Sote Tech Queens

Sote Tech Queens is an offshoot of Sote Hub. Using digital technology, we train girls at rural high schools (often marginalized with less opportunities for career progression or technology) on jobs, career preparedness; support them establish startups where they create products/services and test with real customers.

We competitively select 10 startups yearly for incubation at Sote Hub where we support their further growth, they learn to code, create business in a lean way and embrace digital fabrication.  

We equally match our graduates with jobs and provide career information including CV writing, interviews and office skills. We have so far trained 5000 girls, provided job matching to 800, incubated 30 women led startups. Our model is easy to replicate at larger scale and to impact more distressed girls globally.

This year, in collaboration with Code Op- https://codeop.tech/, we are opening the first ‘’girls only coding academy’’ in Kenya.

According to Kenya’s Ministry of Education, of the 85% of learners who progress from primary to secondary school, 30% proceed to higher education. Women account for just one third of total enrolments. The number of women earning university STEM degrees declines as they move through the educational ladder, a phenomenon referred to as the “leaky pipeline”. This can be attributed to the masculinity of the disciplines, stereotypes and prejudices. The situation is worse for girls from rural areas where over 80% of Kenyan population live. The greatest imbalance is in engineering. In 2010, only one in four engineering students was a woman in Africa. Guinea had the lowest percentage of women in science (5.8%). That’s equivalent to one in 17.

Because of these disparities, women and girls are caught in the vicious cycle of low skills, low productivity, low wage and low employment. They marry early, work in poor conditions and likely to abuse drugs. Latest report in Kenya shows that one in five girls aged between 15 and 19 is either pregnant or has given birth (National Council on Population and Development, 2020). These girls fail to sit for their final examinations while others write examinations in maternity wards.

Sote Tech Queens empower more girls and women into technology, knowledge and skills for self-improvement and economic participation. This is done in the following steps.

• We select schools based on need and in consultation with Government. Using digital technology, we take business/career training to the students supporting them  through-> Ideation, formation and testing  of startups while in school -> Graduates transition into Sote Hub as Startup founders -> Successful startups launched -> Impact on society. We also match young graduates to job market opportunities.

• Weekly coding outreach in the schools. The program employs a holistic approach, building hands-on technical skills. They create projects from basic programming skills like PHP, Scratch, and Games to complex solutions using Internet of Things and Mobile apps. We enroll them into local and global competitions where they compete and show case their projects. They have won combined five awards.

• Monthly Motivational talks and Lectures from role model women leaders and industry experts. The talks aim to demystify technology by exposing the girls to the real tech world, careers and opportunities available hence inspiring them to take this path. The events also provide an opportunity to build their social capital. 

Our beneficiaries are girls in rural areas aged 14-24 coming from poor social and economic background with no access to modern infrastructure or supportive ecosystem to excel in tech and non tech careers.

We start by signing an agreement with the selected schools which defines our role (training, mentorship, some technical equipment donation, incubation, and outreach) and role of schools (purchase of some of the technology, maintenance of the equipment, leadership/ownership of activities and sustainability of the project). We started with 15 schools four years ago. Today we have over 200 schools subscribed nationally all self-supporting with our role now limited to mentorship, incubation and connection to networks. 

Our project cost today has reduced to incubation process and organizing competitions which we are able to offset by monetizing some services in the hub like research and consultancies for corporate clients.   The pioneer teachers have become mentors and trainer of trainers (using the curriculum we curated) for new schools joining. The schools send us immediate feedback after workshops, seminars and we use it to enrich our content and training. Every start of school calendar, we conduct surveys to seek topics of interest to the students.

Our project is leveling the playing field for girls. There continue to be significant barriers for women to rise the academic, career and social ladder not just in Kenya but globally. There are many interventions including Kenya’s government requirement of 1/3 gender rule in all public jobs for women. 

However, the challenge now is how to get women from classrooms to boardrooms and especially in the tech sector. We don’t have many models and especially with relative success in rural areas where the challenge is acute. Sote Tech Queens is closing this gap. We are well aligned to the Challenge.

Our main competition is AkiraChix - https://akirachix.com/ They work with girls from poor informal settlements in Nairobi. The girls under Akirachix are trained on basic computer skills and job skills and recently introduced junior coding camps.

