Dr Kitiabi holds A PhD from Durham University Business School in the United Kingdom and is an Academic member of the University of Nairobi, School of Business. Dr Kitiabi is also a Private/Public Sector Advisor and Investment and Development Advisor. She is also an alumnus Research scholar of The Wharton Business School of the University of Pennsylvania, USA, and York University Canada. Her specific areas of Competency include Small Business Development and promotion, Development of Incubation and Innovation programs for Women, Development and evaluation of Financial instruments for business development, Regional Trade Facilitation, Revenue Administration and management, Fiscal and monetary policy analysis, Privatization, Investment, Management Practice, and Reforms in Public and community Enterprises, Public Management and process and institutional reforms.

 Dr Kitiabi has over 15 years of experience in the private sector, Gender/women development, trade, and investment advising and consulting on regional trade, reforms, restructuring– Business creation, Incubation, women in Business, Financial SACCOs & Evaluation in Women Empowerment (WEE), policy development and analysis. As private sector development specialist and advisor, Dr Kitiabi has worked closely with regional institutions, (i.e., COMESA, the East African Community, (EAC) IGAD, and the South African Development Cooperation (SADC), ILO Assistance to Business Creation, Kenya Management Assistance Program (KMAP), that included business incubation models. She has also worked with Public institutions in Revenue Administration and management and development matters.

Dr Kitiabi has vast experience as a Regional Trade Program Specialist and manager in the EAC/COMESA region as an advisor and consultant with USAID's Regional Economic Development Services Office(REDSO) /Regional Trade Analysis Agenda for East and Southern Africa. She managed the Regional Trade Analytical Agenda Program (RTAA) for East and Southern Africa. This program involved analysis, dialogue, and Implementation of major components of Cross Border Trade, Reducing Transportation Costs, and Economic Comparative Advantage. The program was designed with a strategy of from Analysis to dialogue to Change. The program Covered COMESA/EAC countries. The program addressed issues of Policy harmonization and dialogue for women’s economic empowerment, Trade facilitation, agriculture trade commodities, and their production, management, and regional integration issues. She is a member of several professional bodies that include, Member East African Business Association, Member Chambers of Commerce, among others.

More specifically she is an active member of various CSO’s including The UON WEE hub, The Kenya Business and Professional Clubs, The Association of University Women, and The Kenya Women Caucus. Currently, she is the chairperson of The Council for Economic Empowerment for Women of Africa-Kenya Chapter (CEEWAK), an organization committed to the Economic Empowerment of Women through breaking barriers in national, regional, and international Economics and trade policies. She is responsible for advising, coordinating, and facilitating this agenda through the implementation of the Regional trade/investment, economic and political programs in collaboration with sub-regional CEEWA chapters and other gender-based institutions. and continues to lobby on commitments made by stakeholders in the Beijing Platform of Action. She participated in the WIDE/CEEWA WTO position paper and continues to lobby the World Bank, COMESA, WTO, and ECA. And the UN on the economic, social, and political policies that affect the status of Women. She has over ten years of experience of consulting and advising Women on economic empowerment issues; private sector initiatives, public sector restructuring (engendering the budgetary process), capacity building in trade opportunities in WTO and AGOA linkages, and their challenges to trade and investment. In this role, she has majorly worked with Women and institutions related to economic empowerment -with special emphasis on -- regional Trade Policy Development, Small Enterprise Financing, Business Start-ups, regional investment advising, business partnership development in the East and Southern African region. She has various publications on women empowerment, Trade, Management, and Policy.