Monica Kerretts-Makau
Prof. Monica Kerretts-Makau is a Professor of Practice and the Academic Director at Thunderbird's Centre for Excellence for Africa.
Prof. Kerretts-Makau has deep experience with multilateral institutions and the business world with a strong bias for Policy and Leadership interventions in her areas of passion: Policy & Governance, ICT4D and Education and Climate Sustainability. She Is currently leading research work on Understanding and Improving Women's Work in Digital Spaces in Kenya in partnership with the International Labor Organization (ILO). She was also lead researcher for the Kenya E-readiness Report (2023) under UNCTAD. And was also part of the E-strategy Rwanda team under UNCTAD. Regarding Sustainability and Development, Prof. Kerretts-Makau has been part of the peer review team for the Global Sustainable Report 2023 (GSDR) under the International Science Council based in Paris as one of the two representatives from Africa. She is also one of the authors of the GEO-7 report under UNEP. She also serves on the International Public Management Network (IPMN) Board. She previously served as Advisory Team to the World Digital Dividends Report of the World Bank chaired by the President of Estonia.
She is very well travelled, a speaker at several international events, has served on several boards and chaired several board committees for over 13 years, and is a big champion for women sitting at the “table”. She earned her PhD from the University of New South Wales, Australia, in 2006 and her Masters from Salford University, Greater Manchester, UK. Some of her other accomplishments include being nominated as one of the top 100 Reputational Africans 2018 and Top 100 Influential Africans 2017; Founding Co-Director of iLab Africa, a Centre of Excellence in ICT Innovation and Development at Strathmore University; Top 20 women influencing ICT in Kenya in 2015 and an author on critical and applied thinking in education. She previously worked with Strathmore Business School (while undertaking several assignments for the World Bank), KPMG and Standard Chartered Bank
Dr. Kerretts-Makau is also a passionate gardener/environmentalist and blogs on Instagram as @kanakegardens. She volunteers in the Kenya Horticultural Society Council Kenya and Chairs the Lower Eastern Chapter.