Jennifer Ogumbor-Larbi on Transitioning and Translating Creativity to a Tech Career

[sidebar_widget sidebar_id="sidebar-1" width="1/1" el_position="first last"] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="1/1" el_position="first last"]Meet Jennifer Ogumbor-Larbi, a Nigerian-born, Canadian raised Digital Content Creator, and one of Canada's top lifestyle influencers.As Editor-in-Chief of The Jeneralist, Jennifer creatively and openly shares places and spaces, travel experiences, culture, style and inspiring bits that add vibrancy to her everyday life, as she puts it.One interesting aspect of Jennifer's journey, however, is her transition to technology. As an IT consultant, Jennifer supports the implementation of large-scale IT projects while helping companies streamline and improve their business processes. 

"For as long as I can remember, I have always been a creative with a keen interest in technology."

"In my early high school years, my favourite subjects were Mathematics, Science and English. However, I took more notice to computers after taking a Computer Science elective in grade 10. After that, I began taking matters into my own hands and would often get into trouble at home for taking apart our Compaq CPU in many failed attempts to upgrade the processor and motherboard to improve my computer gaming experiences. When I was not consumed with breaking things just to fix them again, I was writing spoken word or fictional short stories, helping my friends customise their Myspace web pages, directing pop-themed video shoots with my sisters with our less than 2-megapixel webcam and compiling short films that I would later burn on DVD’s for keepsake.

As the eldest of 4 girls, I spent a lot of time living in the shadows of my parents and the pressures that came with the goals and ambitions they had for me instead of pursuing my own interests with vigour.  My parents convinced me to follow a medical path after high school and I enrolled in a Nursing program with the intent to pursue med school shortly after.  That "dream" didn’t get very far because I found out just how revulsed I was to the notion and/or sight of blood after having a breakdown during a mock ER session at the end of my first year.  I mustered the courage to de-enrol and came up with a plan to break the news to my parents.  The following year, I enrolled at the University of Windsor in the Social Sciences program and later graduated with a BA in Sociology and a minor in Economics."

• What are some of the challenges you experienced in your transition to IT? And what inspired this new career path?

"Towards the end of my second year in University, I took on a part-time job as a Service Representative with Sutherland Global, a company that works with its clients to rethink their processes and work together to streamline it, rebuild it, and deliver it back smarter than before.  For the first few months of my role, I supported ATT U-verse customers in the American Southwest to understand their frustrations with the systems in place and find ways to help the company improve its interface as bugs were identified.  One of the managers took a keen liking toward me and observed how diligent and analytical I was and encouraged me to enrol in some foundational courses in Business Analysis.  Still in school full-time pursuing my Social Sciences degree with a part-time job that was just as demanding, I held off on pursuing additional courses and continued to garner experience through the company.  I ended up taking the course over the summer, ahead of starting my fourth year and after working in that role for a year or so, I was promoted as a Junior Analyst within the company and began supporting RIM (now known as BlackBerry Limited). This was when I got introduced to the phenomenal world of enterprise software and the Internet of Things. After graduating, I pivoted from pursuing a career in my earned degree and ended up going to work with one of Canada’s largest telecommunications company as a Small Business Consultant/Analyst. I have since worked in the Government, Educational and Oil & Gas sectors supporting large IT implementations that aide companies in conducting day-to-day operational services more efficiently.  Acknowledging  that technology is ever evolving, I am currently enrolled in a series of courses to get certified in Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning to remain relevant in the industry."

• Tell us about the work that you do as an IT consultant. What project(s) are you currently working on?

"As an IT Consultant/Senior Analyst, I support large-scale IT projects while helping companies streamline and improve their business processes.  I am currently working on a multi-million dollar enterprise software implementation for ATCO’s Natural Gas Distribution division, to decommission multiple legacy databases previously used to manage assets and simultaneously implementing IBM’s enterprise asset management cloud solution called Maximo.  This will include complex integrations with other enterprise cloud solutions.  The successful implementation of Maximo will result in huge business benefits for the organization and a significant ROI; including but not limited to the digitization of their manually driven workforce, along with providing a single database which will become the source of truth for management of their spatial and non-spatial assets."

• What inspired the creation of 'The Jeneralist', and how do you wish to create an impact through this platform?

"While planning my wedding in 2017, I was drawn back to the childhood/early adolescent creative in me that had been so long suppressed. Putting a creative concept together for the wedding and seeing things come to fruition so vividly refuelled that creative flare and before I knew it, I began looking for ways to express myself more openly amidst all of life’s ups and downs.Excited for the challenge of building my own website, I took the leap and created The Jeneralist at the beginning of 2018 to serve as a creative outlet, nurture my love for writing and to push the boundaries of my creativity through photography.  On my blog, I share vibrant moments and travel experiences through writing and photography but also speak openly on my personal journey and advocate strongly for mental health by sharing positive messages and tips to encourage my readers to prioritise self-development and self-care.Since 2018, I’ve been able to grow (still growing!) and connect with a like-minded community of over 10 thousand people across the globe. I realise that I’ve established myself as a leader in this age of social media and remain conscious of messages I share online and the potential impact(s) they may have on my readers.  By being true to my values and continuing to share my journey as comfortably as I can, my hope is to continue encouraging others to let their own voices speak louder than any doubt in their minds that convince them that they may be inadequate. Most importantly, with so many different personalities online my hope is to continue reminding people that we are more alike than we are different and that no one person truly goes through anything alone."

