Summary
Overview
Work History
Education
Affiliations
Accomplishments
Software
Work Availability
Quote
Timeline
Research, Conference Presentations and Thesis
International Development Leadership Roles
Innovation and Product Portfolio
Research, Conference Presentations and Thesis
GeneralManager

Mohammed Suhuyini Zakaria, MBI

Accra

Summary

Enthusiastic policy, research and impact practitioner successfully implemented and coordinated Tech4Good and Public Policy, development of MERL Tech Solutions, Youth Employability and Community Development initiatives to success. Adaptive cross-cultural team lead, co-created, designed and scaled social impact projects with people needs and data insights at the core of the processes. Successfully, managed the development and scaling of 3 digital innovations that have trained over 10,000 young people in Ghana and globally.

Overview

13
13
years of professional experience
2
2
Languages

Work History

Steering Committee Member Netherlands Trust Fund V

International Trade Center
Accra
04.2022 - Current
  • Provided local knowledge and guidance to national project team's in designing project activities under Ghana Tech Support component of Ghana NTF V project.
  • Provided guidance to project team on best practices to engage budding and rural ecosystem stakeholders leading to conduct of successful network analysis ecosystem mapping capturing major and budding ecosystems and stakeholders.

Public Affairs and Policy Consultant

Speyside Group
Accra
02.2022 - Current
  • Managed country team of 3 consultants to develop headline environmental scan report on Ghana.
  • Delivering analysis and intelligence on regulatory, economic, and policy developments to multinational clients in tech industry.
  • Supporting government relations and engagement strategies in EMEA region.
  • Leading traditional and social media intelligence gathering for clients in Ghana – updating stakeholders on current affairs and social conversations, highlighting opportunities and risks.
  • Driving business development initiatives, including scanning of opportunities from current trends and news.

MERL Tech Scan Researcher

Data Innovators
Virtual
03.2022 - 08.2022
  • Lead researcher for Ethiopia profiling 60 emerging, successful and potential MERL tech solutions & innovations.
  • Conducted deep dive analysis of 15 bright spots.
  • Developed database on MERL Tech Partners, Innovators and Solutions in Africa.
  • Conducted interviews, transcription, qualitative thematic analysis, trend analysis, and contributed to drafting Africa MERL scan report.
  • Made recommendations to enable ecosystem support towards scaling MERL Tech Innovations, Partners and wider ecosystem across Africa.

Youth Employment Policy Researcher

Partnership for Economic Policy
Accra
12.2021 - Current
  • Led engagement and management of relations of over 100 national and regional stakeholders including parliamentarians, ministers, ministries, and implementing agencies, CSOs, YBOs and CBOs using engagement strategy and policy objectives developed for policy research project.
  • Developed project budget and managed project logistical personnel.
  • Conducted qualitative policy context analysis on youth employment policies in Ghana.
  • Reviewed and created database of youth employment policies in Ghana since 2000.
  • Wrote policy paper and brief on “Youth Employment Policy options for Ghana”.
  • Lead organization and moderation of policy stakeholder meetings, validation workshops, and national youth employment programming policy conference.

Member, Youth Steering Committee

UNFPA
New York
06.2021 - 11.2022
  • Provided overall guidance and direction to entire exercise, including final acceptance of report of evaluators;
  • Contributed to conceptualization of evaluation, including Terms of Reference and Methodology for study leading to selection of 14 study case study countries;
  • Provided comments and substantive feedback on evaluation process and deliverables from perspective of young people and reflection African insights and perspectives in final report;
  • Supporting learning and knowledge sharing of results and engagement of YSC in evaluation exercise, and contributing to dissemination of evaluation report.

