Leveraging the 21st Century skills by Developer Student Club JKUAT.
I receive two notifications from my Calendar app for upcoming tech events: Devfest Riftvalley by GDG Eldoret and 21st Century Skills by DSC JKUAT. I’m in a dilemma…deep down I want to attend both events but it isn’t possible. I finally opt for the JKUAT event. I’m supposed to RSVP for the event on Meetup but I choose not to,I want it to be a surprise for my @dscjkuat team.
EVENT DETAILS
The main aim of the event was to equip attendees with the 21st Century skills that are relevant for success in the industry.Additionally, give them a platform where they can interact, share their ideas and learn.
SPEAKERS PROFILE
The first guest speaker was HelinnaAyalew who is the Head of Digital Education at @liquidtelecom. She graduated from @Yale with a Master’s degree in Arts, African Studies.
The second guest speaker was Ida Ng'ang'a. She is the Director, RCD Africa. The 2016 winner of the African Leadership Top Award ‘Outstanding Mentor’. She champions Sustainable Development initiatives, provides technical expertise, and connects partners and funders to aid this process, for the Regional Consortium for Development (RCD Africa). She is Vice Chair of Kenya’s National Focus Group on SDGs & Tech and Member of the Child Online Protection Committee. Ida is also a LEGO First Competition and Start Up Africa Entrepreneurship Judge. She is a Lead Africa Code Week Ambassador, a SAP/UNESCO program which has introduced more than 4.2 million young learners to coding in 37 countries across Africa. She is Co-Chair of Internet/STEM4Dev, & WomeninSTEM global communities and Founder of Fem-Hub Africa, a coaching and business accelerater for women in STEM. Additionally she currently leads ‘Internet for Education’ conversations globally for the Internet Society.
We were also honoured to have Timame Njeri who is in-charge of Startup engagement and support @liquidtelecom . She is also the Regional Expert for MIT’s Initiative on the Digital Economy(IIC)
Last but not least, Douglas Ogeto . He is in-charge of Ecosystem Partnerships @LiquidTelecom and is the co-founder of Ludiqueworks
The sessions were moderated by Mwaniki Ngatia . He is the Robotic Process Automation Engineer at Neverest LLC and is the director of communication at Deaf Haven.
RESOURCES
Info about JKUAT Tech Expo
If you would like to know about upcoming events by DSC JKUAT, check out on Meetup or Twitter.
PHOTOS
DIVERSITY AND MENTORSHIP
I had the pleasure of catching up with my mentor and tech Momma Ida,mentee Velda and got to network with two adorable and outstanding women in tech: Hellina and Timame after the event. I’m proud to say that my Saturday was well spent. I find tech events and conferences critical and helpful since they foster relationships,connections and networks that can take you places and unfold so many opportunities in ones career.
The benefits of mentorship are too many to count. Finding a great mentor-mentee relationship can help you build your professional network, increase self-confidence and help combat imposter syndrome, enhance your skills and knowledge, meet fascinating business influencers, build meaningful connections to last your career and better define your career goals. Just to mention but a few.
Takeaway Pointers
- Your network is your networth.
- It’s okay to fail, to not know, to be embarrassed and to mess up as you’re starting out on your career journey.
- Get yourself out there, you never know what opportunities life holds for you. Dive deep even in uncertainty.
Cheers! Until next time.
Read my previous article about My experience at Google I/O 2019 and be sure to follow me on twitter and tweet me as well!
