As agricultural technologies constantly evolve, the production frontier extends. The needs of smallholder farmers are usually not central to these advances. This largest and fastest-growing segment of farmers see little benefit, and remain mired in poverty. To shift this unjust equilibrium and create impact at scale, smallholders must be central to the technological evolution in the fields, immersed in the creation of useful and appropriate products and services. Hear from the social entrepreneurs who design innovations in partnership with farmers to sow more sustainable local food systems for all.
Thomas is a seasoned insurance professional with over 10 years’ experience working across Africa in both the insurance industry and consulting space.
Thomas is currently a Co-Founder at Pula which is an insurance technology company that targets the uninsured in Africa & Asia, starting with small holder farmers. He plays the Chief Actuary and Chief Finance Officer role at Pula with a focus on designing and pricing insurance solutions and business model innovation.
He also served as a Director at Deloitte Consulting as the Insurance Advisory lead in East Africa and a Consulting Actuary in Deloitte South Africa. Prior to joining Deloitte, Thomas was the Chief Actuary at UAP Insurance Group based in East Africa.
Thomas is a Fellow of the Institute of Actuaries (FIA), and holds a Masters’ in Business Administration (SBS Kenya) and a Bsc. Actuarial Science from the University of Nairobi.
Besides solving the insurance related challenges in emerging markets, his other interests include running, philosophy and chess.
Jehiel Oliver is the founder and CEO of Hello Tractor, an agricultural technology company that connects tractor owners with smallholder farmers in need of tractor services. At Hello Tractor, Jehiel is responsible for overall management and strategy. He has been honored with numerous awards for his work in social entrepreneurship including being recognized by Foreign Policy Magazine as a Top 100 Global Thinker for 2016. He was appointed under the Obama Administration to serve two years as a member of the President’s Advisory Council on Doing Business in Africa, where he most recently chaired the technology subcommittee. Prior to Hello Tractor, Jehiel worked in consulting and investment banking. He currently lives with his wife and daughter in Nairobi, Kenya.
Kola is an award-winning social entrepreneur dedicated to solving Africa's leading social challenge, dramatic rise in insecurity. Kola brings significant leadership experience across four continents and multiple leading companies, including General Electric (GE), Abiomed and Notore. In addition, Kola brings extensive public sector experience as the former Senior Advisor to the Nigerian Minister of Agriculture. Kola is globally recognized as a thought leader in African Agribusiness. In recognition of his leadership in driving positive change on the African Continent, he has received several global awards including the prestigious Eisenhower Fellowship and Rainer Fellowship. Kola holds an MBA (Honors) from Harvard and a Masters in Mechanical Engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, MIT.
Specialties: Impact Investing, Agricultural Development, Smallholder Farmer Development,
Debbie is Co-founder of Proximity Designs, a social business delivering affordable and innovative products for smallholder farms. Aung Din has engaged in design and economic research in Myanmar. She lived and worked in Mississippi, Cambodia and Indonesia, and holds a MA from Harvard University in public policy and development economics. She received social entrepreneurship awards from the Schwab Foundation (World Economic Forum) and the Skoll Foundation. Proximity designs and delivers new and critical low-carbon farm products and services that help farmers restore fragile soils, protect crops from pest and disease, save irrigation water and grow food in more productive and sustainable ways. Products and services support regenerative farming while boosting farm incomes by USD 250 annually. Since 2004, its services have spanned over 10,000 villages in Myanmar, enabling 5 million people to grow their farm enterprises and afford food, healthcare and education for their families.
Alloysius launched Farmerline in 2013 to create lasting wealth for farmers through technology and sustainable farming practices. He currently leads the company’s strategic vision and has raised over $30 million through partnerships & investments. Farmerline’s partnerships with over 130 organizations across 44 countries have served and digitized 1.7 million farmers. TIME Magazine recognized its Mergdata platform as one of the 100 Best Inventions of 2019. Meanwhile, Alloysius has been lauded by organizations and world leaders such as former IMF boss Christine Lagarde, Echoing Green, CBNC Africa's Young Business Leader Award, and Bloomberg New Economy Catalyst for his work.
Shalu is a Managing Director of IDEO.org’s Economic Prosperity practice, which focuses on building economic resilience for low income people by enabling them to better earn, save and invest their resources. In this role, Shalu supports teams by scoping collaborations, diving deep with teams as they design solutions for our partners, and engaging partners as we seek to achieve impact at scale.
Prior to IDEO.org, Shalu’s experience spanned the international development and business strategy sectors. She has worked at Bain & Company where she supported Fortune 500 businesses, and Digitas, where she used analytics to improve her clients’ marketing programs. She also worked across 6+ countries in Africa at Abt Associates, a USAID contractor, where she worked on global health projects.
Shalu is a Clinton Fellow in India, holds an MBA from The University of Chicago Booth School of Business, and a bachelor’s in Business Administration from Boston University. In her free time, Shalu enjoys wrangling hugs and kisses from her two sons and holding impromptu music sessions at home.
