Scholars

Ainemagara Isa is from Kampala, Uganda. He is a graduate of Agriculture from Makerere University and pursuing a Master’s degree in Agribusiness. He has 10 years of experience in local economic development. Ainemagara currently works with Heifer International where he provides leadership to a consortium project titled “Learn for Agribusiness Project” implemented in partnership with Edukans. Under this project, he has established farmer institutions that enable 3,200 farmers and 7200 secondary beneficiaries to receive critical services and inputs for sustainable development. He previously worked with Edukans where he led the agri-skills program, bridging employment opportunities for out-of-school youth through designing curricula and training programs. He worked with Alliance One Uganda as an Extension Technician where he led the company’s technical skilling program. Isa built the capacity of 800 farmers enabling the company to achieve its business targets. He worked with World Vision Uganda as a Market Facilitator where through his engagement skills, 4000 smallholder farmers accessed markets with Aponye (U) Ltd among other services. He worked with Excel Hort Consult as a Value Chain Specialist where he helped the organization invest in relevant value chains through conducting informative analyses and capacity building of its staff and partners in Uganda and East Africa. Ainemagara is passionate about sustainable environmental development and youth business inclusion. He is a member of several platforms such as Agri-Pro Focus, Youth and Agro-Ecology Business and Learning Track in Africa, as well as Markets in Crises under the SEEP network.

Agaba Deogratias has more than sixteen years of experience developing, coordinating, and implementing large-scale advocacy, social and behavior change, and public health policy campaigns and programs. He holds a master’s degree in Public Health Leadership, a Bachelor of Arts degree, and a Diploma in Performing Arts. He has worked with PATH since 2015. Initially, he led both the communications and community empowerment aspects of the $20 million USAID-funded Advocacy for Better Health project, where he led successful campaigns such as the “Drug Stock-Out Kills, Stop It!” campaign, the “Sing for Change” campaign, and others. He later moved to the Advocacy and Public Policy project, where he serves as Senior Communications Officer, managing communications for a project in the Eastern and Southern Africa region, consisting of Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, and South Africa. The project focuses on primary health care, immunization, medical oxygen, reproductive health, maternal, newborn and child health, and research and development. Prior to joining PATH, Agaba worked as a Behavior Change Communication Advisor for the USAID-funded Strides for Family Health project, where he promoted demand for reproductive, maternal, newborn, child, and adolescent health in up to 15 Ugandan districts. Previously, he worked as a journalist in both mainstream media and at a local youth-focused NGO, Straight Talk Foundation. There, he won the Nuffic Fellowship to train in production for radio, TV, and the Internet at the Radio Nederlands Training Center in Hilversum, the Netherlands.

Erina Nafula has eight years of experience in the IT systems Integrator sector and two in the business sector. Erina is pursuing a Master in Business Administration from Cavendish University Uganda and earned a Bachelor’s in Engineering (Hon) Electronics majoring in Telecommunications from Multimedia University, Malaysia. She is a member of ISACA and a Certified Information Systems Auditor. Erina is the Chief Operations Officer and co-founder at JjengoTech Limited, a tech startup incorporated in Uganda. JjengoTech Limited’s primary business is a fintech and an e-commerce platform that provides merchants with a virtual address and access to a vast customer base and allows for the convenience of contactless transactions. In this role, her responsibilities have included the design and implementation of business strategies, team leadership, performance measurement and management, daily operations, and financial management. She is also currently serving as a Solution Architect-IT at The Copy Cat Limited, where, for the last eight years, she has developed mission-critical infrastructure solutions for businesses effectively addressing the IT networking, server-builds, network, and cybersecurity pain points with significant financial yields for the company. She volunteers in Rotary serving in several leadership capacities from the local Club to the District as the Rotary Youth Leadership Awards Vice-chair 2019-2021. Through these experiences, she has developed critical thinking and problem-solving skills and honed her creativity and innovativeness. She is passionate about technology, adult literacy, and youth leadership.