• In your opinion, are there any strategic reasons why “content will always be king”?

"Within my first year of creating content for my blog, I learned very quickly that sharing content without any form of strategy is pointless. In order for your brand to grow, to encourage engagement, increase traffic or even generate new leads to your site/whatever it is you are sharing, you want to ensure that any content you put out is of high quality and will add value in some way.One simple strategy that has proven effective for my blog is doing some research on any topic that I want to share in an article/post and incorporating commonly used keywords on that topic. By doing this, it helps greatly with things like Search-Engine-Optimisation (SEO) and will also help your website to rank organically on search engines.  A higher ranking on search engines will ultimately result in increased exposure of your brand to more digital consumers searching for content/information relevant to the respective topic.Good content, whether it is in the form of a blog post or photo update on social media encourages your audience to engage with your brand.  When sharing on Instagram for example, I take the quality along with the wow-factor of the image into heavy consideration before sharing.  The simple fact is that if the content is genuinely good and you are able to captivate your audience, they will pause to consume the content, understand the message and perhaps even comment, like or share it with their followers as well.So needless to say, content will always be king."

• What advice would you give to anyone trying to transition into STEM careers?

"My advice to anyone trying to transition into STEM careers, especially women, is to find a way to get your foot in the door and to pursue your interests with vigour.Innovation has come a long way but at a time when technology continues to transform the way we live, work and learn, the need to close the STEM gender gap is more critical than ever.  From the outside looking in, STEM can often seem like an intimidating field, but my advice would be to push past the fear of the unknown in order to continue denying false stereotypes/narratives.  I encourage you to attend local STEM events in your city (eg; Women in Tech events), network as much as you can and find people (women) you can shadow to get deeper insights into your field of interest and take the initiative and enrol in some foundational courses. There is a wealth of accessible knowledge/information on the internet that can help you kick-start your journey.  You never know, your transition to STEM may just be a simple Google search away."[/spb_text_block]

Nigeria's Becky George-David's journey as a Software Engineer breaking into Investment Banking

[sidebar_widget sidebar_id="sidebar-1" width="1/1" el_position="first last"] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="1/1" el_position="first last"]Engineering is considered to be one of the most challenging and demanding careers, but for many good reasons. Over the years, the skill-sets that this discipline encompasses have assisted many engineers to successfully make a smooth transition into the world of finance; specifically in investment banking.Investment banking is a highly enterprising environment, sensitive to the delivery and management of information and data processing. Technology plays a major role in managing all aspects of investment banking; which includes trading, security or research. One of the benefits any business in the investment banking industry can have is faster access to information.This is where Software Engineering can provide a competitive advantage for businesses in this field.In this month's edition of Women of Impact, we interviewed Nigerian-born and raised Becky George-David, as she opens up her experience as a Software Engineer with one of the world's leading financial institutions - the Royal Bank of Scotland. Becky is also co-founder of TheBusyBodi, an online platform that seeks to tap into the informal economy by creating a market place for service providers (sellers) and customers (buyers), particularly in the blue-collar job market.

"Post my primary education, I attended two schools in my junior secondary years before my dad identified that I'd be better suited at a science-only school for my senior secondary education. I spent the final three years of secondary school with the sole aim of becoming a doctor, as I’d been brought up to believe was my career of choice. I loved Physics, Mathematics, Biology and Literature (surprisingly), but just struggled to find love with Chemistry.  In all, I'm a STEM girl by upbringing, but most importantly, by passion!"

• What inspired your transition to the world of investment banking?

"When I decided to pursue a degree in Computing, I knew the range of career options would be wide. However, I did not anticipate, nor fully comprehend, the many applications of technology. In my first year at the University of East London, I began investigating internships to tie in my theoretical knowledge to real world applications. I got paired with a mentor who worked for Barclays Capital at the time, and that's how my curiosity and career within the financial markets, in the financial capital of the world, was birthed. I've spent a better part of my career as a Software Engineer with a global team spanning the US, Europe and Asia - building bespoke front end automated electronic trading applications for both trading with clients (brokers, other banking institutions) and exchanges such as LSE, NYSE etc."

• Tell us about the project you are currently working on?

