Eliud Luutsa

Name: Eliud Luutsa Location: Nairobi, Kenya. Email:-Phone: - LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/eliud-luutsa-578aa1128 EXECUTIVE SUM M ARY Eliud is a global development expert and an SME thought leader with years of extensive experience working with development organizations and innovation hubs to fundraise, design and implement programmes and services that provide changemakers and the communities they serve with Knowledge, Access and Choice! He is driven by a strong passion for research, systems change and advocacy and a firm belief in the power of strategic partnerships and social entrepreneurship as enablers of development. With a background in Financial Engineering, Eliud believes economic empowerment begins with Financial Inclusion. He therefore endeavours to thoughtfully co-design and responsibly deliver interventions that include these social enterprises and the communities they serve into global commerce and finance systems while ensuring they have the appropriate capacity and technology to access them. He serves as an advisor to the International Trade Centre's Ye! Community in Kenya where he builds a community to support young social entrepreneurs. He also serves as a Youth Representative for the UN Working Group on Youth, a dedicated platform supporting the implementation of the Pact for the Future. Previously, Eliud worked as a design researcher consultant at ThinkPlace Kenya where he collaborated with leaders to co-design change with system users and stakeholders using the Human Centered Design and Systems Thinking approaches and the Qualitative & Quantitative Research methodologies. In this capacity, Eliud fundraised for, designed and implemented several impactful donor projects including an internet connectivity project in partnership with the Tony Blaire Institute for Global Change(TBI) and Starlink that generated insights, policy recommendations and use cases for high-speed internet connectivity in hard-toreach communities in Rwanda, Malawi and Zambia. He also worked on a Climate Games Project in partnership with Africa YMCA that sought to address climate change through Design Thinking and gamification techniques with the goal of bolstering young people's resilience to the adverse effects of climate change, particularly in mitigating risk factors that lead to youth conflicts with the law. Additionally, Eliud worked on a digital skills for jobs project in partnership with the International Trade Center(ITC) where he trained youth refugees drawn from Dadaab and Kakuma refugee camps on design thinking and digital skills for online jobs with the goal of increasing young people's employability and creating quality jobs through innovative digital channels. He also led the Innobid Procurement project that leverages AI to boost efficiency and transparency in procurement, addressing procurement disparities that affect women and youth entrepreneurs through process simplification, providing relevant information and fostering fairness and transparency with the aim of creating pathways for more equitable distribution of government, global development and private sector contracts. These work experiences have helped Eliud sharpen his technical expertise in strategic partnerships building, project management, research, design, fundraising , thought leadership and advocacy and develop key people skills in leadership, collaboration, storytelling, and networking. He has also gained invaluable experience working with governments, business community, academia, civil society, funders, local communities and other stakeholders. Eliud holds a BSc Degree in Financial Engineering and is currently pursuing an Executive Diploma in Strategy and Innovation. He is a winner of the Accountability Lab's inaugural HackCorruption Hackathon held in South Africa in 2022. Hackcorruption is a tech4good event that aims to bring people together to co-create anti- corruption solutions that can be used by governments or civil society with the goal of stimulating the innovative application of technology to address accountability gaps and build systemic integrity. Eliud has been recognised by the UN Office of the Secretary-General's Envoy on Youth as a Youth Leader for his work of promoting social innovation for the Youth in Africa. He has also been recognised by the National Democratic Institute as a democracy game changer, and the International Trade Center for leveraging technology for good. 1 SNAPSHOT OF PREVIOUS PROJECTS FUNDRAISED FOR AND LED BY ELIUD A Climate Change Project, Africa YMCA, Africa, 2024 - This project sought to address climate change through Design Thinking and gamification techniques with the goal of bolstering young people's resilience to the adverse effects of climate change, particularly in mitigating risk factors that lead to youth conflicts with the law. An edu-tech project, Centafrique Consulting, Kenya, 2022 - This