Center for Frugal Innovation in Africa, Institute of Social Studies (ISS)
Saskia Vossenberg is a PhD Researcher at the Center for Frugal Innovation in Africa, located at the Institute of Social Studies (ISS). She specializes in gender, entrepreneurship and innovation. Her research project explores the relationships between ‘inclusive innovations’ that seek to impact women’s business growth and gendered institutions. Her aim is to understand what role ‘inclusive innovations’ play as inputs for women’s small businesses in Sub Saharan Africa and why and when change in livelihoods is triggered or not.
Recently, she joined the Royal Tropical Institute (KIT Gender) as a Senior Advisor where she works on research, consulting and facilitation related to gender and private sector development, women’s entrepreneurship, inclusive business and local economic development. From 2007 till 2016 she managed her own consultancy firm, The Development Factory. Before that, she worked with international NGO’s and lived in Malawi and Ecuador. She has over fifteen years of experience with advising policy makers, impact investors, donor organizations and private sector actors on how to apply a gender lens in development policies and programming. Since 2015, she is an Expert Associate for Endeva with whom she works on the development of gender-smart inclusive business models and tools to support companies who wish to design inclusive value chains for mutual benefit.