"I currently work at the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) as a Technical Delivery Manager where I manage and ensure the end to end delivery of mobile banking products and services to our 6.2 million customers.  In this fin tech era, customers expect to have a hassle-free mobile experience that enables them to manage their finances on the go. I work alongside Product Owners, Developers, Testers and a change team to ensure that our customers have an app that is personalised to them, enables full control of their finances and provides all these services at their fingertips 24/7."

• Tell us about TheBusyBodi. What was the motivation behind this?

"I came around this idea whilst discussing the frustration of a typical Nigerian undergraduate or graduate student trying to find a placement or job. We realised that in Nigeria, a lot of people relied not just on their '9 to 5' but also on their '5 to 9' AKA the 'side hustle'. These side hustles in some cases, were even worth more than a 'full time job'. We sought to solve this problem by creating a platform for these service providers to engage with a wider customer base, and for consumers of this services to receive competitive prices and verified services alike. My co-founder and I are currently exploring new ways of solving the challenge of capturing/on-boarding service providers who happen to mostly be offline."

• Do you have any plans of transferring your expertise to Nigeria?

"My passion is and always will be seeing Africa's economy finally emerge. I've wanted to return home ever since I graduated. But I understand that I need to learn from my current environment, through the opportunities that I've been fortunate to have. It's particularly important that I spend my time here in the UK tech space, curating a tailored experience that leans on the exploration of successes and pitfalls, and the real-world impact and role that technology is playing in disrupting various industries. Within the next 5 years, I should have a solid experience, as well as strategic, technical and tactical expertise to go back home and be part of our success story."

• What’s your advice for young girls who wish to take up STEM roles, particularly in Software Engineering?

"Be intentional with your time and with activities that you lend yourself to. Have an 'idea' of what you want and why. I'm a firm believer in the ability of a strong 'why’ to propel you through tough times when your 'what' becomes more difficult to pursue. This is applicable when as a software engineer, you hit a code block that even stack overflow can't help you get over.  I believe that it is also applicable in all other areas of one's life for one to become a well-rounded individual."[/spb_text_block]

Evelyne Inès Ntonga on giving HOPE to blood supply in Senegal

[sidebar_widget sidebar_id="sidebar-1" width="1/1" el_position="first last"] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="1/1" el_position="first last"]Evelyne Inès Ntonga is a Cameroonian entrepreneur, and a Design Engineer in the telecommunications sector.In 2016, Evelyn created and launched HOPE, the first digital platform in Senegal that allows blood banks and other healthcare facilities to manage blood stocks, communicate permanently and interactively with blood donors, and raise awareness about the importance of blood donation.Evelyne recently received the Observatory Award for eHealth in the countries of the South awarded by the Pierre Fabre Foundation.

• What is it like to be a female engineer in Cameroon?

"In many parts of Cameroon, women are still considered as the property of men. Due to the lack of education and the weight of traditions/customs, they undergo certain situations and sometimes are not consulted for certain decisions involving themselves or their families.We observe that times have changed and the skills acquired by women who have braved the engineering curriculum, are not questioned. Moreover, we notice that responsible positions are entrusted to them and they carry out their missions properly.I can quote as an example, the Minister of Posts and Telecommunications of Cameroon who is a woman, as well as the Chief Executive Officer of the Aeronautical Authority."

• Tell us about your project HOPE, and what inspired this.

"The project HOPE was created in Senegal and is the fruit of a collaboration with a friend, Jean Luc Francisco Semedo.During our 4^th academic year in 2015, and regarding the blood shortage faced by the National Blood Transfusion Center in Dakar, we decided to bring a solution to this problem thanks to the use of Information Technologies and Communication, but especially by taking into account realities of the country.Indeed, according to the World Health Organization, every minute in the world, a woman dies while giving birth for causes related to lack of blood. Furthermore in Senegal (2015), only 0.45 % of the population gave blood, which is very insufficient to meet the needs for blood products and reach a self-sufficiency as advocated by WHO. Nevertheless, we live in a world of connected people, with a mobile penetration rate that has exceeded 100 % in Senegal and in many African countries.The solution we have found is to create a blood donor’s network, interconnected via mobile and on which blood banks should lean on to improve their communication with populations, to raise awareness and boost the number of voluntary blood donations to save lives.

"HOPE is the first digital platform in Senegal that allows blood banks to manage their structure and increase their blood supply, thanks to a permanent and interactive communication with blood donors. This is done by sending SMS to thank the donor after a blood donation, sending donation reminders 3 or 4 months later, sending emergency alert SMS and vocal calls in local languages, and providing a mobile application for blood donors while having a strong presence on social media."

