Training built for adoption. Designed around your context.
Workshops, masterclasses, faculty engagements and cohort programmes for African founders, executives, and the institutions backing them. Built from 15 years of practice and 500 founder assessments.
Delivered by Liza Akinyi, Pan-African Venture Builder & Executive Coach. IFC-LPI TPMA Certified Trainer, 2026.
IFC-LPI TPMA Certified Trainer, 2026.
The Trainer Performance Monitoring and Assessment certification is issued jointly by the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, and The Learning and Performance Institute (LPI), a global authority on learning and workplace development.
It is the institutional-grade benchmark for facilitators delivering SME training globally. A credential held by a small number of professionals on the continent.
- Observed. Benchmarked. Approved.A multi-stage process where facilitators are assessed against a defined institutional standard.
- Not a self-titled credential.Issued by IFC and LPI. Verifiable on Credly at any time.
- The same standard used by global SME training programmes.Built for institutions that need rigour and proof.
Most organisations have paid for training that changed very little, and the experience is common enough that scepticism is the sensible starting position. I would rather the work answered that than my saying anything about myself here.
What follows is verbatim feedback from people who have sat in sessions I facilitated, what they came in for, and what they were still using weeks later. The credentials behind the work are below it, including the IFC-LPI TPMA certification and the faculty role at Strathmore Business School.
If by the end of this page you conclude this is not what you need, that is a useful outcome and worth the ten minutes. If you decide it is, the next step is one short conversation. No pitch.
Liza AkinyiWhere training usually goes wrong.
If more than two of these describe a session your team has attended recently, the problem was in the design.
- !You cannot point to a single thing that changed. The line item sits on your budget. The certificate is on the wall. The team has carried on exactly as before. When your CFO or your board asks what you got for it, you have a vague answer and you know it.
- !The case studies did not come from your markets. Half the examples were about a coffee shop in Brooklyn. The other half were about a SaaS unicorn nobody in the room had ever heard of. Your people build in markets where the infrastructure is what you make of it and trust takes years to earn. The session had nothing for them.
- !You walked out with handouts. Not habits. A long deck. A toolkit PDF. A "framework" worksheet. None of it survived to Tuesday morning, because the session was designed around the trainer's content, not your team's adoption.
- !The session doubled as a pitch. Their LinkedIn story. Their book. Their high-ticket programme. By the time they got to anything useful, half the room had checked out. You came for skills. You left having sat through a pitch.
- !The energy lasted 72 hours. Your senior people came back fired up. By Thursday it was gone. Because the work had no spine outside the room. No fieldwork. No accountability. No follow-through. Just a deck in a folder nobody opens again.
Every session is built backward from one question.
What will participants do differently the day after this session, that they could not do the day before?
If the answer is not clear before the session is designed, the session does not happen. That is the only filter that matters.
4 things that shape every session I deliver.
Built in African rooms.
Every framework I teach has been sharpened with founders across 20+ African countries. The case studies are not borrowed from elsewhere. They are drawn from rooms in Nairobi, Lagos, Kigali, Accra and Cairo. Your audience will recognise themselves in them.
Certified facilitation.
I am an IFC-LPI TPMA Certified Trainer (2026). My facilitation has been observed, benchmarked and approved against the institutional standard set jointly by the International Finance Corporation and The Learning and Performance Institute for delivering SME training globally. It is not a self-titled credential. It is one of the reasons your audience will be in good hands.
Tools you take into the work.
Every training session ends with materials participants take back into their business. As one Strathmore student put it, "Loved that Liza gave us documents in class to work on even after school is done."
Designed for adoption, not attendance.
Assessment where it fits. Cohort accountability where it works. Fieldwork between sessions for multi-day programmes. The training is the start of the change, not the whole of it.
The credentials behind every session.
Every claim below is verifiable. Every framework has been used with real founders, in real markets, with real money on the line.
- ✓
IFC-LPI TPMA Certified Trainer, 2026.The Trainer Performance Monitoring and Assessment certification, issued jointly by the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, and The Learning and Performance Institute (LPI), a global authority on learning and workplace development. The institutional-grade benchmark for facilitators delivering SME training globally. A credential held by a small number of professionals on the continent.Verify on Credly → - ✓Hundreds of facilitated sessions, at every altitude.From grassroots founder cohorts in informal markets, to high-level delegate sessions with governments, line ministries and bilateral organisations. The curriculum has been used in every room that matters.
- ✓Faculty Facilitator at Strathmore Business School ISBI.120+ founders trained at the Institute for Small Business Initiatives. 4.6/5 average session rating. Programmes delivered include ESG for SMEs, Storytelling for Impact, Master Classes, and Capital Raising Seminars.
