Dr Michael Z. Ngoasong is a Senior Lecturer in Management at Open University (UK) and Principal Investigator of the AESU partnership.
Dr Ngoasong has over 16 years’ experience as academic and entrepreneurial consultant. He was involved in launching Coventry University London (2010) and has published extensively on entrepreneurship. He led the design of a project that established a FabLab (prototyping facility) for schools of engineering across four universities in Cameroon, with funding from the UK Royal Academic of Engineering (2020). Michael studied in Cameroon (BSc Economics), Sweden (MSc Economics, MA Leadership) and UK (PhD).
Nicholas Mwaura Kinyanjui is the Dean of Students and Director Quality Assurance at Riara
University. Nicholas has a proven track record in Education for Sustainable Development
research and training; Graduate Employability research and training and is the immediate global
winner of the most innovative idea in enhancing graduate employability competition by the
African Centre for Career Enhancement and Skills Support (ACCESS-Leipzig University
Germany); solid practitioner in educational leadership, teaching, alumni relations, quality
assurance, and resource mobilization spanning for over 15 years in learning institutions. He has
trained widely and presented on ESD, graduate employability, institutional advancement, alumni
relations, research, and resource mobilization. Mr. Kinyanjui is a doctoral candidate at the
University of Vechta, Germany, holds a Master of Education Administration and Planning and a
Bachelor of Education in English and Literature in English from the Catholic University of
Eastern Africa (CUEA).
Professor Abel Kinoti Meru, the Acting Deputy Vice Chancellor, Riara University and founding Dean, Riara School of Business, a seasoned innovation and business incubation consultant in Africa, and also founding Chair, Academy of International Business - Africa Chapter. Currently, he is serving as a member of National Innovation Team, coordinated by Kenya Innovation Agency to craft the national commercialization guidelines, develop Kenya innovation outlook report, institutional commercialization program, promote institutional commercialization program and KeNIA Innovation Bridge. He is the Technical Lead, Accelerating Entrepreneurship Support in Universities in Kenya (AESU) project. He served fortunately, on the Board of the defunct Kenya Kountry Business Incubator (Kekobi), under the InfoDev World Bank funded programme (2006 – 2009) and the non-functional Business Incubation Association of Kenya (BIAK) and United Way Kenya.
He spearheaded the hosting of UNCTAD 14 parallel session on Sustainable and Responsible Investment. He served as a researcher on social enterprises in higher education in Kenya together with Plymouth University, UK and was a panellist on ‘Sustainable Business Planning and Social Enterprise’ during the Going Global 2016 Conference organised and hosted by the British Council in Cape Town, South Africa. He was actively involved in the Global Entrepreneurship 2015 Summit, crafting the ‘Business Schools for Impact’ program sponsored by UNCTAD. He was team leader of
Knowledge Partnership in Transform Kenya Awards 2013, conducted by Standard Media Group and with Delloite & Touche as audit partners, sponsored by KCB among others. He teaches and researches/consults on social/entrepreneurship, small business management, strategic marketing/management, with extensive research and publication experience. He is an External Examiner UoN and a couple of foreign Universities (UNISA, UJ, NMU UKZN, FSU, and NWU – SA) and UoK, Rwanda. He is on the editorial board of Journal of International Business Policy and Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation in Emerging Economies. Currently, he is researching on ‘The Somalis Indigenous Business Practices’ to be published in a book being edited by a Professor of Lagos Business School, Pan Atlantic University, Nigeria, who has completed similar studies in Nigeria.
Dr Isidora Kourti, Lecturer in Management at Open University (UK) is responsible for the professional identify development of student entrepreneurs and the AESU partnership as a university-led ecosystem.
Dr Kourti is a reputable expert in helping individuals and organisations to develop professional identity. In her work over the past 8 years, she has engaged with intra- and inter-organisational collaborations to assist partners develop collaborative and professional identities. Isidora has also worked with SMEs, supporting knowledge transfer, sharing and intellectual capital reporting. Among the many projects Isidora has engaged with was InCaS (Intellectual Capital Statement), an EU project with partners from 5 European countries measuring intellectual capital in European SMEs and FLAME (Federated Local Access Management Environment), an LSE (London School of Economics) project that examined identity development and management in students and staff in UK Universities. Isidora also run the Diversified Teams project that was conducted by the University of Cambridge and analysed decision making and boundary management strategies in diversified project teams.
Vincent Otieno Odhiambo is the Regional Director for Ashoka in East Africa, based in Nairobi Kenya where he is responsible for growing a transformative and collaborative network of individuals and institutions aligned to Ashoka’s Vison of ‘Everyone a Changemaker World. One of the projects he is currently leading Ashoka East Africa in is Transforming Employability for Social Change in East Africa (TESCEA), which is a consortium bringing four Universities drawn from Tanzania and Uganda and two other support partners seeking to transform teaching and learning to equip students with critical thinking and problem-solving skills for social change. He is also a member of Association for Faculty Enrichment in Learning and Teaching (AFELT) where he sits in a sub-committee exploring mind-set and attitude change needed in Education to adapt to the changing world in response to COVID-19 disruptions.
He has a cumulative work experience of 20 years in different sectors including: Education, social services, international development social impact and organizational development, serving in several leadership roles at National, Regional and Continental levels. He occasionally shares his opinions on a wide range of subjects, including education, with the public in both local and international platforms. Vincent is a firm believer in ecosystemic, transformative partnerships as a critical path towards finding sustainable solutions driving social transformation for collaborative impact.
