Dalberg Advisors Elects Edwin Macharia as Global Managing Partner

Dalberg Advisors, the leading global consulting firm specializing in inclusive and sustainable business, policy, and investment strategy, is pleased to announce Edwin Macharia as its incoming Global Managing Partner. Elected by the firm’s equity partners to serve a three-year term beginning on 1 January 2020, Edwin will be the fourth Global Managing Partner since Dalberg’s founding in 2001. He will succeed Yana Kakar who was elected in 2013 and re-elected in 2016, serving the maximum of two terms.

Over the course of his eleven years with Dalberg, Edwin has served in a range of leadership roles. He founded Dalberg’s first office in East Africa in 2008, established the firm’s Agriculture and Food Security Practice, chaired the internal Strategy, Impact & Quality governance committee, and most recently, served a second term as the Regional Director for Africa.

A citizen of Kenya who is based in Nairobi, Edwin served as a global Director with the Clinton Foundation across the HIV/AIDS portfolio, as well as agriculture before joining Dalberg. This focus continued when he joined the firm where he supported new areas of speciality including sustainable agriculture, food security, global health and distributed infrastructure.

Edwin’s influence extends to the broader development and business communities. He was part of two successive Global Agenda Councils for the World Economic Forum, and is a current Board member of Nabo Capital and Digital Green. He also serves as a member of The Nature Conservancy Africa Council, and the Amref University Governing Council. Edwin was named on Forbes’ 10 Most Powerful Men in Africa in 2015 and was recognized as a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader in the same year. In 2010, the Africa Leadership Institute named Edwin an Archbishop Desmond Tutu Fellow.

Edwin steps into the role during a period of significant growth and innovation for Dalberg Advisors. Under Yana’s leadership, the firm has expanded from 12 to 27 offices worldwide, established new successful business lines in human-centered design and impact investing, and emphasized the incubation and launch of new initiatives in close collaboration with partners across the private, public and philanthropic sectors.

Recent initiatives under Yana’s leadership include the development of The Human Account and DigiFarm, both recognized by the prestigious Fast Company World Changing Ideas Awards; the release of the State of Aadhaar 2019, the world’s largest study and dataset on the use and experience of digital identification; the design, incubation and launch of Convergence, the foremost global organization for blended finance; and the creation of Safe Surgery 2020, similarly designed, incubated and launched by Dalberg and partners to bring surgical care to underserved communities in low and middle-income countries.

In Yana’s words: “While I am proud of our expansion, it is not the growth in our size but in our significance as innovators, advisors and agenda setters that has been most important to me. Dalberg is demonstrating how a professional services firm can succeed due to – not despite of – its commitment to inclusion, integrity, environmental sustainability and social justice.”

During Yana’s tenure, the broader Dalberg Group has grown to encompass Dalberg Research, Dalberg Data Insights, Dalberg Media and Dalberg Implement.

“Edwin has spearheaded a lot of innovation into the new business lines within the Group. That will serve him well as he steps forward to lead Dalberg’s biggest and longest standing business” said Henrik Skovby, Dalberg’s Founder.

“Edwin demonstrates the difference a person can make when they combine deep passion with unmatched dedication,” says Yana Kakar, Dalberg’s outgoing Global Managing Partner. “Our entire partnership is tremendously excited to welcome Edwin and to see what new horizons he helps Dalberg reach next.”

“Yana is responsible for some of Dalberg’s most impactful partnerships and projects,” says Edwin, “and yet nowhere is her impact felt more deeply than within the firm. She inspires and cultivates the next generation of leaders and she has been a driving force in building Dalberg into a firm known not just for its analysis and insights, but also its commitment to applying a gender lens and climate lens across all of our work. I am excited to build upon these foundations towards our shared vision for the future of Dalberg.”

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