Designing Change: Building Pathways for Women in Northeast Nigeria

What was it like when you thought about creating that platform? What does it even do?

Hmm.

Um, so it started just about a year after I started my tech journey, and of course I was asking myself, what business do I have with starting a tech community for women when I'm just getting started in tech? When I started, I did not know that I was starting a nonprofit organization or a social impact work.

I was literally just starting a community for young women and girls that are interested in tech or that are already into tech to grow together, to access opportunities together.

At that time, I was seeing a lot of opportunities online, and I would see female participants are strongly encouraged to apply.

But at the same time, you are still not seeing the females in that, in that space.

So when I started, the mission was simply to, if there are women in tech in Yola, in Northeast Nigeria, let this be a community where we can connect and grow together.

And then the second part is that for the young girls that are still in secondary school, that they don't know what tech is about, that they don't see female role models in tech, they need to start seeing that and make informed decisions early.

And imagine if back in secondary school I knew what tech was.

I read somewhere that if you can see it, you can become it.

These young girls, they don't even see it.

They don't even hear about it.

That is how it started, and from growing a community, it became a full-fledged nonprofit organization where we now train young women.

We now do awareness projects for girls in secondary school.

We've established several high school clubs where I and my team visit them periodically to just expose them to the field of technology, so just opening up their minds to such possibilities.

And then right now we're taking it a step further.

Besides training them, finding a way to link them to opportunities in the global market, internship, freelancing, job placements, because it's one thing to train them, and it's another thing to connect them to the opportunities and ensure that they're empowered economically.

Because that is the end goal.

If you have the skill and you sit down at home, it's of no benefit to you.

But when a woman is economically empowered, my God, there is just nothing that she cannot do.

And then the impact that comes from just one woman being empowered, it has a ripple effect.

You're not just keeping the knowledge to yourself, you are transferring it to your sisters, to your friends, to your children in turn, and just inspiring more girls.

And I remember how I felt when I, when I first heard my now mentor speak.

She's the founder of Rovi Data Youth Foundation, Mrs. Nnenna Mosugo.

I was just amazed because she was very calm, very feminine, very intelligent, and there was just something about her story that made me to connect with her across different levels.