Prior to joining NRGI in 2009, Silas spent three years leading Oxfam International's advocacy and knowledge sharing initiative in Tanzania. He has also served as capacity building advisor with the Netherlands Development Organization, head of the planning department for the Ngara District Council in northwest Tanzania and manager of the European Development Fund-Micro Project Program in the Lake Victoria region.

Silas holds an advanced diploma in economic planning from the Institute of Development Management Mzumbe in Tanzania, where he has lectured on economic planning, and a M.S. in agricultural development and rural finance from the Development and Project Planning Center at the University of Bradford.