Philanthropic investment firm Omidyar Network has hired Google’s ex-policy manager for Sub-Saharan Africa, Ory Okolloh, as director for the firm’s government transparency initiative.

Omidyar Network, which is co-founded by eBay founder Pierre Omidyar, provides investment for profit and nonprofit initiatives spanning areas such as consumer internet and mobile, government transparency and entrepreneurship.

The network’s government transparency initiatives include the likes of ‘African Media Initiative’, ‘Enough is Enough Nigeria’ and crowdsourcing technology company ‘Ushahidi’, of which Okolloh is a founding member.

Apart from working for Google and Ushahidi, Okolloh has further been the co-founder of Mzalendo: a website that tracks government transparency in Kenya.

According to the Omidyar Network, Okolloh is planned to help the organisation support “innovative organisations that use technology and media platforms to provide access to information and the tools necessary for citizens to participate in the governing process.”

Okolloh will be based in Omidyar Network’s Johannesburg, South Africa office.

Omidyar Network Partner Stephen King said, “Ory is a well-established leader in the technology and transparency communities,”

“She will help spur Omidyar Network’s growth and impact by lending her voice and considerable experience in Africa.” King added.

Okolloh graduated from Harvard Law School. She also graduated summa cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Pittsburgh.

Previously, she was a Chayes Fellow at the World Bank’s Department of Institutional Integrity and in she was named a ‘Young Global Leader’ by the World Economic Forum (WEF).