Her areas of expertise include  community empowerment, and organizational learning. Joyce is particularly interested in the application of knowledge management strategies to improve decision-making and promote sustainable development. 

Through her academic and professional journey, she has developed a passion for research in innovation in community development and fostering collaboration in organisational settings. Joyce aims to leverage these skills to contribute to impactful and innovative projects that create lasting value. 

Her area of expertise includes training farmers in sustainable farming techniques and crop management practices. Through hands-on experience and academic knowledge, Patience is committed to empowering local farmers, improving crop yields, and promoting food security. Her passion for agriculture and community development drives her work and learning journey.

At ACTS, Brandon contributes to impactful initiatives in the Gender, Youth, and Inclusive Development (GYID) programme, the Green and Digital Innovation Hub (gDIH), and the Science, Technology, and Innovation, Knowledge and Society (STIKS) programme where he is involved in managing partnerships, conducting research, and supporting project implementation. His skills set spans research, stakeholder engagement and management, strategic analysis, project coordination, and digital innovation. 

Brandon has represented gDIH at high-profile forums, promoting transformative solutions in digital transformation, gender inclusion, and youth empowerment. 

Linus holds a bachelor’s degree in Commerce – Accounting from Egerton University – Njoro, and currently registered with KASNEB and pursuing a professional course in Certified Public Accountant (CPA). He also holds a Credley Badge from McKinsey Academy for having pursued and successfully completed the McKinsey Forward Program from Foundation to Network Level. 

Other areas of Linus’ interest include project management, change management &digital transformation.

She is also a World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) Certified Trainer in Intellectual Property and Emerging Issues and has unwavering commitment to empower researchers, innovators and creatives to explore various IP tools, protect, manage, enforce and commercialize their IP rights to drive sustainable development and foster innovation, creativity and knowledge sharing. 

Ann has over seven years of experience in research and project management, specializing in innovation & sustainable development, agricultural biotechnology, environmental sustainability, clean energy, capacity building related projects. She possesses research expertise, holds exceptional data collection, analysis, and report writing skills, coupled with the capability to coordinate transdisciplinary research projects. With extensive regional exposure, she has over six years of experience undertaking research project activities across Kenya, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Botswana. She has been engaged in several international, donor-funded projects under the capacity of project officer/ researcher. These projects include Transformative Innovation and the 4th Industrial Revolution for Sustainable Development (Trilateral Chair programme), Transforming Climate Innovation Ecosystems through Inclusive Transdisciplinarity (TransCIIT) project, African Network for Economics of Learning, Innovation, and Competence Building Systems (AfricaLics), Evidence for informing optimization and scaling of youth and women-led clean energy enterprises and business models in Kenya, Malawi, Uganda & South Africa (Evi-sic) project, among others. 

She is currently pursuing a PhD in innovation and sustainable development at the Jaramogi Oginga Odinga University of Science and Technology (JOOUST) under the DSI/NRF Trilateral Research Chair in Transformative Innovation, the 4th Industrial Revolution and Sustainable Development (TRCTI). She holds an MSc. in Environmental science, specializing in Limnology and Wetland Management which was a Joint degree programme conducted in BOKU (University of Natural resources and Life Science) Vienna, Austria, Egerton University, Kenya and UNESCO-IHE (Institute for Water Education) Delft, The Netherlands. She also possesses a BSc. in Biotechnology from Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT), Kenya. Ann has also pursed several short courses including Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) from the University of Nairobi (UoN), Wangari Maathai Institute for Peace and Environmental Studies, Innovation and Sustainable Development at Lund University among others. 

Notable Achievements and Projects
Research Fellow at ACTS: Supported management of various projects and consultancies including HSRC/Facebook AI project and AI4D Africa Scholarship project. 

Infrastructure Engineer at DTOne: Successfully maintained and monitored datacenter infrastructure, virtualized environments, and ensured service delivery compliance. 

IT Specialist at AUA INDUSTRIA Limited: Managed IT department operations, installed new hardware/software, and facilitated server room redesign and data backup. 

Lecturer Roles: Conducting lectures, preparation of research materials, and design of course content at Cooperative University and Mount Kenya University. 

I have extensive experience promoting innovation and entrepreneurship in Africa, with a particular emphasis on long-term solutions tailored to local contexts. I’ve been actively involved in advancing clean energy initiatives, particularly in the clean cooking sector, and am interested in connecting these initiatives to larger sustainability goals. I am passionate about fostering collaborative partnerships that connect research, policy, and practice, and I am committed to using science and innovation to address pressing societal challenges while driving economic development throughout Africa. Academically, I hold a masters degree in International Business from the Kenya Methodist University. 

Dr. Wainaina has extensive experience lecturing in both public and private universities in Kenya. She excels in conducting training programs, from needs assessment and content development to delivery and evaluation. Her expertise also extends to research project implementation, where she has been actively involved in mobilizing groups for capacity strengthening, engaging stakeholders, planning and coordinating workshops, moderating sessions, and contributing to report writing. 

In the CRE Program, Dr. Wainaina is engaged in resource mobilization, capacity strengthening, and monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL). She is particularly passionate about mentoring early-career researchers, fostering growth and innovation within the program. 

He is a champion of implementation science, science diplomacy, and collective action for effective policies and programmes. His interests lie in scientometrics, social impact research, innovation & research commercialization ecosystems, and sustainability & resilient economies. 

He holds a B.A. Economics from Moi University, an M.Sc. Public Policy from the KDI School of Public Policy and Management and a Ph.D. Public Administration and Policy Studies from Korea University. 

Currently, Dr. Odongo leads the implementation of the Science Granting Council Initiative projects to support science granting councils on STI policy, impact assessments, monitoring, evaluation & learning (MEL), research and innovation management, and the work on STISA-2034.