LAGOS WiMLDS PARTNERS WITH AFRICA AGILITY TO TRAIN 100 FEMALE UNDERGRADUATES IN TECH FIELDS.
Hi, We are excited on the implementation of this initiative just as you are, an intro on who we are before the main piece.
Lagos WiMLDs is the local chapter of the Global Women In Machine Learning and Data Science, a non-profit organization whose mission is to support and promote women and gender minorities who are practicing, studying or are interested in the fields of machine learning and data science inclusive of other tech-related fields. Our global community brings together talented and motivated women in tech, across all countries, backgrounds, roles, and career phases. It is spread across 6 continents ( North America: USA, Africa, Asia, the Middle East, Europe, South America, Oceania) around the globe, with over 29,000 members. At the time of writing this article we have chapters across 9 countries in Africa (Nigeria, Ghana, Algeria, Morocco, Senegal, Botswana, Kenya, Uganda and Mauritius).
The Lagos Chapter was initially founded by two of Andela Nigeria ‘s Software Engineers; Oluwatoyin Yetunde Sanni and Rukayat Sadiq. These founders went on to further their studies in AI fields, making room for Omoike Sarah Igho and Tosin Osajokun to be selected to co-head the local organization. The community has grown to be one of the finest in the Nigeria Tech space with over One Thousand Five Hundred Members attending various annual meetings and trainings aimed at achieving its mission.
One of its recent initiatives is the “Girls in Tech Bootcamp” organized in partnership with Africa Agility, Scrum Alliance, Lagos State Government, Mind The Gap, and Agile Alliance. The intensive training was initiated to empower undergraduate females who are currently at home due to the nation wide strike in Nigeria.
The bootcamp covered trainings in various tech fields ranging from courses in Agile Lean Development, User Interface and User Experience, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Data Science and Web Development. The program was rounded off with hackathons on solutions that solve various problems in Nigeria, specifically in areas of traffic control, waste management and eHealth.
“The Bootcamp was concluded with a “show and tell” of the innovations and the presentation of prizes to top three winners”
The event was captured by news media such , West Africa Business News, Tribune, and The Nation.
One key area of Gender equality is creating awareness of issues that could lead to Gender gaps in tech. Accordingly, lack of support in and enabling communities are the major sources for less Women in tech. Female representation and advocacy from women who are already accomplished in the field has proven to be a powerful contribution towards ensuring gender balance in tech. Inclusively, providing STEM education at early age with women in focus will also contribute to having more female representation in tech. We are also looking to partner with other communities and organizations to expand the “Girls in Tech” initiative next year.
We have lots of activities lined up for year 2021, one of which is our annual event with experts in AI and ML field giving talks on various topics and workshops. Keep track on us on Meetup, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn.
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