Policy, Monitoring & Evaluation Consultant

AfriLabs
Abuja
10.2021 - 11.2021
  • Provided Technical Assistance to WeGo Innovate, a platform that collaborates with schools and other academic institutions to transform educational content into fun, interactive platforms and tools that inspire students and educators, regardless of their access to resources under UNDESA/r4D Scaling Innovation Programme.
  • Co-developed Monitoring and Evaluation Strategy, and Results Framework with WeGo management, staff and primary beneficiaries.
  • Trained staff on new M&E Strategy, theory of change, and results framework, improving project results and impact reporting through story telling and how to conduct formative evaluations.

Policy, Government and Regulatory Lead

Ghana Startup Ecosystem
Accra
02.2020 - Current
  • Identified, evaluated and developed 2 social impact initiatives to remove roadblocks faced by ecosystem hubs and stakeholders through hub needs assessments and local ecosystem stakeholder engagements.
  • Recommended updates to current legislation, regulations and policies through ecosystem policy dialogues which has seen local ecosystem create locally feasible strategies to support their ecosystems.
  • Facilitate the conduct of tech & entrepreneurial policy scans.
  • Facilitate tech & entrepreneurial policy engagement workshops, seminars and meetings and monitor local policy commitments by stakeholders across Ghana which resulted in creating Ghana's first locally developed ecosystem policy briefing platform.
  • Led research team to develop annual state of ecosystem report methodology and research insights for Ghana's nationwide ecosystem mapping which mapped over 3,000 ecosystem stakeholders from 2020 to date.
  • Develop policy research volunteer toolkits, train, and coordinate their field activities.
  • Developed policy, government & regulatory stakeholder engagement strategies, and engaged national and local policy stakeholders, and organizations.
  • Develop and conduct ecosystem performance assessments.
  • Conduct and review descriptive quantitative and qualitative data analysis.

Ai Policy, Monitoring and Evaluation Lead

Africa Ai Accelerator
Accra
07.2020 - 03.2021
  • Recruited and onboarded 10 AI start-ups from Ghana, Rwanda, South Africa and Uganda using VC4A platform.
  • Conducted needs assessments, baseline study and analyzed portfolios of startups and recommended consultants to provide tailored support them.
  • Co-organized and facilitated Africa AI policy dialogue with GIZ Fair Forward Team which saw representatives from Science and Technology Ministries of the four countries engage with startups to shape AI policy in support of building responsive policies for each ecosystem.

Co-Chair

EvalYouth Global Network
Virtual
08.2020 - Current
  • Chair Task Force (TF) meetings, disseminating information and review engagements with working groups of TF.
  • Provide recommendations to EY Management Group and on Task Force's effectiveness, actions and annual plans.
  • Plan and coordinate bi-weekly and wide variety of meetings, coffee sessions, development seminars and knowledge workshops.
  • Recruit, manage and close consultancies for various phases of programme.
  • Coordinating implementation of EvalYouth's Global Mentoring Programme for Evaluators and managing team of over 70 Global Volunteers.
  • Conduct Volunteer onboarding, orientation, and mentorship which increased active Volunteers from 8 to 30 Volunteers and ad hoc Volunteers from 11 to 35 Volunteers.
  • Introduced working groups to TFII which created effective volunteering opportunities all emerging evaluators irrespective of their interest and background.

