On 21st July 2016, at exactly 8.00AM, Women in Technology from across East Africa sat at the Business and Student’s Service Centre in Kenyatta University ready to learn and network. They attentively listened to Anie Akpe the CEO and founder of IBOM LLC, the parent company of Innov8tiv.com which was partly sponsoring the event.
Other sponsors included Women in Technology, Google,Women Techmakers,TechMoran and DardenMBA. I looked around the hall at the eager and enthusiastic women as Anie gave a line-up of what to expect and I knew I was in the right place.
As Anie continued, I picked the below main points as what the conference was geared towards;
Sparking an interest in tech among young girls and motivating them to delve into tech
Bringing together professional women to act as role models to the aspiring female tech professionals
Providing a platform for sharing and asking questions on challenges women face within the tech space
Over and above that, #AwitKenya sought to provide a space of connection with women in various aspects and careers in technology. It also provided networking opportunities for professional women from both in and around Kenya as well as those from abroad.
In retrospect, I can confidently report that the agenda was met as women freely mingled and shared their experiences. What I loved most about this particular conference, (having attended many others before), was the fact that it provided the attendees with a unique combination of deep-dive, hands-on tech workshops, information and discussions about careers in tech space and how to pursue them. It brought together women from many different types of jobs in tech and at every level from students to senior executives.
Most events about women in tech tend to focus mainly on coding, but this event focused on all aspects of careers pertaining to technology. Be it as a developer, entrepreneur, analyst, programmer or venture capitalist. As the day progressed, so did the knowledge of attendees as well as those who were following the discussions on the twitter hashtag#AWITKENYA. You can view the recap of the event here.
Due to the success of the Kenya edition, part 2 of African Women in Tech Conference will be held in Ghana on Dec 15th to 17th 2016. Just like in Kenya, #AWITGhana will be one of its kind aimed at encouraging and mentoring young girls to pursue STEM-based education programs and careers. The conference will be made possible by the generous sponsorship of IBOM LLC, the parent company of Innov8tiv.com in partnership with IMPACT Hub Accra, VC 4 Africa, African Business Angel Network (ABAN), Levers in Heels,Leading Ladies Africa, and TechMoran .
For more information, click here and I hope I’ll be seeing some of you then.
This article was shared by Gladys Maina, an IT Officer of Jhpiego Kenya on her LinkedIn page, here.
