Auri Wustrow, neé Evokari

22/05/2025

Next week, I leave Namibia and return to Finland.

I’m deeply grateful for the trust I’ve received from the Namibian startup ecosystem over the past years. It’s been a privilege to collaborate with leading organisations driving entrepreneurship here.

I leave Windhoek professionally enriched — with a deeper understanding of how to support early-stage startup ecosystems in emerging markets, and how to foster startup culture in contexts marked by risk aversion and uncertainty. I’ve learned to navigate complexity, approach global geopolitics through a Southern lens, and contribute to respectful, eye-level bridge-building between Africa and Europe.

On a personal level, this chapter has been nothing short of transformative.

Now, like migratory birds, our little family is heading north. We’ll be settling in the Helsinki region for the foreseeable future but will be back now now. Meanwhile I’m like Chingy—just a phone call away.

A heartfelt shoutout to my Namibian home base , the brilliant founders I’ve worked with, and the stars behind the innovation hubs.

An update on the next professional step is coming soon. But first: the nightless Nordic summer awaits.

15/01/2025

New name, new year, new brand. Other exciting new developments also a-brewing. Stay tuned.

Logo design by Clara Mupopiwa-Schnack.

17/10/2024

Momma I won! I was recently honoured by the award of Immigrant Startup Ecosystem Builder Champion of the Year 2024 for the seven years of innovation and entrepreneurship support work I’ve been doing in Namibia by the African Startup Ecosystem Builders (ASEB).

2000+ nominations from 40+ countries, 150 finalists and this award is shared with to trailblazing Africans — and lil’ ol’ me (apparently the only European winner).

I started this work in 2017 as a development consultant trying to belong in the local startup community. Boy, was that misguided! Over time, I continue to understand the colonial legacies and local perspectives as I navigated the country’s complex post-Apartheid landscape as a Caucasian European. Now, I have accepted my role as the forever-outsider I will always be and these days I merely hope to be considered as a trusted ally.

Receiving this award feels like a sign that I’ve done something right.

Thank you ASEB, and baie dankie to the 200+ Namibian founders and nearly 30 local organisations I’ve had the priviledge of learning from in the past seven years.

Here’s an ode to my experiences through pictures in the Land of the Brave’s innovation landscape.

2️⃣ 2017: Pitch training — working as a development consultant at SAIS Programme
3️⃣ 2018: Supporting Namibian finalists for the Southern African Startup Awards
4️⃣ 2019: Studying African Entrepreneurship Ecosystems and Startup Culture in a Doctoral Programme
5️⃣ 2020: Connecting regularly with the local startup ecosystem online while designing my research, taking long walks and being stuck under lockdown
6️⃣ 2021: Finally back and facilitating innovtion
processes with and for Turipamwe
7️⃣ 2021: Launch of the photo exhibition celebrating local entrepreneurs
8️⃣ 2021: Fieldwork with Future Females Namibia and GIZ Startup Namibia
9️⃣ & 🔟 2022-2023: Entrepreneurship training and programme design with key local organisations like Impact Tank, the NCRST, NIPDB, Basecamp Business Incubator, Launch Namibia, City of Windhoek, NABAN
1️⃣1️⃣ 2024: Sharing research findings to the ecosystem players at an event hosted by the NIPDB and the World Bank.

27/09/2024

060724

06/02/2024

15/01/2024

"What we have learned so far is that the current leadership models are misaligned with the innovative practices employed by employees on the ground." That's one of the learnings from a study on using design thinking in the Namibian corporate and SME landscape. Thoughts?

We launched the 'Innovation Nation: White Paper on Design Thinking in Namibia' a couple of months ago. The publication is available as a free download, and the entire event can be streamed here: https://www.turipamwe.com/White-Paper

Packed with more study insights and a case study written by yours truly on applying the methodology at a creative agency for over two years, it is a unique addition to the design thinking conversation with data from southern Africa. Read, watch, be inspired, enquire for more.

Huge shout-out to the Turipamwe team for all the hard work at every step of the process - Tanya Turipamwe Stroh, Donovan Majiedt and the creatives, thanks a million! A heartfelt thank you goes to all our brilliant speakers at the launch event -- Hanno Nevanlinna from Futurice, Brad Wilson at O&L Group, Sem Mandela Uutoni at UN World Food Programme and Prof Heike Winschiers from NUST.