We officially launched the project in 2016, with a pilot phase of 7 months at the National Blood Transfusion Center in Dakar. During this period, we succeeded in tripling the blood donations in the center. Approximately 10,900 SMS were sent to blood donors and about 30,000 people were reached across our different platforms.Through our work, we have received national and international recognitions including:- Winner of the Digital Innovation Award in Dakar, in 2015 (by NGO Reach for Change and Tigo)- Winner of Falling Walls Lab Dakar in 2016 (by the Friedrich Naumann Foundation)- Winner of the Global South E-health Observatory Award (by Pierre Fabre Foundation).This year, we have launched a second pilot, with the blood bank of the regional hospital of Thies, a region of Senegal which struggles to meet the high demand of blood products. The results of this pilot are already very satisfactory, and we have great hope to achieve our objectives."

• Are there enough blood centres in Cameroon as compared to Senegal?

"The National Blood Transfusion policy in Cameroon is still young and in full implementation. The construction of a National Blood Transfusion Center in Yaounde has been announced, which will include several regional centers, a blood treatment establishment, and the application of a national strategic plan of blood transfusion over the period 2015-2020.Many hospitals have their own blood banks to meet the clinical needs of patients. Currently, about 84,000 blood bags are perceived per year, and the gap between the supply and demand of blood products is still very important in Cameroon. However, concrete actions are being taken to boost the blood transfusion activity of the country and guarantee the safety of blood products for patients.In Senegal, however, there is a National Blood Transfusion Center in Dakar, responsible for the supply of secure blood products to hospitals. To support its action, there are nearly 20 regional centers throughout the country. Thanks to this, approximately 95,000 blood bags are collected annually."

• What is the next step for HOPE?

"After two very successful pilot phases at the National Blood Transfusion Center in Dakar and the regional hospital of Thies in Senegal, the next step for HOPE is the official deployment of the solution in all blood banks in Senegal and in many African countries that face the same difficulties to reach self-sufficiency with blood products. Particularly in Cameroon, Mali, Mauritania, Togo, etc.This important step for HOPE depends on the lifting of the constraints that we encountered during the last pilot phases, mainly the appropriation of the platform by the Ministry of Health which is the guardianship of the health structures that we want to help.In addition, we are looking for partners to support us in the implementation of our action plan on the continental and international scale, so that no more patients die because of the lack of blood."

• What do you see yourself doing in the next 10 years?

"HOPE is an innovation that could certainly reach many people and demographics. For this to happen, it will be necessary:- to have the appropriation of the platform by the Ministries of Health of different countries- to build innovative and strategic partnerships- to have material and financial resources to expand the blood donors network through the effective animation of this platform by a dynamic and creative teamWe believe in the high potential of our project to fight against mortality rates due to the lack of blood supply. We also believe in the achievement of self-sufficiency with blood products in many countries."[/spb_text_block]

How Dr. Zanetor Agyeman-Rawlings is championing women's and children’s rights through general practice, sanitation and politics in Ghana

[sidebar_widget sidebar_id="sidebar-1" width="1/1" el_position="first last"] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="1/1" el_position="first last"]Dr. Zanetor Agyeman-Rawlings is a medical doctor, and a member of parliament for the Klottey-Korley constituency in the Greater Accra region of Ghana. She also holds a Master’s Degree in Conflict, Peace and Security.She has led various initiatives championing women's and children’s rights, and improving sanitation in Ghana – initiatives she is very passionate about.Dr. Agyeman-Rawlings is the eldest daughter of the first President under the 4th Republic of Ghana – Jerry John Rawlings, and former First Lady Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings.

• When did you realise you had an interest to go into medicine, and why?

"That must have been in primary school. I always had a First Aid Kit. I was always looking for someone who was hurt so I could put a plaster or bandage on their arm or leg. I just always had that interest, and I think it never went away. I liked the idea of people feeling and getting well. Of course, there is the real aspect of that when you get into the job. There are always a few sad stories that you have to deal with all the time. But I'd say the passion for wellness started, I think, when I was quite young in primary school."

• Describe a time during your education in medical school that you really enjoyed.

"I'd describe these in two parts. The first part of it would have been when we started our Anatomy course in the dissection room. It got me thinking, "this is actually a real human body and you're actually taking it apart and learning about its different layers". I found that interesting because I literally had to go through the whole human body – from the head down to the toes, but not in that order specifically.The other part I enjoyed a lot was the practical aspect of medicine, especially in surgery. I often joined surgeons in operating theatres, and that for me was another interesting, and humbling experience. You'd have a human body opened up on the table with your gloved hands inside a body cavity. You can feel the person is warm. You know they are alive and you’re thinking, "my goodness, this is someone who's alive on this table, and we are here making a difference." You just hope, having done all you can, the person will wake up again. It is a combination of things where you know that your intervention is making a difference. But you also know that you can't determine whether the person will actually live or die. There's that humbling aspect of it. And personally, it has reinforced my belief in God, because you have to believe in a higher being when you see all the different processes that occur in the human body, and the miracle of how things do not go wrong as often as they could – whether it is from the stage of conception and how the body eventually differentiates into its different parts. Or how if one chemical is not produced at one stage in the embryological development of the foetus, the result is webbed fingers or even how a fault in one small gene results in severe anomalies in development or even in diseases. It is hard to not believe in a Creator when you know everything that could possibly go wrong and the fact that there are 7 billion+ people on this planet who've actually survived conception, gestation and birth."

