bailén is a consulting group.

We are brought in by organizations to build and implement innovation projects that improve the world.

Some of the groups we’ve worked with.

Who we are.

*If you’ve noticed we have the same surname, it’s because we are married. In fact ‘bailén’ is the name of the street we met on in Spain, more than twenty years ago. Bailén means ‘to dance’ and we’ve been dancing on projects together since 2004, from the townships of East Africa, to the technology hubs of Silicon Valley. We now live in Byron Bay with our two sons and love ‘to dance’ on innovative projects with friends and clients across the world.

Kaitlin Tait

I’ve worked in impact for more than two decades, beginning with grassroots projects in the townships and villages of East Africa and Central America, before founding organisations that worked across the globe and supporting international organisations and national governments. I love working at the intersection of gender equity, entrepreneurship and emerging markets.

  • I am a co-founder of ygap.org which has supported more than 800 impact entrepreneurs across the world since 2010. I served as the organisation’s General Manager, Head of Learning Design and as board member.

  • I’ve led innovative impact projects for groups including UNCDF, Mastercard, DFAT, USAID and GIZ.

  • I focus on program and learning design, particularly in the sectors of gender, entrepreneurship, international development, and climate.

  • I maintain a trusted network of contractors for locally led impact projects in South and East Africa and the Pacific Islands.

  • I hold degrees in international education (Sydney) and psychology (Santa Clara).

  • I am the co-author of the book Entrepreneurs That Change Lives.

  • You can find me on LinkedIn here.

I’ve also worked in impact for more than two decades, beginning with United Nations missions in the Middle East, then on to grassroots economic project in the townships and villages of East Africa. I’ve co-founded several impact organisations that have worked across the globe in entrepreneurship and education and I love working at the intersection of innovation, leadership and learning.

  • I am a co-founder of the scaled edtech company ec.inc, which was acquired by the tech unicorn Go1 in 2022.

  • I am a co-founder of ygap.org which has supported more than 800 impact entrepreneurs across the world since 2010. I served as the organisation’s Chief Impact Officer, Board Chair and as a board member.

  • I’ve led innovative impact projects for groups including Microsoft, Apple, PWC, and Atlassian.

  • I focus on product design, learning content and program creation, go-to-market strategy, and leadership facilitation.

  • I hold degrees in climate change (Cambridge), global policy (UNSW), international development (Deakin) and economics (UNSW).

  • I am the author of three books on innovation and impact, and a former Australian military officer with seven years of service and active service decorations.

  • You can find me on LinkedIn here.

Aaron Tait

Some of the things we’ve built for clients and partners.

National and regional programs to train and develop entrepreneurs.

We were the co-founders of ygap.org and from 2010 to 2024 designed, implemented, and managed national entrepreneur training programs across Africa (offices in Kenya, South Africa and also continent wide initiatives), Asia (an office in Bangladesh, as well as regional initiatives, and the Pacific (offices in Fiji, Australia and regional initiatives. These included capacity building for thousands of entrepreneurs, angel to venture-level investments, curriculum creation and learning design, workshop delivery, donor and partner engagement, and the management of local staff. We were part of creating entrepreneurial ecosystem-building programs for DFAT (Frontier Incubators), UNCDF (Pacific Islands), Atlassian and PWC (Australia).

A global AI training program for Microsoft.

Whilst at EC we led the creation and implementation of the AI training program Imagine Cup Junior for Microsoft. This program has run from 2018 - 2025 (initially as AI for Good), and is now global with thousands of students taking part each year. Microsoft still uses the brand, learning design and curriculum created by Aaron.

While at ygap, Kaitlin collaborated with Mastercard, Fintech Pacific, and the Australian government on the design of a mobile payment platform for women in the Pacific. Bringing an understanding of the local community and customer experience, she led on designing the training that ygap delivered to build the business acumen of the women and ensure a good user experience and uptake of the new payment platform. The product has since been launched with an initial focus on Fiji and plans to expand regionally.

A scaled content business to support ‘leadership for a better world.’

A digital payment platform with Mastercard for the Pacific Islands.

We created and are continuing to support the production of ‘Studio ByMany’ for the leadership development company ByMany. With a mission of supporting leadership for a better world, this product provides at scale learning for leaders across Australia in the form of a biannual magazine, a smartphone app, and leadership events.

Continent-wide training programs to improve gender equity with international organisations.

We’ve created training toolkits to foster gender equity in entrepreneurial ecosystems across Asia and Africa. Completed in partnership with Sasakawa Peace Foundation and GIZ respectively, this project saw the creation of digital and printed material, as well as capacity building workshops.

We were co-founders of ec.inc, a SaaS technology platform that is now used by thousands of schools. It is best described as the "Netflix for teacher training," as it aggregates learning courses from over 100 providers. In 2022, ec.inc was acquired by the technology unicorn Go1. Prior to launching this platform, ec.inc operated as an in-person training company, working with up to 25,000 educators each year, organising major education events, publishing two books, and being contracted by companies including Microsoft, Apple, and Atlassian, and governments across Europe, Asia, Australia, and the Americas.

A scaled online learning platform for school teachers.

How we can help

  • Coaching & Mentoring

    Strategic coaching and mentorship for leaders navigating growth, innovation and impact. We offer 1:1 or small group coaching for founders, nonprofit/social enterprise executives or corporate innovation leaders.

  • Project-based Innovation

    Concept to launch support to help you develop new initiatives, programs or products. Bring us in for an innovation sprint to help you with strategy + execution (ie. research, stakeholder engagement, content development, program design).

  • Ongoing Advisory

    Tailored strategic, impact, innovation or leadership development advisory on a retainer basis. We offer expert guidance on scaling initiatives, designing effective programs, measuring impact, storytelling and adapting to evolving challenges - without the need for a full-time hire.

Want to buy our book?

If you are an entrepreneur setting out to change the world, don't begin the journey without reading this first.' Dan Madhavan - Impact Investor @ Ecotone Partners

'Reading this book and applying its principles will put you ahead of 99% of other impact entrepreneurs. More importantly, it will reduce your risks of failure, increase your chances of success, and provide a framework to lead well—from leading yourself, your team, and your organization.' Banks Benitez - Founder of Uncharted and Impact Investor

'This book is a bible for how entrepreneurship can be done successfully and with meaningful impact.' Sheree Rubinstein - Founder of One Roof

How we work

Many innovative projects start with a problem or an opportunity. At this stage the answers aren’t clear. We love it here. We lean into the complexity with you, and by employing our unique approach of listening, questioning and researching, we start to make sense, together.

From chaos

As we make progress, we will clarify the problem or opportunity, and begin to propose possible approaches and constraints to move forward with.

To confidence

We then move from ideation and innovation to creating an ideal program or product for you (and with you). We help to bring this to life, and into the real world.

To creation

Want to connect ?

Either send us an email at kaitlin@bailen.us or aaron@bailen.us, call us on +61 412 269 705 or share some details below and we’ll get back to you.