Lucy Kaaria is a digital finance measurements expert and Research Quality Control Expert at HOPAWI Management Consulting Limited, based in Nairobi, Kenya, with operations across Africa and South Asia. She is a Ph.D. candidate in population studies at the University of Nairobi, currently at her thesis stage.

Passionate about the delivery of quality data for developmental work, Lucy leads and manages socio-economic research programs from design to execution, data analysis, and report writing through dissemination for internal and external clients. In the context of these design questions, she is interested in unpacking underlying barriers, triggers, strengths, and weak areas in digital economies and developments from both the demand side and supply side data view, thus informing appropriate recommendations. These recommendations are geared for policy-making, designing and delivering targeted digital products and services, and informing internal organizational programming.

Lucy works at the intersection of gender, financial inclusion, digital developments, micro-entrepreneurs, and other topics geared towards poverty alleviation, economic empowerment, and growth.

The quality of Lucy’s research work is reflected in the range of international clients and publications she has been part of. She has worked with clients such as DAI Global LLC (“DAI”), The World Bank Group-CGAP, UNFPA, IPA, USAID, FSD Uganda, FSD Ethiopia, BFA Global Kenya Ltd, Mercy Corps, Nigeria, Caribou Digital (UK) Ltd, among other donors and development partners. More details on these projects are highlighted in her CV.

With 15 years of experience leading and managing socio-economic research projects across multiple countries in Africa and South Asia, Lucy has led and implemented projects in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Ghana, Zambia, Somalia, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Benin, Mozambique, Senegal, Indonesia, Bangladesh, India, among other countries. Some projects were multi-year, mixed-method social projects, requiring strong skills in partner engagements and client management for successful project delivery.

Lucy has written brief notes, case studies, blogs, white papers, academic journals, and other kinds of research reports as part of research project deliverables. Some of her reports are publicly available, while others were for client internal programming purposes. As part of dissemination activities, Lucy has also organized and participated in various workshops and events, presenting insights either as a panelist or a speaker.