Dr. Nicholas Haan, Co-Founder of Kizo Africa & Vice President for Impact, Faculty Chair of Global Grand Challenges at Singularity University

Dr. Nicholas Haan is a moonshot agitator for solving the world’s biggest challenges and creating a future that’s good for people and the planet. He draws from his multifaceted background to enable leaders to cultivate new mindsets, insights and skills necessary to thrive in the digital transformation era.  

Nicholas is a Swahili-speaking, US–East Africa hybrid–originally from California and living in Zanzibar and throughout Africa for 30+ years. His expertise cross-cuts technology, innovation, impact, food security, disaster aid, climate change, energy, education, genetics, and information systems. He is a sought after speaker and innovation advisor to corporations, governments, and startups around the world.

Nicholas has been with Singularity University since 2012 as Vice President for Impact, Faculty Chair of Global Grand Challenges, and Managing Director for the Global Startup Program–bringing gifted entrepreneurs from around the world together for ten weeks to ideate and launch moonshot ventures.

Nicholas is co-founder of Kizo Africa— an online education program and social club for African Youth to thrive in the digital era.  

He currently serves as Co-Chair of the Advanced Technology and Artificial Intelligence Working Group of the United Nations for food security analysis, including the global standard used for classifying and analyzing food insecurity, called The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC). 

In this episode Nick talks about how extreme kayaking informs his leadership style, why “leader” is a word that’s constantly misused, and how to witness the world’s greatest challenges through an optimistic lens that creates better outcomes for people and the planet. 

Kizo Africa will be announcing an NFT launch to fundraise for their mission.  Get updates on their website here. 

Learn more about Nick here.

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