 And now the time has come for our second lightning talk in the series. Welcome Tavia Brown from Groundbreaker. And she will be walking us through how to empower women through code and promote equal opportunity and diversity within the tech industry. That's absolutely right. Thank you. Welcome everyone. I hope that some are still here. Not everyone left. Thank you for staying. Yeah, to introduce myself, I'm Tavia and I work for an NGO. And now you maybe think, okay, why is she here working NGO? Good question. I got introduced to WordPress community beginning of this year. So quite a newbie. And also into the tech world beginning of this year because the NGO I'm working for started a very nice project for an overview. So I'm taking this one. Okay. And we basically work in three different fields. We call them spaces, disaster relief and talents. Spaces and disaster relief. I will leave out because of time. But for the last couple of years we have worked in educational infrastructure basically working together with a lot of IT companies who were funding our projects. Then we thought, okay, how can we use this network all of these expertise and bring it to people who don't have access to that yet. And we came up with talents. So ground breaker talents is a full time scholarship program in software engineering. And it is for women in Uganda specifically for women in Uganda who are facing structural barriers. And this program is a one year course. And this is one the IT training. So they start with either pass Python or JavaScript. And then it's different modules. They can choose off in terms of UI, UX or product management, whatever. So we're trying to be diverse in the topic field already. But it's not just the IT program itself. And that is why a company called Refactory. So we're partnering with a local company in Uganda. They are doing the IT training because like I told you, I'm not the take one. Shall I take this off maybe? Okay. Let's do it like this. And the other thing we are providing is the learning environment because this program is a residential scholarship. I just stay here and not move anymore. Okay. And so we are trying to set up a very thriving learning environment for these young women because it's not just about the training itself, but it's about all the opportunities that you can give to them. And by that we mean a residential area where they can live. So when they get food, they have a health insurance. They have people who are taking care of them. And they are not in the responsible to take care of someone else. So they have no other things to do basically than learning. Great, right? And the other thing is the mentorship program and the support. And this is why I need you over here. Because we are trying to set up a very thriving environment for these young women with all of your expertise. Each one of you has a very big expertise and a specific field. I'm pretty sure about that. And we should share all this knowledge and we should use it. Why Uganda, you maybe think. Uganda is sub-Saharan Africa and the population size is round about 46 million. And now there's one crazy number because 77% is under the age of 25. This is crazy young population. So almost four out of four individuals are under the age of 25 years old. I'm so sorry. I'm trying not to move anymore. And this is not easy for me because I'm a very jumpy person. What does it mean to be a woman in Uganda to tie this circle? And when I'm talking about diversity in this specific field, I'm mentioning women in Uganda. I know diversity is way bigger and a way bigger field and there's another very nice talk coming up. But 49% women are married by the age of 18. Crazy. By that one in 14 age girls are already pregnant or have a child. And only 25% of computing jobs are held by women in Uganda. So there's a big, big opportunity that we should use. And here are some key facts what we are working with. And I will just mention two of them. You can read the other things because time-wise I think I have to speed a little bit. One thing is the tech industry and the demand for African developers is reaching new heights. However, Uganda is one of the countries with the lowest number of programming schools and boot camps. So great that we are located in Uganda. For example, when we compared to Kenya or South Africa or Namibia, there are a lot of computing schools already. But Uganda is really not seen right now. So we are really trying to focus on an area that is not on the map already. And demography-wise it's very interesting as well because the world is transitioning into an older age population. But not in sub-Saharan Africa where the working age population is expected to double by 2015 and quadruple by 2100. That is crazy. I think everyone of you is growing up with, oh my God, everyone is getting older. How can we handle this? Our system is not made for this. And in Africa it's the except opposite thing. So we have so many young people who are ready to work and we should use that opportunity. And now to come back to women, what it's like to facing the gap. What is the gap like? And there are multiple obstacles. And here are just two of them. One obstacle ahead when you're trying to enter the market and get access. A study has shown the two biggest barriers for women in tech are the lack of mentors and the lack of female role models. So this is why the mentorship program and the external support through the actual IT program in Uganda is very important to us. And that these women see, hey, there are a few more women out there. And when they make it, I can make it as well. And the other thing are obstacles during because the crit rate in the tech industry is more than twice as high for women than for men. And another survey has shown that 36% of women feel that they aren't taking seriously. They are being overlooked in meetings and having their ideas dismissed by their male colleagues. Maybe this is kind of surprising for you and I think I got the number wrong. Maybe this is kind of surprising for you because as I now feel the WordPress community, you're very open minded and diversity is on your field and on your map. And you're trying to educate yourself. But this is unfortunately not the reality