Experience

Ikigai Nairobi

• Kenya
• Executive Offices
• 1 - 100 Employee

• Interim COO

  • Jan 2023 - Present

• Chief Of Staff

  • Mar 2022 - Dec 2022



Kilifi Coffee Company (KiCoCo)

• Kilifi, Kenya

• Founder

  • Jan 2022 - Present



Open Capital

• Kenya
• Business Consulting and Services
• 100 - 200 Employee

• Senior Project Leader & Arcadia Lead

  • Sep 2018 - Dec 2021

  Arcadia Lead | Lead Arcadia business development efforts including sourcing new leads, developing relationships, and maintaining portfolio of clients; manage placements from work scoping to delivery of services; provide support and coaching to Analysts and Associates; and continuously improve Arcadia offering and innovate on ways to deliver client value; develop systems for scaling Arcadia model including resources for managers and analysts. Consulting Senior Project Leader | Directly manage project teams to deliver solutions and insights to clients to solve their most important strategic and operational challenges. Learning & Development Manager and Senior Training Coach | Develop and continuously improve onboarding, training for internal promotes, and ongoing training for consultants and group services team members at all levels; oversee planning and coordination of three-month initial training for 25+ new analyst hires per year; manage and coach training team; and manage manage client relationships, and provide oversight and coaching to analysts-in-training.



Komaza

• Kenya
• Forestry and Logging
• 100 - 200 Employee

• Director of Talent Acquisition & Business Development

  • Jan 2017 - Jun 2018

  Built in-house Talent Acquisition department and team from scratch, and hired 80+ FTEs in 24 months to grow world-class team including lead design of entry- to manager-level sourcing strategies and evaluations processes across functions and offices; designed and managed trials and pilot partnerships to improve signal-noise ratio and reduce application-to-hire time; and cultivated Komaza’s employer brand image through networking, partnerships and candidate experience initiatives.Led business development including managing partnerships with technical advisers and implementing partners Gatsby Trust and The Nature Conservancy; and led strategic and operational planning and budgeting for industrial value-additional processing facilities to generate company’s first significant revenue streams.

• Chief of Staff

  • Apr 2016 - Dec 2016

  Supported executive in managing senior leadership team during company’s rapid growth and expansion; worked closely with CEO and President to manage investor relations including $10M Series A financing; built and managed cross-functional strategic project teams (project scoping, working groups, agile/scrum management); directly managed growing senior leaders during onboarding (Harvest, Field Operations & Farmer Relations Directors); and served as acting department director during senior management transitions (Harvest, 2 months, 2 FTEs; IT, 6 months, 4 FTEs; Field Operations, 4 months, 4 office & 70 field FTEs; People Operations,1.5 months paternity leave, 2 FTEs).

• Strategic Projects Director, Project Manager & Operations Associate

  • May 2011 - Mar 2016

  Strategic Projects Director (Jan 2015 - Mar 2016) | Led strategic projects and worked closely with CEO to support company growth including operations management and strategic planning; developed farmer communications for critical first harvesting operations; redesign org structure for 300+ decentralized field staff; created recruitment systems for roles across all levels and functions; and onboarded Directors.Project Manager (Jan 2013 - Dec 2014) | Established PMO and standardized procedures for project planning and execution; and led multi-functional teams in project planning and implementation including managing $500k Kiva portfolio operations.Operations Associate (May 2011 - Dec 2012) | Expanded short-term crops program to expand farmer offering; and designed and conducted production-to-market pilots to diversify crop options for farmers.



Peace Corps

• United States
• International Affairs
• 700 & Above Employee

• Small Enterprise Development Advisor

  • Nov 2008 - Dec 2010

  Marketing Advisor, Collective Marketing of Indigenous Chicken | Designed and delivered business skills trainings to farmer groups; co-authored training manual on collective marketing for poultry farmers. Business Planning Advisor, Cassava Production and Processing | Conducted primary field research on local operations, market opportunities, and cassava production and processing coached farmer group on business planning. Marketing Advisor, Collective Marketing of Indigenous Chicken | Designed and delivered business skills trainings to farmer groups; co-authored training manual on collective marketing for poultry farmers. Business Planning Advisor, Cassava Production and Processing | Conducted primary field research on local operations, market opportunities, and cassava production and processing coached farmer group on business planning.



SIT Study Abroad South Africa

• Student, Multiculturalism and Social Change

  • Aug 2007 - Dec 2007

  Studied the socio-economic impacts of apartheid; researched the effects of legislative ceiling on microfinance interest rates and access for BOP borrowers. Studied the socio-economic impacts of apartheid; researched the effects of legislative ceiling on microfinance interest rates and access for BOP borrowers.