Dr. Holly Ritchie has a background in international development (PhD), market development and finance. Her PhD (awarded in 2013 at ISS, Cum Laude, Best PhD Thesis 2013) focused on grassroots women’s enterprise in Afghanistan and cultural change. She won best paper at the International Symposium on Entrepreneurship and Innovation (University of Padua, Venice, Italy, 2012) for an article based on one of her PhD case studies. Recent academic research (2014-present) includes work with Somali and Syrian women entrepreneurs in fragile refugee situations in urban Kenya and Jordan. Alongside her academic work, Holly also works as a DEVELOPMENT CONSULTANT focusing on gender, enterprise, value chains, climate change, digital inclusion and livelihood security (based in KENYA), with specific country-based experience in Afghanistan (10 years), Kenya (8 years), Ethiopia, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, the Middle East and Brazil. Recent assignments include the development of Gender Profiles for Somalia and Sudan under the African Development Bank and UN Women (Lead Consultant). She further acts as a Gender and Enterprise Advisor for the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO) across the Horn of Africa and the Middle East. Complementing her academic and consulting work, in 2019, Holly set up a social enterprise in Kenya, THRIVE that aims to support the capacity building of female aid workers, consultants and researchers, with profits channeled into pro-bono training of Somali refugee women.Dr. Holly Ritchie has a strong interest in institutions, gender, inclusion, and technology/innovation in ‘fragile’ economic development, particularly in environments affected by insecurity, conflict and climate related issues. Her research and work has looked in particular at (poorer) women’s enterprise participation in marginalised, conflict and refugee settings. She focuses on social inclusion/integration in business and value chains, and looks ahead to social outcomes from economic empowerment.Specialties: Gender, social norms, refugees, digital inclusion, market development, micro enterprise, producer groups, market linkages, value chain-market research, food security, pastoralism, socio-economic evaluations, fragile environments.