Deenah Kawira

• As The Graça Machel Trust's GESI Consultant, I was tasked with undertaking a capacity building program in gender and social inclusion
• This involved completing desk studies into the challenges facing women and youth entrepreneurs in Kenya, Malawi, Tanzania, Senegal, South Africa and Zambia, as they navigate the entrepreneurship ecosystem.
• Developing the curriculum framework and plan of action
• Facilitating a pilot round of region-specific workshops with select GMT Staff, partners, women and youth entrepreneurs in Kenya, Malawi, Tanzania, Senegal, South Africa and Zambia, to gather insights for iterations and adjustments.
• Digitizing the gender and social inclusion training program into two accelerates, one for GMT Staff and the other tailored for women and youth entrepreneurs in Kenya, Malawi, Tanzania, Senegal, South Africa and Zambia.
• Integrating the accelerates onto a learning management system to increase reach and impact over 1000 staff members, women and youth.
• Completing country-specific progress reports and a final report.

Managed Technoserve, Partners in Food Solutions and the USAID's Gender Responsive Business Practices Sector Wide Training Project for the Alliance for Inclusive and Nutritious Food (AINFP) Program, with key responsibilities including;

• Thorough review of the gender responsive business practices diagnostic tool to inform training needs.
• Review of existing gender responsive organizational equity and inclusion practices including commitment to worker safety policies, alignment of HR policies and procedures with national and international human rights and labour laws, review of supply chain processes, procedures and data with a gender lens, review of workplace equity and inclusion including recruitment, retention and professional development of women and the youth.
• Development of a detailed GRBP SWT curriculum, including facilitator manuals, participant workbooks, case studies and additional tools and templates that 67 agro processors used to implement gender equality, gender based violence and harassment and anti-discrimination and equal opportunity policies.
• Development of pre and post training assessment tools
• Delivery, in-person, of a 2-day facilitation per country, to strengthen the capacity of selected agro processors to equip, adopt and implement gender responsive business practices across five AINFP program countries: Malawi, Zambia, Kenya, Tanzania, Ethiopia
• Delivery of a final report summarizing the sector wide training

• As Equilo's Gender Lens Investing Program manager, I program managed the U.S
• International Development Finance Corporation (DFC)'s 2X Women's Initiative ('2X') Technical Assistance Facility, providing day-to-day support to the program's beneficiaries, alongside a consortium of implementing partners that included Equilo, Pro Mujer, SWEEF Capital and the Gender Knowledge Lab
• I also product managed Equilo's Organizational Gender Resilience, Opportunity, and Inclusion (ROI) Assessment framework, a robust, intelligent surveying tool that makes it easy for organizations to conduct in-depth gender equality self-assessments or for investors to conduct due diligence of potential or existing investees
• I additionally backend software managed, on AirTable and JotForm, the 2X Certification Framework, supporting 2X Certification pilots to ensure integration with the Gender ROI surveying tool, and supported the team implementing the Climate Gender Equity Fund (CGEF) survey tool - a public-private partnership led by USAID with founding members Amazon, Reckitt, The UPS Foundation, and Visa Foundation, that seeks to increase access to climate finance for gender-responsive, women-led, and women-benefiting organizations
• I was also responsible for capacity building on all the gender lens investing frameworks and tools, designing and facilitating online webinars, workshops and training for Equilo product managers, DFC 2X Women's Initiative program beneficiaries and the implementing consortium of partners

• At IBIS, I led the integration of gender and social inclusion within Environmental and Social Management Systems (ESMSs) across high-impact sectors, including forestry, agriculture, healthcare, renewable energy, and finance
• Provided transaction services, including ESG due diligence and post-merger integration, offering a gender lens where needed
• This included detailed analysis and reporting on gender-based violence and harassment risks, as well as supporting the development of gender-smart business practices
• Developed and implemented gender lens investing toolkits, which guided investors and financial institutions in applying a gender lens throughout their investment lifecycles
• This included gap analyses of workplace operational policies and procedures, ensuring alignment with international GLI standards
• GESI Technical support for climate investors: developed comprehensive Gender and Social Inclusion Action Strategies (GSIAS) for climate adaptation funds targeting the agri-sector across in Africa, completing country-level GESI analyses and ground-truthing engagements with participating financial institutions, women led MSMEs and community based organizations in order to ensure their voices and the realities of the challenges they face are captured verbatim and incorporated into GESI Action strategies for rural climate adaptation finance mechanisms under development
• Conducted environmental and social due diligence as well as gender diagnostic assessments for projects in sectors like agroforestry, food processing, forestry and renewable energy across west and southern Africa, including assessing climate-related risks
• These projects involved working with local grassroots organizations and worker unions to assess social impacts, document best practices, and ensure compliance with international standards such as IFC Performance Standards
• Conducted human rights due diligence and developed site-level human rights impact assessments (HRIAs) & human rights action plans for clients in emerging markets, including those operating in environments categorised by the World Bank as fragile and conflict affected situations (FCAS);
• Undertook deep-dive assessments to understand the risks associated with the presence of persons identifying and categorised as indigenous peoples in a client's footprint, completed human rights vulnerability assessments of communities categorised as vulnerable or minority groups and who are found within a client's footprint and monitored & evaluated how human rights risks and impacts have been addressed by clients
• Developed human rights policies and procedures, human rights centred E&S screening tools, conducted gap analyses to assess whether existing policies and procedures are human rights and gender centred
• This included operational-level grievance mechanisms, human resource (HR) manuals, stakeholder engagement plans, procurement policies and practices, responsible sourcing policies, security management plans (SMPs), etc
• Delivered bespoke capacity building workshops for clients to support them in understanding their human rights responsibilities, their human rights risk footprint, how to screen for potential human rights risks during the pre-investment phase and supported clients to report on how they respect human rights, using the UN Guiding Principles Reporting Framework
• By applying the IFC PS4 and the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights, I supported clients to integrate human rights into security risk and threats assessments (SRTAs) and security management plans (SMPs), developed security and human rights briefs and undertook multiple deep-dive investigations into site-level security related human rights abuses all over Africa
• Spearheaded cross-learning initiatives, conducting Training of Trainers (ToT) sessions and workshops to enhance the IBIS ESG team's capacity in gender, job quality, and social performance
• Provided technical advisory services to Development Finance Institutions (DFIs), private equity firms, and multinational corporations, helping them manage social risks and drive positive impact

