Professor Patricia Masego Makepe is an Associate Professor of Economics and Director, Centre for Business Management, Entrepreneurship and General Education (CBME&GE) at the Botswana International University of Science and Technology (BIUST) since 2019. In this role, she is committed to ensuring that BIUST graduates are equipped with skills and competencies to enable them to start, develop and sustain their own STEM related enterprises or joint ventures. She previously, served as Head of Department of Economics, University of Botswana (UB), for six years, and was promoted to Associate Professor in 2013. Cumulatively, Professor Makepe worked as an academic for 30 years. She holds a PhD in Natural Resource Development (2003) from Michigan State University, a PhD level Certificate in Environmental Economics from University of Gothenburg in Sweden (1997) and a Master of Science Agricultural Economics (1996), Michigan, State University, U.S.A. In 2022 she completed the University of Oxford Strategic Management Executive Programme with Säid Business School in 2022 and the MBA Essentials Programme with the London School of Economics and Political Science, UK. Professor Makepe’s selected previous engagements include consultancy work for the Botswana National Human Resource Development Plan for HRDC, Botswana (2019), which identified the skills (now and in future), as well as the competency needs for Botswana. Among others, she is a member (2020 to date) of the SmartBotswana MOTE iTeam which produced the blueprint for establishment of the Science and Innovation School of Excellence (SISE) in Botswana. Professor Makepe also worked as a consultant for various international organisations namely: the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) and ResearchICTAfrica. She has served as an assessor and external examiner and is also a member of the African Economics Research Consortium (AERC) and the Botswana Economics Association (BEA). She is currently a co-principal investigator on a Solar Network project involving several international universities like Ulster University in the United Kingdom and Europe based industries. Broadly, her research areas cover women economic empowerment with emphasis on the interface between technology, management, and entrepreneurship. Professor Makepe is a member of the prestigious Monetary Policy Committee of the Bank of Botswana. She has served as a board member in several reputable organizations such as the National Development Bank (NDB, 2015-2021), African Economics Research Consortium (AERC, Kenya, 2011-2015), and Botswana Institute for Development Policy Analysis (BIDPA, 2012-2015) and Citizen Entrepreneurial Development Agency (2008-2012).