOLUTION

The Yetu Initiative

AKF’s Yetu Initiative strengthens civil society organisations in Kenya by building on the spirit of giving and cultivating a culture of community philanthropy. Yetu works with civil society organisations to strengthen their ability to build community trust, and provides fundraising tools through an innovative online donation platform. To learn more and join Yetu’s community of practice, visit yetu.org.