Programmes and Research Lead

Ghana Tech Lab
Accra
01.2020 - Current
  • Coordinate the design and conduct of formative and summative evaluations, and tracer studies for World Bank mLab project component 1 & 2 and Pathways to Sustainable Employment (PaSE) programme
  • Led national stakeholder engagements and partnership development resulting in signing 3 key government partnerships for Ecosystem Coordination projects.
  • Led research and software teams to design, develop and update GTL’s project management portal, impact portal, generating impact visualization and infographics which has resulted in successful management of projects and insights from all projects and 32 implementing partners.
  • Designed and delivered trainings on data management, impact assessment, safe guarding, and corporate governance to 40 project staff and 21 implementing partners resulting in increased funding to partners and winning of project contracts from donors in Ecosystem.
  • Coordinates team of 12 on annual Ecosystem Mapping research which mapped 3,000 plus stakeholders to date across 10 regions in Ghana and creating Ghana's first startup ecosystem portal.
  • Recruits, onboards and manages partner hubs (32), and Research & Impact Officers (196) across Ghana under Ecosystem Coordination, Hub Strengthening, and Ecosystem Mapping projects.
  • Led design of Youth Employment and Ecosystem Development Project concepts that won US$3.5 million in grant funding from GIZ, and World Bank.
  • Coordinated 2 National Startup Summits, and 50 Ecosystem Policy dialogues across Ghana with 21 partner hubs and 20 Volunteers.
  • Collaborated with Executive Directors to develop a Learning and Development fund, internal training & learning team and L&D strategy and guidelines for capacity development of teams.

Policy Planning Officer

Ministries of Transport and Ministry of Roads and Highways
Accra
09.2018 - 01.2020
  • Drafted 10 advise notes and project reviews for Ministers on road and transport sector project status reports per week to enable quick processing of claims and clearing of outstanding sector debts.
  • Represented Ministries on Transport Sector Working Group which reviewed and recommended sector standards, policies and regulatory guidelines to promote safe road transport, transport and construction workers and contractors working in Ghana.
  • Collaborated with sector agencies to develop draft annual transport and roads sector plan, budgets and M&E Plans.
  • Participated in continuous improvement by generating suggestions, engaging in problem-solving activities to support teamwork and coordinating the Government Flagship programme M&E desk which tracked and reported on the annual results of implementation status and impact of flagship programmes in the Transport Sector to Cabinet and the Government Results Fair.
  • Organized and facilitated technical committee meetings, intergovernmental conferences and parliamentary working group meetings which resulted in commitment from corridor countries and funding from AfDB for Abidjan - Lagos Highway construction.

Education

Master of Science - Planning, Monitoring And Evaluation

Kwame Nkrumah University of Science And Technology
Kumasi, Ghana
08.2019 - 05.2022

Executive Mini-MBA - Leadership And Management

Accra Business School
Accra, Ghana
07.2019 - 07.2019

Bachelor of Science - Development Management

University For Development Studies
Tamale, Ghana
09.2014 - 07.2018

Member of Institute With Post Nominals MBI - Corporate Governance And Leadership

The Boardroom Institute
Accra, Ghana
08.2019 - 08.2019

Affiliations

  • The Boardroom Institute
  • Ghana Monitoring and Evaluation Forum
  • MERL Tech Center
  • Africa Evidence Network
  • EvalFoward

Accomplishments

  • Received MERL Tech Center's 2022 stipend award of US$2,000.00
  • Won research grant of US$31,500.00 from Partnership for Economic Policy, 2021

Software

MS Project, Trello, Asana, Xero

Zoom, Teams, Webex, Google Meet

Google Workspace, MS Office (PowerPoint, Outlook, Word, One Drive), Sharepoint

Jambo, Mural

SPSS, STATA, Excel

PowerBi

Canva, Piktochart

Work Availability

monday
tuesday
wednesday
thursday
friday
saturday
sunday
morning
afternoon
evening
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Quote

There is a powerful driving force inside every human being that, once unleashed, can make any vision, dream, or desire a reality.
Tony Robbins

