The Community Innovation Hub (CIH) is a not-for-profit organization based in Senegal, working across Africa to bridge the gap between technology, innovation, and sustainable development.
CIH operates across key sectors including health, agriculture, environment, education, governance, and gender equity.
We support governments, development partners, municipalities, civil society organizations, and local innovators to better understand community needs, co-create practical solutions, and turn evidence into action.
Our approach is rooted in our GRADUAID model, which places communities at the center of innovation. We believe that sustainable solutions must be co-created with the people they are designed to serve, strengthened through local ownership, and progressively integrated into existing systems.
By combining community-based evidence, human-centered design, digital tools, capacity building, and strategic partnerships, CIH helps transform local priorities into sustainable impact.
For CIH, autonomy is not just an outcome, it is our core indicator of success.
Our five principles define how we work, with whom, and why our programs lead to true self-reliance rather than prolonged dependence.
Women, young people, and local communities are the architects of change. CIH views community leadership as the central driver of resilience. Innovation arises when those who experience the problems are the first to devise the solutions.
Innovation at CIH occurs across three distinct areas: technology (IoT, operational AI, solar sensors), digital (collaborative platforms, market data, connectivity), and methodology (participatory co-design, continuous assessment, adaptive learning).
Each program incorporates mechanisms to promote gender equity and social inclusion. Rural women, unemployed youth, and underrepresented groups are given priority access to resources, training, and economic opportunities.
Each initiative is designed with a planned exit date. Our GRADUAID model ensures capacity transfer, gradual community ownership, and a structured exit. Sustainability is built in from the outset, never added as an afterthought.
CIH adheres to rigorous governance standards: accountability to communities and donors, structured multi-stakeholder collaboration, transparency in processes and results, and continuous learning integrated into every program cycle.
Sustainable change takes root when communities become co-architects of the solutions that transform their daily lives. Top-down approaches, no matter how well-intentioned, rarely reach their full potential if they are not grounded in the realities on the ground.
That’s why we believe in co-creation: an approach where innovations are designed with communities, not for them. This collaboration allows for solutions that are more relevant, human-centered, and better adapted to local contexts.
Through the Community Innovation Hub, we build bridges between innovators, communities, and public institutions to turn ideas into lasting impact. By connecting local ingenuity with public policy and investment, we create an ecosystem where innovation becomes a driver of inclusion, resilience, and self-determination.
Our ambition is clear: to foster sustainable innovations where they are needed most, while strengthening communities’ ability to envision and shape their own future.
Assiatou Kama, Executive Director of the Community Innovation Hub
We are committed to making a positive and lasting impact on the lives of individuals and communities.
Nancy Akpo
Communication Intern
Nancy AKPO is a Communication & Development Intern at the Community Innovation Hub, where she supports content creation, digital presence, and funding opportunity research across the organization's programs.
Her work combines digital communication and development strategy. She contributes to building CIH's editorial presence across platforms, producing content that makes the organization's impact visible and accessible, while also supporting the identification of funding opportunities aligned with CIH's mission.
El Hadji Malick Niang
Technology & Innovation Intern
El Hadji Malick NIANG is a Developer Intern in Technology and Innovation at the Community Innovation Hub, where he supports the design, prototyping, and technical exploration of digital tools for community-focused programs.
His internship work combines software development, automation, data structuring, and applied research. He contributes to building and testing practical solutions such as dashboards, scripts, technical prototypes, and analytical models, while also helping assess how digital tools can support areas like community health, agriculture, inclusion, and local development.
Fatoumata Bakhoum Samb
Administrative and Financial Manager
Fatoumata BAKHOUM SAMB is a Senegalese professional specialized in administrative, accounting, and financial management, holding a degree in Accounting and Finance from ESUP Dakar. She has over ten years of experience in accounting supervision, budget management, and treasury management, gained within consulting firms and private companies.
After beginning her career at Sigma – Cabinet de Conseils Comptables et Fiscaux, where she progressed from Accounting Assistant to Administrative and Tax Manager, she joined Fideo Holding in 2019. There she successively held the positions of Accountant and then Administrative, Accounting and Financial Manager, overseeing teams, managing client and supplier portfolios, handling tax and social compliance, and implementing financial procedures and internal audits.
