The first workshop series in the Intel She Leads Africa partnership with Intel Corp kicked off with much success in Nairobi on 24th of January at the Nairobi 88 MPH (StartUp Garage). The entrepreneur development workshop for young women interested in running tech enabled businesses received a whopping 200+ applications for only 50 available slots. Speaking at the event, the founders of She Leads Africa – Afua Osei and Yasmin Belo-Osagie acknowledged the overwhelming number of high quality applications received, validating the creation of the educational workshops.
The first session was led by Intel Corp where, Agatha Gikunda, the Lead for Intel SSG (Software and Services Group) in East Africa gave the ladies insights on the essence of understanding technology at a high level in successfully running a tech enabled business. Fred Omondi, a tech evangelist from Intel, led the session on building of a MVP (Minimum Viable Product) that allows for getting a product ready for the market.
Among others, the session included discussions on the IoT (Internet Of Things) and how to leverage Intel architecture in the day to day running of tech enabled businesses.
The second session was an interactive fireside chat with Terryanne Chebet and Isis Nyong’o Madison where great conversations were initiated on career choices and the shift to entrepreneurial ventures. Isis Nyong’o Madison reiterated the need to act on ideas by mentioning that regret would be a pervasive emotion 2 to 3 years down the line if business ideas are not pursued. The founders of She Leads Africa bolstered the workshops momentum with sessions on improving business skills with practical case studies that had valuable discernments on getting the products/services into the hand of the consumers.
The event was wound up on a high note with a panel of 3 successful entrepreneurs; Judith Owigar, the founder of AkiraChix, Collins Omwenga, the co-founder of Quintelcon Ltd and Calvince Okello, the founder of M-Shamba, discussing and reflecting on their ground-breaking journey in getting their first 1,000 users.
The Nairobi chapter of the workshop has paved the way for the series to follow in Johannesburg and Lagos. If your city has a robust and vibrant community of young female tech-preneurship enthusiasts and you would like the event to come to your city you can fill in the petition form here.
This is a guest post by Robert Omondi, an organizer of this ‘Intel She Leads Africa’ event.