Take theirs.
Verbatim feedback from participants and audience members. Names used where consent was given. Quotes are unedited.
The lecture was great and well conversant with the subject matter. ESG should have a follow up session, ESG 2.
Loved that Liza gave us documents in class to work on even after school is done. This was one of the best classes so far. Learnt so much. Thank you.
Excellent trainer very passionate with her work it was a very informative class and an eye opener.
Liza has unmatched knowledge on matters of ESG. I loved her mastery of content with applicable real life examples. Looking forward to have her on teaching the Storytelling impact on Businesses!
Very short. Just need an extra lesson.
Your customer doesn't care about your ESG. They care about their life.
It was good to learn that my customer doesn't care about my ESG. They care about their life. That really stood out. I have implemented contracts for all my employees.
Reflect on how ESG will be applicable in my business. Mindset shift on how I need to sell to my client.
The session made me realize that ESG really is part of my daily business life.
What clicked in my mind is that I have to document contracts, salaries and clear terms of employment. Reevaluate how I use resources in my business so as to identify where there's wastage.
The concept of materiality lit a fire for me. It's crucial for me as an SME since it will be a guide in helping me focus on ESG issues that matters most. With limited resources, this concept dictates that I have strategic and impactful actions that will be rewarding to my business.
I would like to say first of all that Liz's slides were the best! I loved how approachable she was. What still sticks with me is that her session "Sell Like A Boss" affirmed that I am capable even at my young age and experience. I make a conscious decision every day to give my best and learn as much as I can, even as a youth leader.
What past participants want next. When asked which topics they wanted to learn next, the answers were specific and consistent across cohorts:
All of these are currently in active development. Join the enquiry list to be notified when intakes open.
Two ways to bring me into your team.
One flagship multi-month transformation, or custom training designed for your team, cohort or institution.
THE PACT PROGRAM™
The Elite Pan-African Founder to CEO Transformation. For post-revenue African founders who already know they are the ceiling, and are ready to do something about it.
Workshops, Masterclasses & Faculty Engagements
Half-day workshops, multi-session masterclasses, custom curricula for cohorts, or term-long faculty engagements. Topics include ESG, capital raising, storytelling, leadership and the unseen majority.
Where this work fits, and where it does not.
So you can tell quickly whether to spend a conversation on it.
This fits when
- ✓The change you want is in how a team operates rather than only in what they know.
- ✓Participants are able to do work between sessions.
- ✓You want the material shaped around your context rather than delivered off the shelf.
This is not the right fit when
- ✗You need a single motivational session for an event.
- ✗The requirement is attendance and a certificate rather than a change in practice.
- ✗The timeline does not allow design work before delivery.
Tell me about your team, your event, or your audience. I'll tell you what will actually move them.
No high-pressure sales call. No drip funnel. One short conversation. A clear recommendation, even if the recommendation is that you do not need me.
Here is exactly what happens when you enquire.
One form. One real conversation. A clear written recommendation within a working week.
- 1You send a short enquiry telling me about your team or event, your context, and what change you are trying to create.
- 2If there is a fit, I invite you to a 30-minute scoping call. No pitch. We map the actual problem first.
- 3You receive a written proposal covering format, outcomes, timeline and investment, within 5 working days.
- 4If we proceed, we co-design the work so it lands in your rooms, not a generic one.
My commitment to you. If the scoping call does not leave you with a clear read on what would move your team, keep the notes and take them elsewhere. I would rather you find the right answer than be in a room I should not be in.
Final questions.
What does training cost?+
It depends on the format, duration and audience. A half-day workshop is very different from a multi-month cohort programme. I share investment on the scoping call, once we have understood the actual scope. Payment plans and institutional invoicing are available.
What topics do you train on?+
Core areas include the Unseen Majority, Heart + Strategy, Founder Leadership, ESG for African SMEs, Practitioner Research, Scaling Beyond the Founder, Storytelling for Impact, and Capital Raising for African founders. Bespoke curricula can be designed around your specific gap or cohort.
Do you travel to deliver in-person?+
Yes. I deliver across the continent and internationally where the brief makes sense. Travel, accommodation and any per diem requirements are agreed in the proposal. Virtual delivery is also available where in-person is not possible.
This is what the work actually looks like.
Real cohorts. Real sessions. Not stock. Scroll across.
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One short enquiry, one conversation of thirty minutes, and a written recommendation either way within five working days.
One short enquiry. One thirty-minute conversation. A clear written recommendation either way. The cost of doing nothing is another quarter exactly like the last one.
Enquire Now