Her expertise expanded into the renewable energy sector when she joined Coseer Energy as Administrative and Financial Manager (RAF). There she contributed to the financial and administrative structuring of projects linked to the energy transition, strengthening her profile in a sector that is strategic for sustainable development.
She serves as Administrative and Financial Manager (RAF), actively contributing to the implementation of transparent management systems and to the support of community projects focused on inclusion, education, and innovation.
Versatile and rigorous, she is proficient with tools such as Sage Saari 100, Odoo, QuickBooks, and the Office Suite, as well as modern methods of document management and budget tracking. Her career reflects an ability to move between the private sector, renewable energy, and social innovation, while keeping one constant: the pursuit of efficiency and transparency in financial and administrative management.
Outside of work, she enjoys family outings and shopping in her free time.
Steve Charvet
Technology and Innovation Manager
Steve CHARVET is Technology and Innovation Manager at the Community Innovation Hub, where he oversees the development of technological tools, serves as the interface between external technical teams and CIH across all ongoing projects, and contributes to the organization's digital strategy.
With a background at the crossroads of technology and development, he brings expertise in geographic information systems, applied artificial intelligence, and the design of digital tools built for resource-limited contexts. His approach is straightforward: put technology at the service of people, not the other way around.
At CIH, Steve coordinates the deployment of technology platforms across a wide range of areas, including community health, agriculture,and projects that supports gender equity. He also manages the organization's internal monitoring and funding tracking systems, and contributes to identifying partnership opportunities to grow the program portfolio.
Before entering the development sector, Steve worked as a composer in France in the late 1990s, at a time when the music industry was undergoing a profound transformation, just as digital technology was beginning to reshape the way sound was created and shared. That chapter left him with a conviction he still carries today: the most powerful technologies are those that amplify what people have to express at their best.
Sylvia Dooper
Partnerships and Development Officer
Sylvia DOOPER is the Strategic Partnerships and Development Officer at Community Innovation Hub, where she works alongside the Executive Director to drive the organization's resource mobilization, project design, and strategic alliance building.
With a solid background in international development, diplomacy, governance, and partnership building, she has worked across issues ranging from local governance and higher education to global health, advocacy, and regional development. Her work is rooted in connecting people, ideas, and resources to champion locally led solutions and create sustainable, long-term impact through meaningful collaboration.
At CIH, Sylvia focuses on identifying and cultivating strategic partnerships, developing high-impact concept notes, and designing funding proposals across health, climate resilience, agriculture, education and inclusive governance.
Sylvia holds a Bachelor's degree in International Development Studies from Wageningen University in the Netherlands, a Master's degree in Middle Eastern Studies from Lund University in Sweden, and a Master's degree in International Relations and Diplomacy from Antwerp University in Belgium. She has gained experience at the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the European Commission, VNG International, The ONE Campaign, and GDI Advisors.
Outside of work, Sylvia is passionate about sports. She thrives on challenges that require discipline, resilience, and continuous improvement, qualities she seamlessly brings into her professional life.
Assiatou Kama Niang
Executive Director
Assiatou KAMA NIANG is the Co-Founder and Executive Director of Community Innovation Hub, where she leads the organization's strategic direction, partnerships, resource mobilization and program development across Africa.
With more than a decade of experience in public health, public policy, gender equity and community engagement, she has worked across research, policy analysis, partnership development and multi-country program management. Her work is rooted in translating evidence, technology and local knowledge into practical solutions that respond to community priorities.
At CIH, Assiatou provides strategic leadership for the organization's growth across health, climate resilience, agriculture, education and inclusive governance. She guides the development of CIH's program portfolio, cultivates institutional and technical partnerships, leads resource mobilization efforts and ensures that the organization's work remains grounded in locally led, evidence-informed innovation.
Assiatou holds a Bachelor's degree in Exercise and Sport Science from Oregon State University, a Master's degree in Health Promotion Management, and a Graduate Certificate in Public Policy Analysis from American University in Washington, D.C.
Outside of work, she enjoys family time, good food and making space for rest and relaxation, especially well-deserved spa days.
