2019 Pass it On Award Winner Spotlight: Chepkemoi Magdaline
When Chepkemoi Magdaline enrolled in a computer studies course in high school, she describes her experience as “love at first sight.” When it came time to choose her educational track during her fourth year, computer science was an obvious choice. To this day, as an internationally-celebrated and accomplished entrepreneur, she has no regrets.
Since winning a 2019 #Systers Pass it On Award, Chepkemoi has received more funding for her initiative, Eldo Hub, a technology and innovation hub that empowers and supports young people to identify problems in their communities and apply different technologies to solve them.
“These funds will be used to expand this project to reach more women and girls in the North Rift western region of Kenya through 15 bootcamps to support 450 women and girls.”
In addition to receiving multiple speaking opportunities since winning her award, Chepkemoi also won a Business Innovation Challenge for Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI) and was selected for the prestigious US State Department’s Tech Women program.
Chepkemoi sees the power that she and other women in tech have to build tangible tech solutions for the problems they encounter in their own communities.
“This is the best time for women to be part of the tech industry, especially when the industry is realizing the importance of diversity.”
She hopes to change the narrative of women in STEM by becoming an expert in her own field and leaving a legacy of entrepreneurial success that girls can aspire to, especially those in rural or semi-rural areas of the world.
“I want to encourage, support and inspire girls and women to consider careers in STEM and help them to excel in the tech field. This will contribute to increasing the number of girls joining and excelling in STEM fields.”
The AnitaB.org #Systers Pass It On Awards Program honors Anita Borg’s desire to create a network of women technologists helping one another. The cash award helps fund women in computing or projects that inspire and support girls and women to enter computing. Applications are being accepted through Thursday, March 26. Apply here today!
