Penina Olum

Penina Olum is a PhD candidate at the African Studies Centre Leiden, and an international development professional, specialising in economic empowerment projects domiciled in sub-Sahara Africa.

Penina’s PhD project, Rethinking development aid through social power lenses; an investigation as to whether social power influences the design of development programs in the global South, is aimed at contributing to the growing development discourses of shifting social power, and by the end of the study, will propose inclusive pathways for consideration during the process of shifting, balancing and maintaining social power in the international development ecosystem. Penina also holds a masters of Arts degree, in development studies (first-class) from the Catholic University of Africa, waiting publication of the paper; Commonality, a holding glue for socioeconomic development in rural Kenya, amongst other academic accolades. 

Besides PhD undertakings, Penina’s career in international development spans over 12+ years with a track record in business development, external partnerships, development finance and business development system strengthening. She possesses the ability to contextualise socioeconomic development theories, design practical economic empowerment programs, and then mobilise resources for their implementation. In future, Penina hopes to use her academic knowledge, and accumulated practical experiences to drive social change, and together with communities in the global south, build sustainable & resilient socioeconomic pathways.