Communications of the ACM
Tapping the Reservoir of Tech Talent in Africa
Many in the Leap program in Rwanda are from difficult backgrounds.
Credit: Computing
Aileen Allkins, chief revenue officer at Tek Experts and Elev8, is working to bring tech career skills to women and girls in countries where women have historically faced limited opportunities.
Tek Expert works with Microsoft to deliver Leap, a 16-week program for individuals in regions such as Rwanda, Nigeria, and Bulgaria. The company has expertise in digital skilling, career mapping, and the needs of the tech industry. Candidates graduate to real world scenarios and live projects, with 98% of participants securing employment after graduation.
"Very often it's not about money for them[selves], it's about money for families," Allkins says. "In Nigeria, over 30% of our technical workforce is now women."
Elev8 has collaborated with the Costa Rican Ministry of Labour and Social Security to support a program called Empléate. The 16-week program, run in collaboration with AWS, reskills and upskills the workforce to equip them with digital skills for a career in the tech industry. "At the end of the four-month period, our job is to help them find work," Allkins says.
"It isn't about making people rich. It's about affordability of food and clothing for families," she says. "The impact of getting one person in a family into a decent job is what this is all about."
From Computing
View Full Article
No entries found