• Why did you decide to go into politics? And what does it feel like to be a Ghanaian woman in politics?

"I suppose it was something that happened out of a desire to just support and empower communities. I grew up in a family that was political. I was born into it. But it was not an incentive.I saw the negative aspect of it. There were times when my siblings and I actually had a lot of issues with a few of our teachers because they had issues with our parents and took it out on us. We also had situations where other students in school just didn't like us. And it wasn't for something that we did or didn't do. It was because of our parents. Whenever we did something, it wasn’t simply about just "us". It was about child of 'so and so'. So I did get to see a lot of the negative aspects of this.Politics wasn't something that I aspired to do. It turned out to be a path I found myself on as I moved into environmental advocacy.The June 3rd 2015 flood disaster in Accra, Ghana, was really the thing that actively got me involved in environmental advocacy. At the time that the disaster occurred, I was actually on my way to a conference in Brussels, where I was to do a presentation on environmental issues in Africa. I thought to myself, "why am I travelling abroad to discuss issues in Africa, when there is a real crisis occurring right here in Ghana?" I decided to stay and help in any way I could. This is how this whole journey started. Not with the intention of necessarily going into politics, but to make a difference.One of my frustrations when I was working in General Practice was the fact that I kept seeing the tail end of problems for which, if some intervention had occurred a bit earlier on (in terms of how people perceive the link between themselves and their environment and health), perhaps the outcomes would have been different. This was another thing that sort of influenced my decision, because it was an opportunity to, perhaps, use my experiences and what I had observed in primary healthcare to help and empower communities.What does it feel like to be a woman in politics in Ghana? It is not easy. We live in a culture where there hasn’t been enough of a paradigm shift with regards to the role of women – which is unfortunate because traditionally, in pre-colonial times, and in many of our communities, the woman's role was very central. In some cases, if you check on the history of some of our ethnic groups, you'd actually find that the leaders in a lot of our communities were the women. During these times, the instinct was to always protect the identities of the real leaders. As colonialism became established, we had a situation where the status quo got turned on its head in some of the communities where the women had a more influential role, because there was this whole concept of "if you can distort the structure of society then you can rule it." I think this played a huge role in where we find ourselves today, and why it is so difficult to be a woman in any field of influence in Ghana. If a man takes a position on something and he's strong and passionate about it, it is good. But if a woman does, she is rude or arrogant. This is not encouraging, but someone has to do it. It is challenging, but it can be rewarding.I would like to believe that I have a slightly different approach. There are certain things I would think about or be better suited to do because I am a woman and a mother. So instinctively when I go into a community, there are certain things I take notice of. Instinctively, there are some things that would just come to me. And this is not a political thing. If you can develop tough skin, and try not to let the negativity break you down, you will be fine.When men take on a position, whether it is in politics or a public role, and they mess up, it is just about their performance in that role. On the other hand, when a woman sets a foot wrong, it becomes about everything but her competence. I think that's a discourse that needs to change. This is something I think the media should play a very crucial role in. For instance, if you have media houses that will not entertain people using certain types of derogatory language or certain ways of talking about women, on their programmes for example, I think it will force people to speak differently with regards to how they refer to people in general. Don't forget, our children are listening and learning from us."

• In what way has your STEM background enhanced your career in politics?

"I would say the ability to get to the root of problems has helped a lot. As a scientist, you are taught the scientific method, and as a doctor you are thought how to take history from a patient. And the history taking process is really meant to get to the root of a problem so that you are not merely treating symptoms, but actually trying to find out the "why of the why". You either treat it or you manage it. But you need to know the aetiology. And I would say that probably helped me quite a lot in my approach to challenges and problems I’ve encountered to date."

• Health care is expensive, and our health systems fall short of meeting desired health outcomes. In your opinion as a member of parliament, how do you think we should reassess the impact of healthcare spending in tandem with public healthcare policies on these desired health outcomes in Ghana?

"By and large, whether it is healthcare or something else, we need to shy away from populist policies. If we really want to progress as a country, we need to have a national vision, and every party's manifesto must be in line with this national vision. This national vision must not be changed simply based on regime change. We may tweak it here and there, but it must not be something that is subjected to somebody’s populist agenda. This is one of the aspects of policy making we keep falling short in.When we come up with different policies, it should be with the clear understanding of the context we live in. If you are going to implement something because it worked in, say Denmark, for example; that's a totally different society, with a totally different system, needs and mindsets. Understanding what our context is helps us to develop the appropriate policies we need. We can't develop policies in isolation, because then nothing ever works. We have all these great ideas but the implementation is always a challenge. Is it an issue because we don't have the people who are well enough trained, or is it because we don’t have everything fitting together properly within the context that we live in in this country?With regards to what we can do, we need to critically analyse our situation and apply a holistic approach that keeps the long term vision at the centre of what we do. We cannot examine the healthcare sector in isolation when developing policies. For far too long as a country, we have compartmentalised our various Ministries, Departments and Agencies so much that we are not integrating to fit into the bigger picture. Healthcare touches on the environment, and it touches on education, security, the economy etc. In other words, how do our policies satisfy the SDGs?If access to good healthcare is on the basis of one's socio-economic level, then we are failing our people. In general, we have so many policies. Implementation tends to be our Achilles heel."

