‘It’s really interesting that something we really didn’t understand in the beginning has blossomed for 10 years and has grown, like a little child, to like a ten-year old’, expressed a pioneer mentee of Techmadel, Veronica, at the 10th anniversary virtual celebration of Techmadel held on the 27th, April 2023. It was a huge success for all team members and attendees!
The virtual event saw attendees from different parts of Nigeria and outside the country and was anchored by Chisom Ezekannagha, a Techmadel mentor, (who was a Techmadel mentee while studying in the University of Ibadan) rounding up her PhD in Germany.
In her introduction, she highlighted that the aim of Techmadel is to mentor young women, who will in turn mentor other young women in the field of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM).
Considering its small beginnings 10 years ago, the impact made so far by the initiative has been phenomenal and is creating ripples.
Techmadel is all about making the girl child appreciate technology. Dr. Angela Makolo mentors female undergraduate students, who in turn mentor secondary school girls and other younger girls even after graduation. It’s really a cascading effect!
The host of the event and initiator of Techmadel, Dr. Angela Makolo , highlighted several milestones achieved after her TechWomen Emerging Leader Fellowship to Silicon Valley in 2013. Techwomen is an initiative of the United States Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. TechWomen empowers, connects and supports the next generation of women leaders in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) from Africa, Central and South Asia, and the Middle East by providing them the access and opportunity needed to advance their careers, pursue their dreams, and inspire women and girls in their communities. After the fellowship, Dr. Makolo established Techmadel, a mentoring platform for girls in STEM.
The focus of the initiative is to catch the girl child at a young age through mentorship and adventure based learning (ABL). She captures this when she said ‘Girls are usually not interested, they’re not so keen, they’re always afraid when it comes to STEM, they see it as a guy’s thing. Our aim is to let the girl child know that STEM is fun and an adventure and they can be a part of it’.
Notable among the participants was Bella Anne Ndubuisi; the Cultural Affairs Specialist at the US embassy, Abuja, representing the US embassy.
In her welcome address, she noted that the celebration of Techmadel at 10 is an opportunity to learn how the TechWomen exchange program has continued to be a gift that keeps giving because it keeps empowering women in STEM and connects them to opportunities to help advance their careers.
She expressed her appreciation for the impact Dr. Makolo has made, ‘Your work with Techmadel truly represents what the TechWomen initiative seeks to achieve 10 years ago’, and, ‘We’re really happy for the work you are doing’.
The event was also graced with the presence of Carolyn Seaman; the president, TechWomen Nigeria, representing the TechWomen Nigeria Alumni Association.
Her opening remarks captured her excitement about being part of the celebration and the impacts made by the Techmadel initiative so far.
‘The program that has been established by Dr. Makolo is very peculiar, because Bioinformatics is a peculiar area of STEM. It’s really really remarkable!’
Furthermore, Carolyn said, ‘Who knows, we might be doing something together with your community soon’. I’m a firm believer that this is how we close the gender digital gap in a country like Nigeria’.
A speech on The Impact of Women in Technology Today was delivered by Damilola Asalaye, a TechWomen Fellow of 2020 and co-founder and chief operating officer of Ashadam Solar Co.
She congratulated the host, Dr. Makolo for her achievements so far; ’10 years is not an easy thing. In 10 years she has been able to impact a lot of people, she has been able to actually bring the dream of TechWomen to Nigeria!
She congratulated the United States for building up women such as Dr. Makolo who want to give and are actually giving back to the society in a big way and impacting on the society.
Expounding on the impact of women in technology, Damilola said, ‘When women are in technology, it brings in a lot of advantages and diversity. When a woman is in the space where she is allowed to grow and spread her wings and fly, her organization has a lot to benefit, to receive’.
‘When women are in top management of organizations, that organization performs 14% better than other organizations’, she said, citing her sector, the renewable energy sector, as an example. This, according to her, is because women are naturally multi-task oriented and bring in a lot of diversity and ideas.
Top on her list of women who have impacted society through tech, is Dr. Angela Makolo because she has been impacting a lot of women in the Bioinformatics space.
She went on to list several other women who have also made great impacts on society through technology, some of whom are alumni of the TechWomen exchange program, who are bringing up other women to be relevant and excel in the tech space.
Present at the event were also two pioneer mentees of Dr. Angela Makolo, who shared their experiences on how Techmadel started and how the mentorship they received has helped and is still helping them in their careers. In her short talk on the beginnings of Techmadel from her own eyes, one of the pioneer mentees, Udegbunam Amalachukwu, recalled how Dr. Makolo is largely instrumental in her choice of remaining in the tech space, because she made her see that tech could be fun through the various activities she organized and involved them in as undergraduates.
Referring to how Techmadel and Dr. Makolo have influenced her, another pioneer mentee, Veronica Ikpa, recalled how she was part of a team of mentees that went with Dr. Angela to a secondary school to teach young girls. She went on to express her appreciation for having Techmadel as a foundation and encouragement for her as she sees STEM as a fun field, even with the seeming difficulties. This impact is trickling down to other young girls she encounters in the course of her career, as she actively mentors young girls.
And because Techmadel is all about empowering ladies and strengthening their professional capacity, the event featured a Project management session which was delivered by Augustina Iyitor, an Agile coach in Canada, certified scrum master as well as a mentor with Techmadel.
Talking about women in STEM, Coach Tina emphasized through her own experience, that any lady can go into STEM at any stage in their life, irrespective of their background. In her introduction of what Project Management is all about, she reiterated that everyone on the call has all been
project managers without even knowing it, provided they have organized and carried out one event or the other.
The lecture delivered during the session clearly captures the idea that a formalized project has a beginning, and an end and must be properly monitored by a Project manager. She successfully made all see how easy it will be for any lady to get into project management as a profession.
The question and answer session was also very educative and enlightening, especially to anyone who would want to pursue a career in Project Management.
Another high point of the event was the taking of photographs of attendees and cutting of the live anniversary cake, which was done by Dr. Makolo, some members of the Techmadel team, and girls from PinOaks Secondary School, in Ibadan.
In all, the event was successful and was made colourful by all attendees and speakers. Trust more educational and fun events to keep coming up because Techmadel continues making positive impact!
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