Gilbert Pooley
Director in Johannesburg, South Africa
Hello, I’m Gilbert :)
I founded Umuzi, an African edtech social enterprise developing human-centred solutions to address youth unemployment and inequality by improving young people's access to opportunities in the digital economy.
Umuzi partners with leading companies to develop learning pathways for young people to develop scarce digital skills including web development, data science, data engineering, UI, and UX.
We founded the African Coding Network to be the community to scale tech education in Africa. We partner with tech platforms, education institutions, and employers to improve young people's access to high value digital careers.
My background is strategy consulting. I specialise in applying Design Thinking and Agile practices to transform user experiences, products, and organisations. Developing people, systems, and processes that support product development, service design, user experience, and employee experience are where I often add value.
I worked for the Boston Consulting Group in London, and helped to found their South African office before launching my own boutique consulting company and the social enterprise that I now run.
- Writing -
My recent writing on Medium
My older writing on Huffington Post
- Awards -
Ashoka Change Maker, 2020
ALI Fellow, 2020
Mail & Guardian 200 Young South Africans 2018 award
- Experience -
Founder & MD of Umuzi and founder of the African Coding Network
Strategy consultant for leading South African companies including Discovery, Investec, TIH, Hollard, BCX.
Consultant with the Boston Consulting Group (London and Johannesburg)