05/01/2024

As far as I know, PhD students do not get much advice on strategies to overcome any challenges that may arise during the program. Unfortunately, it’s still the case for many that few colleagues share honestly when struggling. We have to turn to online resources to navigate the PhD journey but many of them can be quite vague and not offer practical advice from someone who’s gone through it.

🧭 So I wrote a strategy guide compiling 20 lessons learnt about how to overcome challenges on a PhD journey.

👉🏼 Read it here: https://aurievokari.com/blog/how-to-overcome-challenges-on-a-phd-journey

🤔 To all y’all PhD students and Doctors out there — what challenges did you have to overcome and how did you do it?

1️⃣ 2019. I’ve just started the PhD Programme at Loughborough University London. I’m sitting at my desk in the PhD working space, balancing my confidence with my self-doubts, having no idea that in less than six months, a global pandemic would throw all of us the meanest curveball and I wouldn’t return to London in at least four years.

2️⃣ 2021. I had just submitted a progress review report after doing a field visit in Lusaka, Zambia while also collecting data from Namibia online. Trust me - I did not plan it that way.

3️⃣ 2023. And here we are, inspite of it all. I’ve passed my progress review and I know what I have to do. Most importantly, I’ve detached myself from the work that allows me to continue it — not because I have to but because I want to do it.

🙏🏼 Huge shout-out to people who’ve taught and inspired me along the way — you know who you are!

29/11/2023

After my 7th successful research grant application in four years, this is what I have learnt:

✏️ If you start your PhD journey with funding from a foundation, they are most likely to fund you until the end.

📋 Sure, the study grants may be for only one year at a time but if you do your part, prepare all application documents, continuously demonstrate motivation and progress, the foundation that initially supported you won’t let you down.

🛟 Not in the midst of a global pandemic. Not when you have to pivot implementation plans and your work is delayed due to travel restrictions, health challenges and laptops breaking, causing you to lose your data analysis.

Oh, how much stress could have been spared had I only known this in my gut.

🙏🏼 Thank you, Liikesivistysrahasto (Foundation for Economic Education) for making this degree possible! Now I actually have what it takes for the final stretch.

🤝But how do you get your foot in the door when you’re starting out? I wrote about how I had gotten my first grant in my blog a couple of years ago, and the lessons are still valid. Check link in bio.



📸: .dunkel (it’s as old as the blog, ha!)

21/11/2023

I’m stoked to be sharing the stage with brilliant speakers as we launch the latest publication by Turipamwe this Thursday.

Design thinking is not limited to creative endeavours. It’s a shrewd business approach.

Join Turipamwe at the launch of 'Innovation Nation', the first White Paper on design thinking in Namibia. We welcome the innovation community to this speaking and networking event to explore opportunities and curiosities. Check out the programme and book your free seat now: https://www.turipamwe.com/white-paper

Limited seating, act fast!

Futurice Ohlthaver & List Tanya Turipamwe Stroh Auri Evokari WFP Namibia Namibia University of Science and Technology - NUST Hanno Nevanlinna

14/11/2023

Design thinking is not limited to creative endeavours. It’s a shrewd business approach.

Join Turipamwe at the launch of 'Innovation Nation', the first White Paper on design thinking in Namibia. We welcome the innovation community to this speaking and networking event to explore opportunities and curiosities. Check out the programme and book your free seat now: https://www.turipamwe.com/white-paper

Limited seating, act fast!

Futurice Ohlthaver & List Tanya Turipamwe Stroh Auri Evokari WFP Namibia Namibia University of Science and Technology - NUST Hanno Nevanlinna

17/10/2023

This morning, we received the sad news of the passing of Martti Ahtisaari, the former Finnish president and Nobel Peace Prize laureate.

President Ahtisaari was a man who dedicated his life to international peace mediation. For example, President Ahtisaari played an important role in Namibia's independence process from South Africa. The United Nations was on the side of Namibia's independence and in 1976 named Martti Ahtisaari its Commissioner to Namibia. Ahtisaari also led the United Nations Transition Assistance Group (UNTAG) in Namibia in the 1980s, in a process that eventually led to Namibia’s independence.

President Ahtisaari's remarkable efforts in Namibia and elsewhere stand as a testament to his commitment to global peace. In recognition of his work to resolve international conflicts President Ahtisaari was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2008. We extend our deepest condolences to his family and loved ones during this difficult time.

https://www.presidentti.fi/en/news/president-martti-ahtisaari-1937-2023/