Alan Spybey

Director, Product Intelligence and Development (PID)

Nairobi, Kenya

Alan joined KickStart in 1995 to run the AKILI project, co-designing affordable home products with Nairobi small-scale entrepreneurs, simultaneously training them in business skills. Since 2001, Alan has managed KickStart PID, which designs and mass-markets climate-smart irrigation technology for smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa. He is responsible for technology intelligence, new technology development, and validation of sourced equipment.

Earlier in his career, Alan designed and trained staff with learning difficulties to make fashion jewelry for export, building a self-supporting business, and playing a key role in capacity building of young neurodiverse adults. He has a Cert Ed in Design Technology from Shoreditch College, a BSc in Mechanical Engineering from the Open University and an MBA from Edith Cowen University. Alan and his wife Liz have three adult children: an animator, a dietician, and a poet/coder. When not engaged with family matters, Alan spends quite a bit of time on anything with two wheels (except Segways).