everywhere, not in every company, not even in Germany and not in sub-Saharan Africa. So this is something that we should really focus on. So coming back to ground breaker talents and how we are trying to reduce these obstacles. And there are three big fields basically. One is education. So we are trying to provide a program that they can really learn from. And this one year is not an easy going, easy peasy program. It's really one year boot camp style. They are learning and they all know, okay, I have this once in a lifetime opportunity. I have this one year to learn and I want to make the best out of it. That is the education part. And second, what comes after the educational part is the economic independence. And by this, we're not speaking just about the economic independence for these young women who are participating in the program, but also what it means for their communities or their families because one person with an income can serve a lot of their family and also breaking the cycle of poverty in their family, in their community and being the next role model. And this is the third part, the leadership and role model. Like I told you before, obstacles are mentors, the lack of mentors and not enough female role models, especially for these women. So we are facing these obstacles and trying to teach the next role models of IT basically. And I have some nice studies ahead, but I think my time is running because I have a very nice video from Uganda because I can talk about diversity whatever I want, but this is not about just me standing here. So I would like to introduce you to our current amazing talents that we have. On the bottom left, you can see the 14 women who are currently in the program. And in the background, you can see Iwaka. This is our nice campus. Actually, we are moving next month. It's very exciting for us because in January, the next 20 women are moving in. And in June next year, the next 40 women are moving in. So we are constantly trying to top up our numbers. And you can see how they're sitting there coding. And I also have two quotes with me so that you have a better overview of what I'm talking about. This one is Vanessa. She's 21 years old. And she's saying, being part of Groundbreaker Talents has shown me the value of adapting the new situation. It's not just about academic growth, but also about the fantastic living situation and the daily life we share in our residence. Here I get to experience a welcoming community and the chance to academically and socially thrive. Amazing. And second one is Natasha. She's 22 years old. And she's saying, this scholarship program is more than an opportunity. It's a bridge from my past to a future that I'm crafting with my own hands. Just as I've learned to code in JavaScript over the past few months, I'm no coding a new destiny for myself, rewriting the narrative of my life to be a breadwinner in my family. And I'm swear, this is her sentence. This is not me coming up with it. This is a real life story and this is what makes this program really amazing. And it's always a little bit emotional then. But here, do we have sound on the video because I have this little video? I think the Groundbreaker Talents program is very special because first of all, it addresses the multitude of the several and several obstacles that have always been minimizing the girls potential in the IT industry, starting with a very first one, limited access to quality training due to financial constraints, which has been so therefore scholarship. And the second, societal pressure, responsibilities and duties that are endless for girls, especially in an African society. And this program gets to get this child out of such circumstances into a space where they can get to go, self-discover, thrive, and be able to state their place in the IT industry. That's why I think this is very special. And we're not only here for you. We are here to set compass and set ground and make Uganda home. That is why this is very impactful and I know it could be very, very important in changing the lives of girls in the IT industry in Uganda. I do think and believe that Uganda is the best place for such a program, the Talents program, especially the virtual between the age of 18 to 24. And reason being Uganda as a country has a very growing tech industry. And also we do have so many young people who are really educated, but they do lack the practical skills to get into the tech industry as it's growing in the country. And also looking at the country as it is, the tech space is developing. There are so many tech startups, so many hubs that are coming up and they do have opportunities for the software developers, but we are lacking those kind of talents and talents coming into a place we do believe that we shall be able to have a number of our girls, but also more youth to get into employment as software developers. I think it's important to give this kind of opportunity to girls out there who have no access to a study program or access to technology at the moment. Growing up in a village, I've gone around under privileged girls who, when I talk to them, I know they have something they want for the Twitter because they hear on the news, they are doing great things, but they have no idea how they are going to be able to do that. There is a space for women to have jobs in Uganda in technology. However, there is a shortage of the scale. At the moment the women are not really so skilled to actually take on the jobs that are available. At the end of the program in 2020, I was able to get a job at one of the powerful software companies in the country, the Women's Uganda, where I was taking a chance at an entry-level professional. Joining a factory can help someone curious like me to actually know that you can only dream, but things can come to reality if you put action to it. Yeah, these are my beautiful colleagues in Uganda and one alumni. I was speeding through. If you want to get more of these, if you want to exchange some news, come. I'm here for the rest of the afternoon and thank you for your time and listening. And thank you so much for that, Tabia. We have a gift for you as well. And if anyone is interested in carrying on the conversation, please find out.