Joel Abdulai Kallon is the Founder and CEO of Meraki Analytics. He holds a Master of Science (With Commendation) in Data Science from the University of Aberdeen and a Bachelor of Engineering (with honors) from the University of Sierra Leone. Joel is skilled in several programming languages including Wolfram, Python, R and SQL, and has considerable experience and deep expertise in research design and data collection, advanced data analysis, statistical modelling, and machine learning. He has built a career at the intersection of technology, governance, and development.
From 2016 to 2021, Joel served as Data and Communications Manager at the Institute for Governance Reform (IGR), a local think-tank in Sierra Leone working to bridge the gap between knowledge and policy. At IGR, he specialized in research design and data analysis, contributing to several prominent publications including an analysis of Sierra Leone’s 2018 electioneering process titled Deepening Democracy in Sierra Leone (2018). At the height of the 2018 elections campaign, he was responsible for the publication of a Policy Brief on Asset Declaration (2017), which helped to propel a national conversation on the need for political aspirants to declare their assets before taking up office.
Joel was also very influential in the development of Sierra Leone’s first-ever Citizen’s Manifesto, which established nationwide the citizenry’s concerns and demands going into the 2018 elections. At IGR, he also led fieldwork and data management for the Afrobarometer Round 8 and Round 9 data collection activities in Sierra Leone, and oversaw the Bio-Meter project – an online tool that tracked the campaign promises of President Julius Maada Bio in his first term in office.
He has led the design and deployment of robust digital data collection systems across Sierra Leone and several other countries including Guinea, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Mozambique, Nepal, Malawi, Rwanda, and Uganda. A dynamic team leader, Joel often spearheads innovative digital training, data visualization tools, and platforms that empower non-technical users with critical insights. His work has supported initiatives on literacy and numeracy development, climate resilience, digital literacy, sexual and reproductive health, and international security.
Joel demonstrates considerable passion for youth empowerment, readily showing up to address community challenges. Through Chozen Generation, an organization he founded and led from 2013 to 2021, he created a platform where young Sierra Leoneans can meaningfully engage their leaders on issues and policies that are most important to them. The organization promotes youth leadership and organizes an annual national debating championship for girls to raise awareness on gender equality issues. His national influence as a young leader was also further expressed in regular engagements with leaders of government. In 2018, for instance, he led a delegation of youth leaders to the Commissioner, National Youth Commission to discuss a range of youth issues. After the launch of the government’s free education initiative, he also engaged the Ministry of Basic and Senior Secondary Education in a meeting with the Deputy Minister on key, youth-focused recommendations on making the free education work.
Joel attended the prestigious Albert Academy School from 2002 to 2008, where he achieved the best result in the 2005 Basic Education Certificate Examination. In 2015, he graduated from Fourah Bay College, University of Sierra Leone, receiving the University Award for best student in Mechanical and Maintenance Engineering. He recently completed a Master of Science in Data from the University of Aberdeen in the UK. When he is not building data processing pipelines or helping businesses make more sense of their data, Joel enjoys reading, writing inspirational blogs, eating with colleagues at the office, and giving those around him funny pet names.