• The Ghanaian government – as part of its educational reforms, is to implement policies and programmes to strengthen and upscale the study of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), especially from the basic level. How feasible do you think this will be to achieve gender equality in the study of STEM, while tackling unconscious biases when it comes to STEM education in Ghana?

"Before we even get into gender equality in STEM; how many children in school can read and write proficiently at the basic level? I think STEM education for both girls and boys is a great thing, but are we approaching it holistically? What is the bigger picture? Are we placing enough emphasis on eco-friendly technology? On guiding more children towards the ecological sciences? Are we sensitising our teachers to make sure they are all aligned with the concept of gender mainstreaming and equality in STEM? Unless we address the cultural biases that we have and actively tackle these in all aspects of education, and at a very early stage with the involvement of parents and guardians, we will struggle to achieve the objective of gender equality in STEM."

• What influences your passion as an MP to champion women's and children’s rights in Ghana?

"Who are the ones that are nurturing our children in communities? Mostly, it is the women. How are the women getting empowered to do so? The women are the backbone of our society, therefore to ensure true and sustainable progress and development is to empower the women in all aspects, especially personally and economically. How are we making sure that our children are protected from horrid experiences like child smuggling or being preyed upon by paedophiles. How are we ensuring that our children are properly educated beyond reading and writing? Understanding their civic duty, appreciating the value of critical thinking and patriotism and honest work. We cannot just leave society to be splintered the way it is at present. It is in knowing very well the central role women play in every community, and knowing very well that children are our future, that drives my passion."

• Do you have final words or advice for young Africans looking up to you?

"Look in the mirror and see yourself for all God made you to be. We all have something we can contribute towards the elevation of our communities. It does not have to be something so big. It can be small and still make a difference. It does not have to be something that makes a difference to the entire country. It can be something that makes a difference in your neighbourhood. Never look and say someone else can do it. Look in the mirror and say, "what can I also do to make a difference?" In the words of Ghandi, "Be the change you want to see.""[/spb_text_block]

Bih Janet Shufor Fofang on developing pedagogic tools to enhance STEM education in Cameroon

[sidebar_widget sidebar_id="sidebar-1" width="1/1" el_position="first last"] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="1/1" el_position="first last"]Bih Janet Shufor Fofang, an electrical engineer by training, has been teaching for more than 15 years at the largest government technical institute in Cameroon – the College D’enseignement Technique Industriel et Commerciale. While supporting a strong female presence at the institute, she continues to teach technical subjects including mechanical and electrical engineering.In 2009, Bih Jane founded the private K-12 Tassah Academy in Cameroon, with 600 students currently enrolled – 60 percent of whom are female.Bih Janet’s goal is to increase the numbers of women in technology in Cameroon, and to give them more decision-making power in STEM. After her visit to Silicon Valley in 2013 through the U.S. State Department’s TechWomen program, Bih Janet initiated the "STEM Boxes" project to equip her students with technology equipment used to teach and learn innovative technologies. Bih Janet’s efforts to drive computer literacy in West Africa are laudable. In 2016, she received the A. Richard Newton Educator ABIE Award which recognises educators for developing innovative teaching practices and approaches that attract female students to computing, engineering, and maths in K-12 or undergraduate education. Recipients are honoured by the technical women’s community at the Grace Hopper Celebration. The Award honours the life and career of A. Richard Newton (1951-2007), who was a professor and dean of the College of Engineering at the University of California, Berkeley, a pioneer in electronic design automation and integrated circuit design, and a visionary leader in the technology industry.

"I grew up in a large family from humble roots, in the North West Region of Cameroon. I had an interesting childhood, and did the things most children in my neighbourhood did. I sold foodstuff in the markets, and went to farm with my parents."

• What was your first impression of STEM as a young woman?

"I have never thought of STEM as something that had a gender assigned connotation tagged to it. As a matter of fact, I happened to grow up having many brothers and mimicked and competed with them at every level without paying attention to gender. It was only until I started work that I realised workplace ethics seemed to identify role plays with gender. I have always known what I have to do without fear of stigma or stereotype. I grew up free, and no one reminded me of what I could or could not do."

• You have been teaching electrical engineering for over 15 years at the College D’enseignement Technique Industriel et Commercial. What has this experience been like for you?

