Caleb Ndaka

Co-founder and Programs Lead of Kids Comp Camp and Research Associate at The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE)

Caleb Ndaka is a social data scientist, community mobilizer, and award-winning social entrepreneur. From what began as a university friends road trip to teach children in rural villages the basics of computers, Caleb Ndaka co-founded Kids Comp Camp, a community-driven education technology (Edtech) program. He grew it to become an internationally recognized initiative, awarded by, among others, the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) in Mexico, at Microsoft Build in Seattle, WA, and featured in the Wall Street Journal. Since its inception in 2014, Kids Comp Camp has impacted more than 20,000 young learners in two African countries - Kenya and Rwanda. For 90% of the beneficiaries, it was their first time using a computer, and 54% were young girls. Because of exemplary work at the intersection of education and technology among rural communities in Africa, he has been awarded as a Chevening Scholar at the London School of Economics (LSE), Microsoft Most Valuable Professional (MVP), TEDx speaker, Obama Leader, Mandela Washington Fellow and Ashok emerging innovator. Caleb Ndaka earned a BSc in IT from Jomo Kenyatta University (JKUAT) and MSc in Data and Society from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE).

His research at the Pulte Institute is focused on access and equity of digital education, in particular, drawing insights and lessons from digital learning programs in Kenya. This research uses lived experiences of local communities in Africa to develop an equitable digital learning framework that does not exacerbate inequalities in Africa. The research aims to provide actionable recommendations to policymakers and stakeholders in education and development to achieve equitable digital learning in developing countries.

BRIEF: Ndaka, Caleb and TJ D'Agostino. 2024. "Digital Learning in Kenya: Towards equitable and inclusive digital learning." Pulte Institute for Global Development, Keough School of Global Affairs