Dr. Grace Atieno Ongile joined NEPAD Kenya Secretariat as Chief Executive Officer in 2005. She holds a Doctorate from University of Manchester , U.K. Since she joined NEPAD, she has coordinated the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) process in Kenya . Contributed towards the Kenya APRM Self Assessment Report. Her recent work also includes coordination of a research program on "International Trade and Gender in East Africa " from 1999 to 2004. This research was funded by the International Development Research Center (IDRC) and got Institutional support from Economic and Social Research Foundation (ESRF) Tanzania .
From 1999-2005, Dr. Ongile worked as a Senior Programme Officer, Eastern and Southern Africa, The African Capacity Building Foundation, Harare, (ACBF) Zimbabwe where she successfully managed ACBF projects in Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Botswana, Malawi and Zimbabwe. During her six years at the ACBF, she gained vast practical experience.
During this time, Dr. Ongile also participated in the Change Management at the Foundation by chairing and participating actively within the change management: communications plan, rewards and recognition, team building and problem solving, leadership and time management training, management team building retreat, cultural change plan and implementation, value and vision statements, morale index survey and knowledge network activities.
In addition, Dr. Ongile was also a member of the ACBF Knowledge Management/Core Competence Team overseeing the operation of the Foundation's Technical Advisory Panel and Network on Economic Policy Analysis and Management. She was the Team Leader for Knowledge Management Benchmarking Mission to the United Kingdom , where she contributed to the development of the Foundation's Knowledge Management Strategy.
She has also been a Researcher/Lecturer at the Institute for Development Studies, University of Nairobi, Kenya; Planning Officer-Long Range Planning Unit, Ministry of Planning and National Development and Statistical Officer- Central Bureau of Statistics, Ministry of Planning and National Development.
Click Here to view the full Curriculum Vitae.
She has several publications.
“Globalisation, Trade and Gender, The Key Concerns” in Gender, Economies and Entitlements in Africa, CODESRIA, 2004.
“The ACBF-PACT Model as Best Practice Model for Capacity Building”by Gene Ogiogio and Grace Ongile in Better Governance and Public Policy: Capacity Building for Democratic Renewal in Africa, Dele Olowu and Soumana Sako (eds.), Kumarian Press, January 2003.
“Gender and Agricultural Supply Response to Structural Adjustment Programmes in Kenya: A Case Study of Smallholder Tea Production in Kericho-Kenya”, 1999. Nordic Africa Institute, Uppsala, Sweden.
“International Trade and Gender: A Research Agenda for East Africa” in Gender Focus on the WTO, Eva Haxton and Cleas Olsson (eds.), 1999. Global Publications Foundation, International Coalition for Development Action.
“Gender and Agricultural Supply Response to Structural Adjustment Programmes in Kenya: A Case Study of Smallholder Tea Production in Kericho-Kenya”, Ph.D. Thesis 1998, Manchester University, UK.
"Growth and Barriers to Growth Among Nairobi's Small and Medium-Sized Garment Producers" in World Development Volume 25 No. 7, July 1997. (Pgs. 1095-1110).
“Barriers to Small Firm Growth: Evidence from Nairobi's Garment Industry" in McCormick D. and Pedersen P. (eds.) 1996, Small Enterprises Flexibility and Networking in an African Context, Longman Kenya Ltd.
"Women's Employment in the Rural and Urban Informal Sectors: an Overview of Policies and Practice" in Productive Employment and Equity in the Rural and Informal Sectors in Kenya, ILO Report on the National Policy Workshop on Optimal Forms of Assistance on Women's Employment in the Rural and Informal Sectors, 6th-8th September 1994, Nyeri, Nairobi, Kenya.
"Determinants of Urban Labour Force in Kenya" in East African Economic Journal Vol. 6, No. 2, 1990. (Pgs.83-94).
"Characteristics and Determinants of Female Urban Labour Force of Kenyan Women" in Socio-Economic Development, Women's Bureau, Ministry of Social and Cultural Services, Nairobi, 1990.
“Determinants of Urban Labour Force Participation in Kenya" in Technical Paper No. 89-09, Ministry of Planning and National Development, 1989.