Our main difference is that we are focused in rural areas where poverty and risks for girls is highest. Besides the existing low technology and digital divides, girls are exposed to cultural prejudices such as cultural rites of passage, early marriages and low self-esteem.

We provide end to end solution. From schools, to incubation (with opportunities to win seed funding and investments) to job placements. Akirachix also lacks the entrepreneurship component to which we are strong in.

We have other female empowerment programs but are not necessarily on technology, nor focused in rural areas or long term as some tend to be short time projects and there are many of this nature.

We are technology agnostic. Every startup from our incubator or in our schools chooses the technology that best suits their products or service. We expose them to all the current and emerging technologies including Artificial Intelligence, Block Chain, Cloud computing, Data Science, Internet of Things and they choose what works for their product.

Example of Startups and technology used:

Anisan (Ndovu Care) - Uses IOT and AI

An elephant IOT device that alerts Kenya Wildlife Service to respond whenever elephants stray into homes, villages and farms. This team were winners in Diamond Startup Africa Challenge and had a trip to the USA.

Sandra Maryanne- Co-founder.

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RdbM6mryVN8

UdTech- Uses IOT and AI

Smart kit that measures soil pH, nutrient and moisture level and send real time sms notification with results. This helps farmers decide on crop type to grow and hence boost yield. Were recent winners in UN Women Conference in Nairobi and also winner of Diamond Challenge 2020.

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8C5AeWppg78&feature=youtu.be

The organization has recently been listed by Oxfam and GENE Global Education Innovation Award, 2017 as model hub for youth entrepreneurship and work-based learning.

We have developed, tested and adopted the following funnel-

Students in school in Business Clubs -> Ideation, formation and testing  of startups while in school -> Graduates transition into Sote Hub as Startup founders -> Successful startups launched -> Impact on society.

According to a recent study, 30% of our graduates have joined university, 30% got employment and 30% started business which is 3 times higher than national average.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BwTu_CAQ0pZQdWp3RXRqQmwtZ29LQ2lqOFVrWnJwcm16VGdN/view?usp=sharing

Oxfam Article:

https://www.emotiveprogram.org/solution/sote-hub-we-are-turning-ideas-into-business/

Gratitude Network Award/Fellowship:

http://gratitude-network.org/meet-the-2019-cohort/

Some media:

https://www.bbc.com/news/business-47640710

https://disrupt-africa.com/2016/02/sote-hub-taking-business-incubation-to-rural-kenya/

Problems

1) Inequality between rural areas and big cities in Kenya

2) Inequality in opportunities to gain digital skills and experience with work and entrepreneurship for rural girls and women

3) Generational poverty

Target Groups

1. Secondary school students (girls) in rural areas

2. Young female entrepreneurs

3. Teachers and mentors

4. Companies

Activities

1. Sote Business Clubs– training companies and startups

2. Sote Innovation Fair

3. Inter/national Student Competitions

4. Sote Hub – incubation of startups

5. Monthly Workshops and seminars with role model women leaders and industry experts

6. Jobs matching and seed funding of startups

Outputs

1) 800 girls graduate Sote ICT Clubs each year

2) 40 startup ideas compete at Sote Innovation Fair  

3) 10 best student startups awarded seed funding

4) 10 startups women led startups incubated at Sote Hub each year

5) 100 young entrepreneurs complete our Sote Hub digital skills and entrepreneurship curricula

6) Averagely 250 girls are linked to jobs and internship opportunities annually

Outcome

1)Our graduates earn at least 30% more than their peers

2) The female founders become employers and successfully manage and scale sustainable companies

3) More women choose career in technology, solve important problems and give back to community

Impact

Women scale the corporate, academic and leadership positions. Increased wealth in marginalized poor rural areas through a trusted community of friendly, passionate and skilled women problem-solvers. 

Currently

1400 students, 800 being girls graduate Sote Hub project each year

100 startup ideas compete at Sote Innovation Fair  

10 girls led startups incubated at Sote Hub each year

Next One Year

The numbers will double

The next five years

50,000 students, 30,000 being girls graduate Sote Hub project yearly

400 startup ideas compete at Sote Innovation Fair  

40  girl led startups incubated at Sote Hub each year

Strategy to increase numbers from Year 5:

Memorandum with Government for introduction of program in select schools in 47 counties in Kenya. There is a draft memorandum and ongoing discussions with the ministry of education, Kenya. Our big dream is to impact 1 million girls in the next 10 years.