project sought to design and develop an eLearning platform that enables marginalized youth refugees to learn digital skills, earn from freelancing jobs in the global gig economy and grow on a global stage. The work was inspired by the growing African youth population and the associated ballooning youth unemployment crisis that poses a real threat to Africa's growth in a continent where corporate jobs are very hard to come by. We set out to convert this growing youth population into a productive workforce by helping them to explore nontraditional and unconventional jobs in the digital and creative economies. An Internet Connectivity Project, Tony Blaire Institite for Global Change(TBI), Starlink, Rwanda, Zambia, Malawi, 2024 - This project generated insights, policy recommendations and use cases for high-speed internet connectivity in hard-to-reach communities in Rwanda, Malawi and Zambia An e-procurement project, Accountability Lab, Kenya, Namibia, 2024- This project sought to leverage AI to boost efficiency and transparency in procurement, addressing procurement disparities that affect women and youth entrepreneurs through process simplification, providing relevant information and fostering fairness and transparency with the aim of creating pathways for more equitable distribution of government, global development and private sector contracts. An education project, The Aga Khan Foundation, Kenya, Mainland Tanzania, Zanzibar, 2023 – The project leveraged the principles of human-centered design to design and implement low-cost and scalable education microinnovations that will inform and transform education systems to improve holistic learning outcomes for the most marginalized learners. A health-tech product development project, Axena Health, Kenya, 2023 - This market research sought to understand the burden of Urinary Incontinence(UI) in Sub-Saharan Africa and based on the learnings design a technology-enabled UI treatment solution for Low and Middle-income Countries (LMICs) Link to Abstract A Digital skills for Jobs Project, The International Trade Center, Kenya and Somalia, 2022 - This project sought to invest in youth by developing their digital skills with the goal of increasing their employability, creating quality jobs through innovative digital channels. A telehealth project, MYDAWA E-pharmacy, Kenya, 2024 – The project sought to optimize the MYDAW A EPharmacy and Telemedicine platform to Improve the uptake of Family Planning services in Kenya An Immunization project, GAVI, Sudan, Somalia, 2024 – The project focused on the identification and reach of under- immunized and zero-dose children (ZDC) and the promotion of vaccine uptake initiatives in using community engagement tools developed through a human centred approach. An education project, UNICEF, South Sudan, 2024 – This project applied human-centered design methods to design community-led interventions aimed at increasing education rates by increasing the number of children attending school in South Sudan and reduce drop-out rates in Terekeka and Kapoeta South counties , focusing on the increase in number of girls in education and other children who are particularly vulnerable e.g. children living with disabilities. 3 EMPLOYMNET HISTORY April 2023 – April 2025 Consultant - Service Design & Systems Strengthening, ThinkPlace Africa – A research and design agency working with development actors to co-create social impact interventions for greater good. • Design-led Strategy and Systems Strengthening to help leaders from the public, private and NGO sectors to co-design change with system users, stakeholders and other critical voices using the Human Centered Design approach. June 2022- April 2023 Schools Leadership Development Program Lead, Africa Matters Initiative - A youth-led organisation committed to upskilling and empowering African youth to change their communities and African narrative through leadership, social entrepreneurship and advocacy. • Upskilling young people on Social Innovation and Social Entrepreneurship with the goal of creating a new generation of social innovators, social entrepreneurs and change-makers! March 2021- December 2022 Experience and Digital Manager, Heroes for Change - a for-profit, service-based organization harnessing the power of purpose-driven youth volunteers who have the resource of time, social capital and trust, who will deliver scalable social impact programmes in their own communities at low cost harnessing the power of technology • Design and implementation of Social Impact Interventions and providing overall operational support for the scale up and deployment of heroes while harnessing the power of technology March 2020- February 2021 Experience and Digital Assistant, Heroes for Change • Recruitment, training and deployment of Heroes from Public Universities in Kenya May 2018- February 2020 Digitalization and Data Lead, Centafrique Consulting - a trusted Pan-African consultancy firm based in Nairobi delivering world-class, sustainable and practical advisory solutions to all it serves. • Provide SME support services around Business Research, Strategy, Digital Systems and Capacity Building June 2019- September 2019 Finance Intern, Archimedes Project - an emerging startup studio that works with entrepreneurs to develop social enterprises • Provide SME support services around Business Research, Strategy, Digital Systems and Capacity Building. Designing a working and sustainable financial model for the Archimedes sanitation project in the Nairobi Informal Settlements of Korogocho. 