Contexts of work
Nigeria
Uganda
Kenya
Ethiopia
Tanzania
Congo [DRC]
Mozambique
Myanmar
United States
Emilia Klimiuk
I believe in the power of local wisdom. Great solutions never come from the outside. Instead, they are guided by the people experiencing the problem.
Based in Nigeria, born in Poland, brought up in the USA. Emilia has over ten years of experience as a designer and researcher, 7 of which she spent working in Africa and Asia. She is passionate about designing systems and services that empower vulnerable populations, especially around healthcare, finance and issues caused by urban poverty. Her expertise is in human-centered design—a process that brings together end users, communities, stakeholders, and experts from diverse disciplines to collectively solve these large problems.
Emilia's recent work includes leading the VxData Insights study, a joint research effort between Sonder and John Snow Inc. (JSI) to understand challenges with utilizing data for decision-making in immunization programs in Kenya, the DRC, and Mozambique. She has also worked with Mastercard to incorporate stakeholder needs into their health data strategy, and supported a local Columbia University team to co-design and test a birth companion model for urban facilities in Tanzania.
Prior to joining Sonder, her experiences include developing a digital loan product for farmers in Myanmar with The World Bank and BRAC, exploring a new way for Facebook.org to deliver reliable internet in Uganda and Nigeria, and working as a Product Development Lead at Grameen Foundation Uganda to create and scale mobile banking solutions.
Over the course of her career, Emilia has conducted exploratory research to inform strategies, co-created and user-tested products, services and digital experiences, and supported organizations to implement and scale new solutions.