Our growth strategy is characterized by a focus on achieving commercially sustainability while impacting more girls into technology

• Establish girls only coding academy graduating 100 women engineers, programmers, data scientist yearly
• 150 girls led startups exit Sote Hub and become profitable
• Establish Sote Fund, a venture fund that will invest in girls led startups and venture in Kenya and Africa

Sote  Tech Queens is an offshot of Sote Hub.  Sote Hub has dedicated team that manages activities of Sote Tech Queens

Full time: 10

Part time: 20 volunteers from VSO International

We have unique diverse team with extensive training, practice and passion in Social Entrepreneurship, international project development and management, venture philanthropy and education drawn from Kenya and globally.

1) Ms. Nayla Hatimy-. Partnership and Business Development Manager Sote Hub. Nayla has experience working with marnalised communities sand special interest in girls. She was the immediate programs officers for International Trade Centre (ITC) and International Refugee Council (IRC) programs in Daadab Refugee Camp, Kenya

https://www.linkedin.com/in/nayla-hatimy-40ba42122/

2) Martha Mgendi

Martha is a fintech & payments professional, a social entrepreneur and a philanthropist. A dual citizen of The Netherlands & Kenya, Martha considers herself a world citizen.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/marthamghendifisher/

3) John Paul- Responsible for Research and Education.

Specialist in design thinking, business and project planning. Immediate Community Manager at iHub, Africa’s oldest startup Hub. Bsc Commerce.  https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnpaulm/

4) Harry Mwailengo- Sote Hub- Responsible for incubation support.  An Obama and Ashoka Change Maker fellow been the pioneer incubation manager for Sote Hub to date. Bsc in Business and Information Technology. https://www.linkedin.com/in/harry-mwailengo-aa6a9a10b/

5) David Ogiga- Project Manager. Serial entrepreneur, cofounder Sote Hub. Gratitude Fellowship Recipient, David has over 15 years’ experience in social and change programs in education, conservation and agriculture. Bsc. Degree and over 15 years practice.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidogiga/

1) VSO International- Sends 20 volunteers every 3 months to Sote Hub who support our schools programs- https://www.vsointernational.org/

2) Coder Dojo- Support of coding clubs in the girls schools- https://coderdojo.com/

3) Coder Op- Partnering with Sote Hub to establish the first only girls coding academy in Kenya- https://codeop.tech/

4) Slovak Aid- Financial support for schools program

Using technology, we have managed to impact over 5000 marginalized girls in rural Kenya. According to a recent study, 30% are with gainful employment, 30% running business with another 30% pursuing further education majority STEM related courses.

We have demonstrated traction, our model is easily scalable to the rest of Africa or globally where girls experience similar circumstances. Our next plan is to establish an only girls coding academy ( The first in Kenya). This prize will give us the needed impetus to enhance our projects, greater visibility and financial support for the new coding academy.

The academy will develop a new breed of female software developers in a six months intensive project based training but also interactive interpersonal skills needed for effective teamwork and experience working on a product from start to finish. Programs to be offered include web and mobile applications; data science, UX/UI design, and product management.

We will offer flexible payment terms including: Scholarships, Self-financed, monthly installments, deferred payments till employment.

Our program will be end to end with internships, introduction to employers before graduation and a market place for the trained developers to sell their apps.

Using technology, we have managed to impact over 5000 marginalized girls in rural Kenya. According to a recent study, 30% are with gainful employment, 30% running business with another 30% pursuing further education majority STEM related courses.

We have demonstrated traction, our model is easily scalable to the rest of Africa or globally where girls experience similar circumstances. Our next plan is to establish an only girls coding academy ( The first in Kenya). This prize will give us the needed impetus to enhance our projects, greater visibility and financial support for the new coding academy.

The academy will develop a new breed of female software developers in a six months intensive project based training but also interactive interpersonal skills needed for effective teamwork and experience working on a product from start to finish. Programs to be offered include web and mobile applications; data science, UX/UI design, and product management.

We will offer flexible payment terms including: Scholarships, Self-financed, monthly installments, deferred payments till employment.

Our program will be end to end with internships, introduction to employers before graduation and a market place for the trained developers to sell their apps.