Former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan is famously quoted, “good governance is perhaps the single most important factor in eradicating poverty and promoting development”. What does good governance mean? My portfolio of applied behavioral science research and advisory work primarily focuses on this question. A well-governed society is one led by a government that is sufficiently accountable and responsive to its citizens; one that is made up of a citizenry that understands and actively pursues its rights and responsibilities. Partnering with citizens, civil society, media, innovators and policy makers to apply the principles, methodologies and tools from behavioral science to better understand and inspire more effective citizen engagement, and consequently a more responsive and accountable government, is what I do at Busara.

My previous work includes collaborations with Hivisasa and FCDO to study and develop recommendations for strengthening the current digital landscape of local development-related news in Kenya’s underserved communities; a partnership with UNDP’s Accelerator Labs Kenya to experimentally evaluate internet users’ motivations, behavior and experience using TED’s Healthy Internet Project crowdsourcing tool; a series of experiments on behalf of SEMA Uganda to test mechanisms for improving public service delivery through the use of technology to collect, synthesize and report citizen feedback on public services received from government agencies; A multi-year research and capacity building engagement with a selection of civil society organizations across East Africa seeking to strengthen their community engagement and advocacy programs through applying behavioral insights, experimental methods and testing frameworks for greater citizen participation, among many others. I am also currently a Practitioner-in-Residence Fellow at the MIT Governance Lab.

Prior to joining Busara, I worked as a management consultant at Ernst & Young in New York City as part of advisory teams working with global retail and investment banking clients. I hold a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from Wesleyan University, CT, U.S.A.

Languages: English, Kiswahili, Kalenjin, Spanish 

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