Mickness Mshana Aeschlimann is a researcher and development professional with more than seven years of practical experience in fundraising, project management, community engagement, and communication in Europe and Africa. Being a native Swahili & English speaker, she is fluent in German (B2 level) and currently learning French.
Born and raised in Tanzania, she worked in a public-private partnership on a large transport infrastructure project between the Tanzanian government and an international consultancy firm SMEC before relocating to Switzerland in 2016. With a master’s degree in African Studies from the University of Basel, her expertise revolves around Sustainable Development
, Environment, and Gender. Her interest in the development discourse on women’s empowerment compelled her to undertake six weeks of ethnographic fieldwork for her master’s thesis on the topic of gender and financial inclusion interviewing more than 20 female smallholder farmers in southeastern Tanzania.She has assisted various Swiss NGOs and social start-ups in developing effective fundraising strategies and acquiring more than $50
,000 worth of funding for high-impact projects in Switzerland, Southern, and Eastern Africa. With her background, research expertise, and professional experiences, Mickness provides strategic advice on fundraising; grant writing and supports international organizations in strengthening the engagement with their local partners in the Global South especially in Africa.