Tech mentorship non-profit organization, KamiLimu, has been shortlisted for the Changing Lives Regional Award. The award is hosted by the East Com Conference and the Africa Tech Festival, recognising the impact of organizations with positive and life-changing innovations in East Africa.
The organization, which was founded and is now led by Computer Scientist Dr Chao Mbogho, focused on Kenyan college-going tech students. KamiLimu’s vision is to upskill beneficiaries with 21st-century skills that may not be contained within their curricula, for global competitiveness. Dr Chao works with a 10-member founding committee consisting of the program’s alumni and industry professionals.
Since 2016, KamiLimu had served students from 22 Kenyan tertiary institutions and collaborated with 109 industry professionals and 20 organizations to offer structured mentorship.
The Computer Scientist and Educator has since left her lecturing position at KEMU to fully focus on leading and scaling KamiLimu’s mentorship efforts, and to continue her research and education work outside the classroom.
Since its inception in 2016, KamiLimu has supported tech students to become innovators, public speakers, and earn employment in startups and big tech companies. 9 employers have hired talent directly from the program.
In 2020, two of KamiLimu’s mentees, Abdul Rehmtulla and Hamisi Rawlins, emerged as country winners in the Red Bull Basement competition, whose result was a startup called Culture Capture
Also in 2020, Dr Chao delivered a TED talk on how holding the ladder up for others has been instrumental to KamiLimu’s success and growth.
At the same time, Dr Chao Mbogho has also been listed as one of the 4 finalists for the Inspiring Leader of the Year Award.
Other finalists in this category include Abdi Mohamed, the Managing Director, Absa – Tanzania, Mitwa Ng’ambi – CEO, MTN, Rwanda and Joy Mwangi, CEO & Co-Founder, Ada Animation.
“This award shortlist and votes from our supporters will be instrumental in KamiLimu earn the kind of goodwill, credibility, and community support that will better position us to attract funding and investment that will help us scale,” says Dr. Mbogho.
“Further, with our network of over 200 alumni, over 100 industry professionals, and 20 organizations, this recognition will affirm our increasing and valuable community that their time, skills, and resources are going towards nurturing an all-rounded and globally competitive generation of tech graduates,” she adds.
Winners will be announced by East Africa Com, one of the largest premier tech and telecoms conferences in East Africa, in May 2022.
You can vote for them using the links below:
