A Life of Dedication and Transformation [Côte d’Ivoire]
Aïda Alassane N’Diaye-Riddick (- May 2026) was a highly accomplished and multidisciplinary development expert with extensive experience across education, health, and poverty alleviation. She founded Empower Us, a consulting firm established in 2020 to promote development and poverty reduction in Africa and beyond through inclusive economic growth initiatives.
Aïda served as the country manager for Teaching at the Right Level Africa (TaRL Africa), an innovative initiative co-led by the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the Indian NGO Pratham. At TaRL, she managed the country team and operations, working closely with the Ministry of Education to implement evidence-based programs that equip children with foundational reading and mathematics skills.
From 2016 to 2018, Aïda played a pivotal role in Côte d’Ivoire’s $524 million Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) Compact program. As a leader in this partnership, she oversaw programmatic and financial management, including strategic planning, implementation, and monitoring and evaluation. Her efforts involved consultations with key stakeholders, including government ministries, the private sector, civil society, and development partners.
Prior to this, Aïda served as the National Coordinator of Côte d’Ivoire’s Threshold Unit, a cross-sectoral initiative focused on poverty alleviation, which led to the country’s selection for the MCC Compact program. She has also worked on child immunization with the GAVI Initiative, poverty alleviation with the World Bank, and HIV/AIDS programming through the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).
Aïda was a CERTIFIED ASSOCIATE CMMI (Capability Maturity Model Integration) professional through ISACA and brought exceptional expertise in strategic planning, program management, and policy development.
She held a bachelor’s degree in biology and chemistry from the University of Hartford and a master’s degree in Health Services Administration and Policy (MHSA) from The George Washington University. Fluent in English and French, Aïda drove impactful change across Africa, leveraging her multidisciplinary expertise to foster sustainable development and inclusive economic growth.