John Thumbi never thought he would be an international trainer. Raised in Mweiga, Central Kenya by his grandparents, John grew up with little money and distinctly inauspicious prospects. He did not complete secondary school, and—as a young adult—had no marketable skill. In 2009, however, John discovered the Children and Youth Empowerment Center (CYEC), a non-profit…
We are proud to announce the commencement of trainings next week in Uganda for youth to learn the technology, production, and business of haymaking. On June 16th, 70 students, extension workers, and farmers from Uganda and Kenya will gather outside Kampala to learn the intricacies of the haymaking business in a two week intensive training…
We our happy to welcome our two newest interns, Srujana Penumetcha and Colin Huerter. Both will be joining us as international program interns, and both are about to begin the second year of their Master of Public Policy degrees at the Georgetown Public Policy Institute. We will put their bios on the GKI website soon,…
This week, the US Agency for International Development released its first ever Water and Development Strategy (2013-2018). We at the Global Knowledge Initiative were thrilled by this important step, both because of the importance of USAID’s leadership in international development and policy, and also because of the stake we have in sustainable access to and…
A group of over 100 policymakers, industrial representatives, academicians, and others met at the Kigali Health Institute on May 2, 2013 to kick off a review of Rwanda’s Science, Technology, and Innovation (STI) Policy. The policy, which was published in 2005, describes far-reaching goals for harnessing STI for economic development and poverty reduction. Rwanda’s Ministry…
From GKI Chief Operating Officer, Sara Farley: Dear Friends, I write to share the exhilarating news that the Global Knowledge Initiative’s program, Learning and Innovation Networks for Knowledge and Solutions (LINK), which brings people and organizations together around big development goals, was just recognized as one of the world’s top 100 most transformative innovations for…
Because we read quite a few interesting articles, books, and reports while going about our work, we thought it would be nice and potentially helpful to share now and again. In the last few weeks, many members of the GKI team have spent substantial time poring over research on dynamics of successful teams, how design…
Happening Now: A GKI team is headed to Rwanda to work with the Rwanda Ministry of Education and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) to analyze Rwanda’s Science, Technology, and Innovation (STI) Policy seven years after its publication. We will identify areas of success, challenges to the policy’s implementation, and work to build…
The Global Knowledge Initiative and Penn State University are thrilled to announce the winners of the 2013 Africa Collaboration Challenge Prize. A research team composed of Michael Kansiime and John Kabasa from AFRISA (African Institute for Strategic Animal Resource Services and Development), a center at Uganda’s Makerere University, and Sjoerd Duiker and Ephraim Govere from…
Meet Susan Jackels, our featured collaborator. One of the most fulfilling parts of solving development challenges through collaboration is having the opportunity to work with researchers who are pushing the boundaries of their particular scientific niches. For nearly a year, the Global Knowledge Initiative has had the privilege of working with Dr. Susan Jackels, a…
Hey, we launched the Systems Innovation Toolkit: An Interactive Learning Journey