Timeline

Steering Committee Member Netherlands Trust Fund V

International Trade Center
04.2022 - Current

MERL Tech Scan Researcher

Data Innovators
03.2022 - 08.2022

Public Affairs and Policy Consultant

Speyside Group
02.2022 - Current

Youth Employment Policy Researcher

Partnership for Economic Policy
12.2021 - Current

Policy, Monitoring & Evaluation Consultant

AfriLabs
10.2021 - 11.2021

Member, Youth Steering Committee

UNFPA
06.2021 - 11.2022

Co-Chair

EvalYouth Global Network
08.2020 - Current

Ai Policy, Monitoring and Evaluation Lead

Africa Ai Accelerator
07.2020 - 03.2021

Policy, Government and Regulatory Lead

Ghana Startup Ecosystem
02.2020 - Current

Programmes and Research Lead

Ghana Tech Lab
01.2020 - Current

Master of Science - Planning, Monitoring And Evaluation

Kwame Nkrumah University of Science And Technology
08.2019 - 05.2022

Member of Institute With Post Nominals MBI - Corporate Governance And Leadership

The Boardroom Institute
08.2019 - 08.2019

Executive Mini-MBA - Leadership And Management

Accra Business School
07.2019 - 07.2019

Policy Planning Officer

Ministries of Transport and Ministry of Roads and Highways
09.2018 - 01.2020

Bachelor of Science - Development Management

University For Development Studies
09.2014 - 07.2018

Research, Conference Presentations and Thesis

  • Data Innovators, 2022: MERL Tech in Africa: A landscape scan and strategic analysis, for the Mastercard Foundation.
  • Partnership for Economic Policy, 2022: "Empirical review of Youth Employment Policies in Ghana". Funded by Mastercard Foundation [Study in progress]
  • Partnership for Economic Policy 2022 Conference Presentation: “Empirical Review of the Youth Employment Policies and their Impact in Ghana” under the Initiative: What Works for Youth Employment in Africa, June 2022.
  • Open Education Conference 2020 Presentation: “Lockdown Online Training in Africa”, November 2020.
  • UNFPA Evaluation Office, 2022: "Formative evaluation of UNFPA support to adolescents and youth, a multi-country study” [Study in progress]
  • Ghana Tech Lab, 2021: "Ghana Startup Ecosystem Mapping". funded by Mastercard Foundation.
  • Ghana Tech Lab, 2020: "Ghana Startup Ecosystem Mapping". funded by Mastercard Foundation.
  • Postgraduate Thesis: The entrepreneur ecosystem of Ghana: Assessing the roles of Hubs in building startups. Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, February 2022.

International Development Leadership Roles

  • Member, Netherlands Trust Fund V (NTF V) National Project Steering Committee, Ghana
  • Government Taskforce Member, UNFPA #Eval4Action’s Youth in Evaluation Initiative
  • Member, UNFPA Youth Steering Committee Member for the conduct of the Formative Evaluation of UNFPA support to Adolescents and Youth in 14 countries
  • Policy, Government and Regulatory Lead, Ghana Startup Ecosystem
  • Co-Chair, EvalYouth Global Network, Task Force II, coordinating the implementation of the EY-Global Mentoring Programme for Emerging Evaluators
  • AI Policy Fellow [Africa Research Group], Center for AI and Digital Policy
  • Ai Policy, Monitoring and Evaluation Lead, Africa Ai Accelerator

Innovation and Product Portfolio

  • Impact Dashboard: https://impact-dashboard.netlify.app/
  • PaSE Online Mobile and Web Apps
  • EvalYouth EY-GMP Learning platform: https://evalyouth.evalpartners.org/
  • Ghana Startup Ecosystem Platform: www.ghanaecosystem.com
  • WayRide ride hailing app: https://wayride-admin.netlify.app/

Research, Conference Presentations and Thesis

Data Innovators, 2022: MERL Tech in Africa: A landscape scan and strategic analysis for the Mastercard Foundation.

Partnership for Economic Policy, 2022: "Empirical review of Youth Employment Policies in Ghana"

UNFPA Evaluation Office, 2022: "Formative evaluation of UNFPA support to adolescents and youth, a multi-country study” [In progress]

Postgraduate Thesis: The entrepreneur ecosystem of Ghana: Assessing the roles of Hubs in building startups, 2022.

Open Education Conference 2020 Presentation: “Lockdown Online Training in Africa”, November 2020.

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Mohammed Suhuyini Zakaria, MBI