• I was contracted to manage and advance Acumen's gender initiatives for a $3.5M, four-year Global Affairs Canada-funded gender-lens program aimed at strengthening the inclusion of women, girls, and crisis-affected communities in East and West Africa
• My key responsibilities included:
• Developing and implementing regional gender action plans for East and West Africa, ensuring that gender considerations were embedded across the project lifecycle
• Grant oversight and reporting, including budget management, coordinating monthly progress meetings with program teams, and working closely with Finance to track grant disbursements
• Integrating a gender lens into the investment process, advising on sourcing, diligence, deal execution, impact measurement, and post-investment interventions for funded projects
• Supporting the Gender Smart Climate Accelerator, designing gender-focused curriculum for face-to-face and virtual workshops for Acumen Fellows (entrepreneurs)
• Conducting research on available gender training accelerators, to identify unconscious biases affecting female entrepreneur selection
• Coordinating the deployment of gender-lens inclusion grants to portfolio companies across the region, providing technical assistance to enhance gender inclusivity in their operations
• Collaborating with Global Affairs Canada and regional teams to develop gender-lens impact measurement tools, ensuring gender considerations were factored into all reporting and impact assessment
• Delivering virtual gender equality training to Acumen investees in Africa, strengthening their capacity to embed gender-smart practices in their businesses
• Advising the Fellowship program on gender mainstreaming within the selection process and curriculum design, ensuring inclusivity in fellowship recruitment and training
• Coordinating data collection and reviewing case studies with G-Search and portfolio managers for Acumen's contribution to the Gender Smart Enterprise Assistance Research Coalition (G-SEARCh)
• Leading workshops to consolidate and share lessons learned from gender initiatives across Acumen's regions, in collaboration with Acumen's Gender Working Group
• Representing Acumen's gender work at key international forums, including Women Deliver and the Gender Smart Investing Summit

• As a Gender Specialist at Value for Women (VfW), I led and managed gender-focused projects, providing technical advisory services to drive gender inclusion and gender lens investing (GLI) for businesses and investors
• My work was central to advancing women's participation in business, finance, and investment across emerging markets, with a focus on Sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, and Latin America
• I managed portfolio company-facing gender technical assistance, working closely with impact investors, financial institutions, and corporations to integrate gender inclusion into their investment strategies and operations
• Gender Lens Investing Advisory: I supported the development and implementation of gender-smart strategies for investors and funds, helping them integrate the 2X Challenge Criteria and other impact frameworks into their investment processes
• I also designed and conducted gender due diligence assessments for portfolio companies, providing insights that informed investment decisions
• Grant Management and Capacity Building: I led grant management activities for gender lens funds, overseeing the disbursement and monitoring of funds targeted at promoting gender equality
• Additionally, I conducted training sessions to build the capacity of fund managers and businesses, equipping them with the tools to invest with a gender lens and to monitor their portfolios for gender-inclusive outcomes
• Gender Diagnostics and Reporting: I designed, disseminated, and analyzed gender diagnostic surveys, creating global and regional reports that informed businesses on gender performance and opportunities for improvement
• This also included producing landscape reports that highlighted gender gaps and recommended actionable strategies for investors and businesses to enhance gender inclusion

• As a GESI Research Associate, I provided research support on gender and social inclusion projects (focused on small and medium enterprises in the clean energy, finance and mobility sectors, gender and markets based livelihoods and entrepreneurship for women)
• This included:
• Support on development and implementation of gender inclusion projects or continuation of existing projects
• Support on design of research frameworks and design tools for interviews and focus groups
• Desk-based literature reviews, data collection and analysis, Writing, or providing input on, basic reports and communications documents
• Field work in East Africa to gather data and/or work directly with project partners/participants
• Support for training and capacity building projects
• Support during the design of training as well as participation in training-of-trainers to understand current training modules
• Co-facilitation of training for SMEs, NGOs, or other partners in Africa and other international locations
• Support for organizational monitoring, learning and evaluation efforts (internal and on projects for partner organizations)
• Management social media and other VfW brand visibility efforts including dissemination of research products
• Business development and partnership development
• Representing Value for Women at local, regional, or international events, conferences, training, and other sector or industry events in order to meet with new or potential regional partners for business development
• Actively sought new partnership opportunities for potential VfW participation and representation

• As the Business Manager to the Credit Group at M-KOPA Solar, I handled a range of responsibilities to ensure smooth operations:
• Led special projects with cross-functional teams (customer care, sales, field technicians, data, engineering, Research and Development, aimed at improving credit metrics and increasing sales
• Handled investor relations, preparing investment proposals and coordinating meetings with investors in the UK and Spain