The Future is Female

A review of our 3rd Women in Tech virtual event at Momentum Metropolitan

Winter has come and with it; Youth Month has?brought us cold fronts and a shocker of a 46,3% unemployment rate according to the Quarterly?Labour?Force Survey by Stats SA.??

It is in that vein that we?decided that our theme for this quarter’s Women in Tech event had to be based on Youth in STEM with the theme of “The Future is Female.”?

We were delighted to bring you stories from two young ladies who are alumni from WeThinkCode_ &?LifeChoices?Academy. Both are organizations that?are real momentum makers in the arena of youth skills development & employment,?bringing hope to the lives of hundreds of young South Africans.??

What is truly remarkable is that both WeThinkCode_ and?LifeChoices?provide students with the opportunity to study for free and to earn as they learn, thereby largely democratizing learning. So much so that, even graduated University students pursue?their programs due to the access to employment that these programs offer their students. Both programs have job placement rates above 90%.??

These youngsters were joined by representatives of the organizations they graduated from to help us get a sense of the bigger picture.?

First up was Life Choices Academy. “LifeChoices”?give young people purpose and opportunity through state-of-the-heart job-training programs intended to give school leavers the skills and direction they need to land meaningful and good-paying jobs as aspiring junior full-stack developers. They focus both on full-stack dev skills as well as work readiness,?mindfulness,?and life skills.??

Our first alumni?were?Jamie. A vibrant young woman who is now in the role of a web applications developer at a major company after learning of?LifeChoices?from a lady at?her church and described her experience with?LifeChoices?as empowering.??

Ryan Geel – Program Manager stated that: “At?LifeChoices?our focus is to hold space for our students, so they can grow and learn within a community that has their?back; which is so crucial in guiding them on their journey to success.”?

Next up was WeThinkCode_. They have a mission to train Africa’s next generation of top tech professionals, with a clear goal of achieving?full 50% female representation?from intake to graduation.??

“The MMH Foundation has played a pivotal role in supporting our goals of?reaching gender parity through the sponsorship of our?WomenThinkCode= program, allowing us to grow from an initial 6% female to 25% female representation in the program between 2016?and 2020”: said Gina Stoltz - Head of Community at?WeThinkCode_.?

Overall, we know the challenges might be bigger than ever to study and find employment for young people. However, the opportunities are equally as expansive.??

I’d like to leave you with a quote from?Senaki?Sekese, a graduate of the?WeThinkCode_’s?2019 class. I believe her message to the youth concisely conveyed the limitless potential of our youth if we give them opportunities.???

“It is never about where you come from, or what you are dealing with. Our only limitations are what we set for ourselves or allow others to set for us.”?