"It's been 18 years, and I now develop pedagogic tools to enhance the teaching and learning of STEM in our educational system. It has been an enriching experience; one where I have had to exchange skills with bright young minds and grown my own competence. Not only have I developed the ability to analyse and think things through, I have learnt the art of giving back selflessly as I see my students grow and appreciate what they have acquired. I learnt to be patient and humble to learn new things while accepting the possibility of exploring other options in my career."

• What inspired your STEM Boxes project?

"'STEM boxes' was borne out of a need to reach out to students in underprivileged areas with little resources. Given that most of the technology equipment used to teach and learn artificial intelligence and innovative technologies are not made in Cameroon, I knew I had to figure out how to reach as many students as possible with a few boxes. Even though I taught different things to different groups of girls, I knew we can not accept the excuse of lack of resources and not do something to overcome these challenges. We need to work beyond obstacles. Miniaturised labs are now the order of the day, and as technology is changing and offering the ability to bypass challenges, we have to take advantage of these opportunities."

• You have had the opportunity to visit Silicon Valley. How did this experience change your general outlook on technology and culture?

"My experience at the Silicon Valley was life changing. I realised there was something I needed to fix as soon as possible. That was my mind! I had to make a tremendous mind-shift to transpose the thought process of the inventors and innovators of Silicon Valley into my own space with its own realities...because we all shared one thing in common. We are all simply focused on solving a problem in our communities, and we are doing so with all the conviction and passion we have possible. They believe in their dreams, they have the conviction that everything they do, no matter how small, contributes to the well being of their society. That was a big lesson for me. Believing in one's self, one’s ability and one's worth."

"What if we stopped waiting for someone to provide solutions, and focused instead on also making change happen in our communities by solving everyday problems through our own inventions?"

• If you could change one thing about Cameroon now, what would it be, and why?

"I would change the educational curriculum, and the way lessons are delivered, because there is a disconnect between what is taught in school and everyday life. Students finish school and lack the skills and aptitude to solve even the most basic problems around them. The education they receive sometimes seems to mislead them into thinking that earning certificates is what matters more than owning a skill."[/spb_text_block]

How Ethiopia’s Rediet Abebe is using algorithms and AI to address socio-economic inequality

[sidebar_widget sidebar_id="Sidebar" width="1/1" el_position="first last"] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="1/1" el_position="first last"]Rediet Abebe is a Ph.D. candidate in Computer Science at Cornell University, with interests in algorithms, artificial intelligence, and their applications to social good.  She is interested in using ideas from algorithms, networks, and data science to better understand and implement interventions in socio-economic inequality.Prior to Cornell, Rediet completed an M.S. in Applied Mathematics from Harvard University, an M.A. in Mathematics from the University of Cambridge as a Harvard-Cambridge Fellow, and a B.A. in Mathematics from Harvard University. She has also completed two research internships at Microsoft Research.Rediet grew up in a low-income family in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, where she followed the national curriculum before getting a merit-based scholarship to attend a local international high school. 

"I was born and raised in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. My mother has been working as a civil servant for the past 3 decades. So for me and my two siblings, Tsega and Ililan, our main option was attending local public schools. My mom has always been dedicated to getting us the best education possible. In my case, she stood in line for many hours several days in a row to get me into Nazareth School in Addis Ababa, which was an inexpensive, all-girls Catholic school that my sister would also later attend. I was enrolled at Nazareth School through middle school, where I followed the national curriculum. In eighth grade, I won a merit-based scholarship given out to four students from city to attend International Community School of Addis Ababa. At ICS, I followed the International Baccalaureate curriculum before applying to universities abroad."

 Rediet has also co-founded several initiatives to help identify and forge new research paths and create more collaborative environments at the intersection of computer science and social sciences. These include an interdisciplinary, multi-institutional research group on Mechanism Design for Social Good and corresponding workshops at the ACM Conference on Economics and Computation. The group and workshops have hosted speakers from computer science, economics, global health, sociology, as well as many related fields. The goal of this initiative is to build domain knowledge in topics including affordable housing, economic inequality, and social mobility, to identify algorithmic, optimization, and mechanism design problems aimed at improving access to opportunity.In spring 2017, Rediet co-founded and has since been co-organising the Black in AI group, which aims to foster collaborations and increase the presence of Black researchers in AI. In December 2017, she co-organised the first Black in AI Workshop at the Conference on Neural Information Processing Systems (NIPS '17), which is the largest machine learning conference. She has also been a dedicated mentor to many women and under-represented minorities through various programs.

• You seem to have a passion for Mathematics. What inspired this, and why the switch to Computer Science?