2 EDUCATION March 2025- Present Institute of Management, Technology and Finance, Executive Diploma in Strategy & Innovation • Business Strategy • Innovation Management- Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT), Bachelor of Science – BSc, Financial Engineering • Learned the use of mathematical techniques to solve financial problems. Used tools and knowledge from the fields of computer science, statistics, economics, and applied mathematics to address current financial issues as well as leverage research methods to devise new and innovative financial products. 2011 – 2014 Alliance High School – KCSE • Secondary School Education PROFESSIONAL COURSES LICENCE/CERTIFICATE ISSUING BODY Introducation to Human Centred Design Acumen Academy LINK TO CERTIFICATE Certificate Introduction to Resource Efficiency and Circular Production for SMEs ITC S M E Trade Academy Certificate Raising Funds for your Business ITC S M E Trade Academy Certificate Social Entrepreneurship ITC S M E Trade Academy Certificate Internationalization of Digital Businesses ITC S M E Trade Academy Certificate Innovating for Business Success ITC S M E Trade Academy Certificate Child Safeguarding Training UNICEF Certificate Introduction to Research Ethics World Medical Association Certificate The Future of Learning and Work Coursera Certificate HackCorruption Hackathon Accountability Lab Certificate Africa Digital Skills Conference Trainer Mobile Web Ghana Certificate Youth Innovation Forum East African Youth Innovation Forum Certificate Leadership Training Programme for Ye! Advisors – Leadership Styles Center for Creative Leadership Certificate 4 SKILLS Technical Skills Systems Thinking • Business Strategy • Design Thinking • Project Management • Creativity and Innovation • Research • Digital Innovation • Strategic Partnerships Building • Fundraising • Futures Thinking People Skills • • Thought Leadership. Collaboration. • • Storytelling. Networking RECOGNITION & AWARDS RECOGNITION Youth Leader See Blog Post HackCorruption Hackathon Winner See Blog Post Young Change maker See Blog Post RECOGNIZING BODY MONTH, YEAR DESCRIPTION Office of the UN Secretary- August, 2023 My social innovation and change-making work was featured by the UN Office of the Secretary-General's General’s Envoy on Youth Youth Envoy as a testimony of young people's resilience, resourcefulness and leadership when it comes to creating a better world for all. Accountability Lab July, 2022 I emerged as the winner of Accountability Lab's inaugural HackCorruption Hackathon held in South Africa in July of 2022. HackCorruption is a Tech4Good event that aims to bring people together to co-create anticorruption solutions that can be used by governments or civil society with the goal of stimulating the innovative application of technology to address accountability gaps and build systemic integrity. National Democratic October, 2023 Recognized as a young change maker demanding progress from the political class by leveraging the Institute (NDI) power of civic tech to innovate democracy Youth Social Innovation Digital Leaders Advocate Watch Video Young Entrepreneur November, 2022 I was recognized for designing Africa Matters Initiative's Schools Leadership Development Program that promotes social innovation for the Youth in Africa through skills development and project funding. International Trade Centre February 2023 See Blog post Google Hustle Academy Google Hustle Academy Graduate See Blog Post An Advocate for tech for Africa Matters Initiative good! I was recognized for my work of leveraging emerging technologies including AI and machine learning to tackle public procurement corruption in Kenya and Namibia November 2022 I graduated from the Google Hustle Academy together with other 5,000 incredible business owners in Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa, and shared my entrepreneurship story in a thrilling panel discussion at the event. January, 2023 Recognized for my firm belief in and advocacy for technology as an enabler and a net force for greater good Listen to the Podcast REFERENCES Name Role Organization Email Aisha Ali Founder I PROFILE FOUNDATION - Bryan Chesoli Regional Coordinator International Trade Center - Milena Niehaus Program Manager Ye! Community - 5