Giving women and girls the tech skills they need for the workforce of the future

By Barbara Birungi Mutabazi, Founder, Women in Technology Uganda Ahead of Africa Code Week, Barbara Birungi Mutabazi explains why teaching girls coding and computer skills is so important. Growing up, there was no support for girls to get into computer science careers. My career started out in a software development consultancy firm where I was the only woman on the team. I desperately looked for female role models and guidance …

MANDELA WASHINGTON FELLOWSHIP 2017 – YALI

In October 2014 I applied for the YALI Washington fellowship and in Jan 2015 I received the much awaited email telling me I had gone through to the second stage and needed to pick a date for my interview among the available dates. Unfortunately I was scheduled to be out of the country during all the available days and they couldn’t make an exception, so I missed the interviews and …

WAR ROOM

I watched the movie war room the first time last year and I was hooked, I think I am on my 10th time and counting…..  The reason I keep watching this movie is not because it has the best plot, actors or even picture. If you have been in a relationship of any kind then you will understand why many who watch it, praise it. I totally related to it. …

Announcing the launch of our Code Clubs in Kenya, Uganda and Senegal

Today, as we move forward on our campaign #RewritingTheCode we are proud to announce the launch of our first Code Clubs in Kenya, Uganda and Senegal . Vulnerable girls and young women in Africa are being given a unique chance to learn vital technology skills in a safe space through an innovative pilot project launched by the charity Theirworld. Designed to empower girls with technology through creativity and learning, Code Clubs will …

Closing the STEM gender gap: An opportunity and imperative

When you think ‘engineer’, who comes to mind? When you think ‘scientist’, what are they wearing? When you hear ‘tech entrepreneur’, what are they doing? If you had images of men, white lab coats and geeks writing code, you’re not alone. In fact most people have well entrenched stereotypes when they think of people in STEM careers (science, technology, engineering and maths.) These stereotypes help to explain the underrepresentation of …

Closing 2015!

It was a good year for both Hive Colab and WITU! It was a good year for me and my family. We welcomed our second son! I look forward to 2016 and the blessings, favor it has in store for me and mine! I thought of making resolutions but decided to not make any! I will however set must achieves and must achieve them within 2016.   Happy 2016 dear …

WITU KIDS

I just had an amazing day today with the kids code girls club that just started this month. So we set out to find young girls from underserved communities that would mostly not be safe during this holiday since most are left alone or with friends or neighbors as their parents go to work. Bringing these girls into a safe space like the WITU HUB, and introducing them to the …