"My family tells me that I was interested in math for as long as they can remember. My mother recalls that before I even got to first grade, when I was home-schooled, I would go through my math lessons very quickly and would insist on more lessons! I realised that I’d like to pursue math as a career in middle school when we started learning geometry. I was mesmerised by the concreteness and elegance of it, and I would often spend entire weekends trying to understand why different geometric identities hold. I don’t remember how I learned this, but someone mentioned to me that professors get to do this for a living, and I thought 'that must be the coolest job ever'.I studied math through college at Harvard and was planning on pursuing a Ph.D. in mathematics after finishing my masters in math at the University of Cambridge. I spent the summer before at the University of Chicago, where I got exposed to algorithms. During my time in Cambridge, I took some classes related to algorithms and game theory. This experience put me on a totally different path. I realised that I could work on these mathematically-flavoured problems that have always interested me, but also apply them to answer societal questions. So, now, in addition to spending entire weekends trying to prove theorems, I also get to work on problems that can directly improve our understanding of societal processes."

• Tell us about the project you are currently working on.

"Along with Kira Goldner (a Ph.D. student at the University of Washington) I co-organise the Mechanism Design for Social Good group, which is an interdisciplinary, multi-institutional group with the goal of identifying research topics for which algorithmic, mechanism design, and AI techniques have the potential to improve access to opportunity. Through this group, we have been exploring domains such as housing, economic inequality, and the developing world through an interdisciplinary lens. My research involves using algorithms and AI to shed light on under-explored dimensions of socioeconomic inequality. This includes improving our measurements and understanding of the impact of factors such as social capital, financial shocks, and access to information. I also work on improving resource allocations, targeting education and designing systems to mitigate inequality."

• What are your career plans after your PhD?

"I’m still very excited about the prospect of becoming a professor! In fact, during my time as an undergraduate and graduate student, I’ve learnt many things about the job that make it more appealing to me. In addition to doing research, I really enjoy teaching, and that’s a huge part of the job. I’m also very passionate about mentoring. I’ve greatly benefited from many senior students and faculty members who have taken me under their wings at various points in my academic development. I try to do the same with younger students. Long-term mentor-mentee relationships such as those in Ph.D. advisees are especially enriching experiences. I have had the fortune of working closely with both my graduate adviser here at Cornell and various members of my dissertation committee and other researchers. I think I’d really enjoy being on the other end!I’ve also taken on other roles during my time as a graduate student, including being a Graduate Resident Fellow on Cornell’s West Campus and a Graduate Student Ambassador at the Cornell Graduate School. As a faculty member, I would enjoy not only teaching and mentoring students in my departments, but also being part of the broader university community."

• Do you think having the opportunity to study abroad has shaped your STEM career positively?

"It has, in many ways. I remember that one of the first things I did when I arrived at Harvard as an undergraduate was to go to Widener Library. I walked around for almost two hours looking at the rows and rows of books on each floor. I had never seen so many books in my entire life! The libraries that I had access to before were a thousand times smaller, if not more. Studying abroad, and especially at these institutions that I attended, opened up a lot of opportunities for me that I could not previously imagined. I also met many of my mentors and collaborators who have helped me in my growth as a researcher through this experience, and I am very grateful!I am also hopeful that such opportunities will expand to cover all of Ethiopia, and more broadly Africa. There is growing interest in mathematics and computer science, and there is a lot of incredible work coming out of institutions in Africa. For instance, at the first Black in AI workshop, which I co-organized with some friends and colleagues, we had presentations from Ciira Maina and George Musumba from Dedan Kimathi University of Technology and Bonolo Mathibel from IBM Research Africa, as well as many other poster presentations by African researchers. There are various initiatives across the continent. Just in Ethiopia, Jelani Nelson is organizing Addis Coder, a programming and algorithms summer program for high school students. I was also at the initiation of the African Girls Can Code Initiative launched by UN Women just this past week. I’m hopeful that soon all Africa women and girls will have the option to stay at their hometowns and having access to the same opportunities and resources as they would abroad."

• What are your predictions for artificial intelligence next year? And how do you think this can advance social good in Ethiopia?

"This past year has been an incredible year for AI! The community is responding to the pressing need to both increase the diversity of the field, and also formalise ways to discuss societal implications of our research.Concerning fairness and ethics considerations of AI, we have seen two conferences that started just this past year - the ACM/AAAI Conference on AI, Ethics and Society (AIES) and the Conference on Fairness, Ethics, and Transparency (FAT*). Both of these grew out of the recognition that AI research cannot be pursued as a purely technical endeavour, but must be responsive to societal concerns. There are larger and larger communities that are approaching AI from an interdisciplinary perspective, including in AI for social good; and it's thrilling to be part of this movement!This past year, we also co-founded the Black in AI group and co-organized the first Black in AI workshop at the Neural Information Processing Systems (NIPS) in December. NIPS is the largest machine learning conference, but until this past year it was only attended by a handful of Black researchers. This year was different. The workshop drew hundreds of Black researchers to NIPS! The Black in AI group is growing rapidly, including across the African continent, and I believe has been helpful in fostering research collaborations. I think we will see more work on AI by Africans and for Africa!"[/spb_text_block]