And it’s a wrap!
This year has been filled with an amazing turn of events. From kicking off our very first mentorship program to hosting Nigeria’s largest women in tech conference with over 1000+ attendees in person and virtually. Looking back, we’ve truly come a long way as a team with the support of our incredibly engaging community, sponsors and partners. Honestly, we wouldn’t have accomplished a whole lot without continuous reinforcements and contributions we’ve received to date. For this, we say a BIG THANK YOU to everyone who’s been a part of our journey, no matter how big or small, we sincerely appreciate you.
Now let’s take a step back and do a quick recap and highlight of 2022 💃
Wetech’s Ambassadors Program
We started off the year introducing our 2nd cohort of the Ambassadors Program which was made up of seven astounding ladies spanning across backgrounds in UX Design and Software Development. This program is catered towards women currently enrolled in an undergraduate program with an interest in pursuing a career in technology and building a community of women with similar interests at their local campuses. Each member of the program gets to organize at least two events (hackathons, tech meetups etc.) within their campuses or virtually, build amazing projects and apps that strengthen their entrepreneurial skills, and receive carefully curated mentorship and guidance from experts in the tech space.
Ambassador Spotlight, Zainab Jimoh (Software Engineer at Adyen)
“My favourite thing about the Ambassador’s program was how close knit we were as a team. I could tell from my one on one’s with my Mentor, Gabriella, that she truly cared and did not hesitate to nudge me in the right direction whenever I felt stuck. She saw so much potential in me that I began to see myself in my truest light. During the program, I learned about core fundamental principles of engineering as a whole and was able to fine tune my interviewing and people skills. I also learned how to work in a team, how to communicate with a manager or an executive stakeholder, and how to grow into being that person.
As a woman in tech I want to be able to give back to the community by providing access to courses, resources, and jobs that help foster women’s growth. There are already some amazing communities set up in place like Wetech and She Code Africa who are doing great things and I’d be more than happy to play my part on that account.”
International Women’s Day
For International Women’s Day, we hosted our first ever Twitter Spaces! With amazing female founders such as Damilola Olokesusi (CEO, Shuttlers), Emanuella Mejero-Kunu (CEO, Penee), Simileoluwa Afolabi-Jombo (Product Data Analyst, Adyen), and Fike Odulaja (Product Manager, American Express) on bridging the funding and pay gap. Serious and important conversations were had on current challenges faced as a woman in tech raising funds for her startup as well as how to raise the bar and level up in the corporate world.
Wetech’s Mentorship Program
We then launched our very first mentorship program that spanned across 12 weeks matching a total of 10+ women in engineering, product, and design with experienced mentors in the tech space. Mentees were matched based on their career trajectory and goals. Meeting with their mentors biweekly to have conversations and set action plans in place.
Mentee Spotlight, Tanitoluwa Adenuga (Software Engineer Intern at Dukka)
“I enjoyed being assigned a personal mentor who I could speak with and ask questions that were related to both my professional and personal development. A tech skill I wanted to learn was Redux but I just couldn’t bring myself to do it. When I joined the program, I discussed my goals with my Mentor. And in the end, through learning the importance of discipline and taking accountability I was able to achieve most of my goals I set out over the next 12 weeks. Wetech’s mentorship program opened my eyes to the opportunities ahead of me as a woman in tech and it was just the right amount of push I needed to get the ball rolling.
I’m happy to say that after the program, I was able to snag a Software Engineering Internship at Dukka, a startup in Lagos Nigeria, and continue to volunteer my time with a community of female techies as a their Community Manager where I share helpful learning resources, job opportunities and motivational works. I am a product of amazing communities including Wetech and I look forward to giving back to these communities in every capacity I can.”
A Thousand of Us in Lagos! The Wetech 2022 Conference #wearehere
We organized and hosted A 1000 Women in Tech! The most anticipated WeTech 2022 Conference at the Landmark Center, Victoria Island Lagos. The entire event was moderated by the renowned Koromone Koroye, Managing Editor of Tech Cabal. Women from all walks of life gathered to connect and share their experiences in the ever booming tech industry. A variety of panels were held by exceptional female leaders to talk about important and impactful topics on how the future of tech is very much within our reach and how we can leverage opportunities around us to break into the industry and bridge the gender gap.
The first panel was made up of Chisom Nwokwu (Software Engineer at Microsoft), Folu Otubanjo (Product Manager at Paystack), Sarah Igho Omoike (Co-Founder of Women in ML & Data Science), Oluwadara Openiyi (Product Manager at Busha) and Ada Nduka Oyom (Founder of She Code Africa) where they each talked about breaking the barrier into tech, their personal journeys, and how women can utilize their personal network to excel and scale their careers.
Dr. Ojuolape Kuti (Research Lead at Busha), Uzoma James, (Digital Marketing Manager at YellowCard), and Ebube Ojimadu (Product Manager at Quidax) demystified Web 3.0 and the future of the Internet in the second panel, after which Emanuella Mejero-Kunu (Founder of Penee), Tomilola Majekodunmi (CEO of Bankly), and Solape Akinpelu (CEO of Hervest) in the last panel enlightened the audience about how financial institutions are empowering enterprises, customers, and women to successfully launch their businesses or startups and be a part of an ever growing industry.
A unique portion of the conference also consisted of 3 talented women who pitched their startups to judges and the audience for a grand prize of N500,000 sponsored by the Archangel Fund. Aisha Hussaini pitched Keza Africa, an embedded finance product which allows users to buy smartphones and pay in monthly instalments. Ngozi Nwabueze pitched Pocket Lawyers , an app where you can shop for lawyers. Olumide Shode spoke about Alarrt, an app that connects users in verified life-threatening crises to fast emergency responders. The pitches were judged by Nneka Eze (General Partner, Vested World), Adaora Ikenze (Head of Public Policy, Meta), and Temilade Denton (Social Impact & ESG Manager, Alitheia Capital).
Aisha Hussaini came out as the victor and was awarded the grand prize to support the development of her product.
Finally, the event was gracefully wrapped up with a keynote speech from Ngozi Okonye (Communications Lead at Busha) where she encouraged and empowered fellow women to confidently stride on as they transition and grow into themselves and their role in the tech ecosystem. She urged the audience to fearlessly step out of their comfort zones and take it to the next level.
The whole event itself wouldn’t have been a success without the support from our amazing sponsors.
PLATINUM — Busha
GOLD — Meta, Paystack, Shuttlers, Bankly, Pennee
SILVER — Interswitch Group, Events Architects
BRONZE — Tunga, Printivo, Archangel Fund
And lastly to an extraordinary audience who showed all out despite the rainy weather that day. We appreciate you all!
Female Founders Dinner
To wrap things up for the year, a Female Founders dinner made up of select sponsors and startup entrepreneurs was held to connect and form stronger relationships within the community of women building in tech. Part of Wetech’s vision is a future where we are thriving and well represented in these spaces. And we want to be able to offer that platform to facilitate the necessary conversations and actions that lead us there. Conversations on how we can leverage our current power and network to represent more women in the tech industry, as both technical and non technical founders, or help more women assume more investment roles.
— — — — — — — — —
To sum it all, 2022 has been a remarkable year for us. Looking ahead, we’ll continue to strive and carry out current programs already set in place. Along with new, reinvented programs in 2023 catered towards the growth of our community. We’re looking forward to sharing what’s to come as we journey along through time.
Stay tuned for more! And welcome to the new year! 🥳
