Fellow - Salzburg Global - Austria
(2026-02)
Selected from a highly competitive pool to join 28 emerging leaders evaluating policy frameworks for ethical AI and inclusive digital public infrastructure across European public sectors. Awarded a scholarship to the Creative Bureaucracy Festival to learn how to advance actionable strategies on digital government transformation and democratic legitimacy in the digital era. Engaging in a year-long capacity-building program to co-create actionable public policy solutions for European technology and governance challenges through guided sessions with multinational policymakers.
Researching the intersection of AI and public administration to evaluate how emerging technologies exclude or empower citizens, translating findings into evidence-based models for democratic legitimacy.
Research Assistant - KU Leuven Public Governance Institute - Leuven, Belgium
(2025-03 - 2025-09)
- Co-authored the open governance chapter of D2.1, supporting a PRISMA-compliant scoping review across Scopus and Web of Science and conducting a comparative document analysis of 14 European digital citizen participation use cases.
- Assessed key building blocks, objectives and structural barriers across multiple policy levels to extract best practices for technology-enabled citizen participation in Europe and presented findings to EU public administration leaders at the EGPA 2025 Conference in Glasgow.
- Collaborated with a diverse network of Horizon Europe consortium partners, driving regular alignment to ensure deliverables successfully informed the design of inclusive digital democracy tools.
Research Assistant - Open Data Charter - Buenos Aires, Argentina
(2023-11 - 2024-12)
- Mapped and evaluated data protection and digital inclusion across over 13 African nations to identify gaps and opportunities for equitable digital transformation.
- Co-authored the policy brief "Finding the Right Balance: Access to Information and Data Protection in Africa," providing actionable frameworks to guide governments on harmonizing open access with data privacy.
- Conducted systematic review of Voluntary National Reviews (VNRs) to benchmark multilateral progress toward the SDGs, utilizing evidence-based insights to drive strategic advocacy for open government data adoption.
Executive Assistant, Office of the DVC Research and Innovation - Strathmore University - Nairobi, Kenya
(2022-01 - 2024-09)
- Positioned Strathmore as a leading research and innovation institution in Africa by building strategic partnerships across industry, government and international academia.
- Secured Strathmore's inclusion in the Kenya National Innovation Agency's network of entrepreneurial institutions, providing the university with policy and technical frameworks to develop its Research to Commercialization masterplan.
- Established a greening education partnership with the Kenya National Commission for UNESCO under the UNESCO Chair for Climate Change Resilience, elevating Strathmore's profile as a sustainability-focused research institution.
- Negotiated MoUs with the Energy Production and Regulatory Authority and other government bodies using the triple helix model, embedding Strathmore into Kenya's regulatory and innovation ecosystem.
- Built Strathmore's international innovation footprint through a tri-continental partnership with the University of Notre Dame and the University College Dublin.
- Coordinated embassy and donor roundtables and courtesy visits with the Swedish Embassy, Brazilian Embassy, Australian Embassy, EU, DAAD and Swedfund, positioning Strathmore as a credible partner for international development funding.
- Engaged industrial leaders such as IBM and Safaricom to align industry needs with university research, creating pathways for the commercialization of faculty and student innovations.
Research Member - Centre for AI and Digital Policy - Washington, DC
(2022-10 - 2022-12)
- Co-authored the Lithuania assessment for the Global AI and Democratic Values Index, evaluating domestic AI strategies through empirical research of national policies and practices.
- Authored country chapter on AI governance frameworks (Lithuania), evaluating AI strategy maturity across legal, institutional and civil society dimensions.
- Analyzed emerging North American AI regulatory developments, drafting targeted policy statements to advise institutions on ethical governance, algorithmic fairness and accountability.
- Collaborated in bi-weekly digital policy working groups focused on international AI regulation, assessing the impact of global policy instruments on fundamental rights and the rule of law.
Research Assistant (Accountable and Inclusive AI Program) - Local Development Research Institute - Nairobi, Kenya
(2021-10 - 2022-02)
- Worked with the Kenya Commission on Administrative Justice and Kenya School of Government to develop an Access to Information Curriculum for government officials, including an open data module, adopted as an official capacity building resource for public sector use.
- Supported the delivery of the Africa Open Data Fellowship capacity strengthening programme to public sector partners across three countries, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (Nigeria), Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Co-operatives (Kenya), and Sierra Leone News Agency, equipping officials with data and evidence frameworks for decision making strengthening partnerships with all three ministries and securing follow-on funding for a second fellowship phase.
- Prepared a geo-coding proposal to the Nairobi County Government under the Nairobi County Open Government Action Plan as a direct mechanism to address corruption in public expenditure tracking.
- Published a policy brief for the Kenyan government MDAs, identifying policy gaps, human capital needs, and financing models required for the ethical adoption and utility of open government data, positioning LDRI as a thought leader in advancing Africa's Agenda 2063.
- Researched and reviewed enabling legal and policy frameworks, human capital needs, and domestic financing models required to support the ethical adoption of open data, big data and AI for socio-economic development across Africa.
Communications Intern (Africa Open Data Network program (AODN)) - Local Development Research Institute - Nairobi, Kenya
(2020-08 - 2021-09)
- Prepared advocacy content for high-level positioning at global events, including the UN World Data Forum, UNGA Special Session on Anti-Corruption, and Open Government Summit.
- Curated and distributed monthly resources, including knowledge documents, tools, guidelines, and frameworks to support stakeholders implementing data for development and evidence-informed decision-making initiatives across Sub-Saharan Africa.
