Overview

Gender

female

Shikoh Gitau is a strong, strategic, results-driven leader with proven ability to create new organizations, spearhead change, and conceptualize and execute innovative, impactful and sustainable initiatives. Highly focused, self-driven and self-reliant, she sets aims and targets and leads by example. She is best known for her passion, compassion and gregarious personality.

Shikoh has 15+ years of experience in ICT4D technology design & implementation. She has established expertise in both African and emerging markets specialized interest in issues pertaining to in resource poor communities and marginalized groups including women, youth and children. Shikoh is currently Head of Product at Alpha, Safaricom’s innovation centre. Her team’s purpose is to build human centric delightful products for local users with global relevance, so this drives and motivates us beyond salaries and bonus. They aim to transform lives by re-imagining the way we engage with users, anticipating the future to create new products and services that will become part of the societal fabric not just in Kenya, but worldwide. Prior to this, she worked for in the ICT department of the Africa Development Bank (AfDB) developing projects with various governments across Africa that promote technology and innovation. Shikoh also lead the User Innovation efforts at Mercy Corps as User Innovation and Design lead and worked as a User Experience Researcher with Google Emerging Market and Microsoft TEMs teams. She has additional experience in various capacities both with the private sector and non-government organizations in Kenya and South Africa. Moreover, as an entrepreneur, Shikoh founded Ummeli and TaaSisi and was founding CEO of KibaruaNow within Mercy Corps SV team.

Lastly, Shikoh seats on various boards in ICT companies and contributes to a number of steering committees and think tanks on Africa. Shikoh is a seasoned speaker and has spoken in numerous international conferences in the areas of ICT, ICT4D, STEM research. She holds a PhD and MSc in Computer Science from University of Cape Town, South Africa and a BSc. Computer Science from the African Nazarene University in Kenya.

Awards and Recognitions
Africa's Most Influential Women in Business and Government, Technology (CEO Magazine)
Top 40 under 40 leading woman in Kenya, 2015
ASPEN New Voices Fellow 2015
Anita Borg Change Agent Award, 2013
AfroElle 2013 Power List of African Women who affect change