Ingressive for Good partnered with Geneza School of Design to help 1000 women build skills and careers in design. During the training, we realized the need and benefits of study buddies to better help the women learn and complete their courses. So we created study groups. At the end of the program, we recorded over 70% completions. Valentine Maiyo tells us about her experience leading a study group, the impact she made and the impact it had on her.
“I am Valentine Maiyo. I graduated with a degree in Computer Science, I work as a freelance software developer and am currently studying full-stack development to up-skill at Moringa School. I enjoy problem-solving and being creative. That’s why I chose a career in technology. I am an advocate of women in STEM and believe in empowering women. Aside from writing code and designing, I am a dance and gaming enthusiast. My purpose is to one day change somebody’s life, either through technology or in other impactful ways.
I applied to take the UI design training because I wanted an opportunity to be creative and equipped me with the right skills to get a job. I also knew that it is really important to have design skills as a front-end developer because you get to create quality products that are user-friendly. This has been really helpful when working. While in school, I noticed that when I had a good design, writing codes was more straightforward.
When I got the I4GXGeneza Women in Design scholarship, I was really excited and grateful because I was at a point in my life where I felt like everything was falling apart, and this gave me joy and hope. I was on my way home from running errands. I was in the car, and it was the only thing that kept me from shouting out loud with joy.
I applied to be a team leader because I enjoy having a team that I can help to guide, communicate any issues they may have, and I also get joy out of watching others grow. I know that sometimes you might have issues, and not everyone is good at expressing them, and this might block their progress. The love of being in a position to create rapport and make people feel comfortable in communicating drove me to be a team leader.
Being a team leader was easy for me because my teammates were active and collaborated well. However, there are always challenges. Some of the challenges I encountered were with getting in touch with members.
Being a team did not only help me to build confidence and communicate effectively. It also gave me a sense of fulfillment. As a leader, I was able to learn patience, empathy, and effective ways to handle different people. Being a design student, I was able to learn the art of problem-solving, creativity, ideation, and creating beautiful designs.
Learning design has not only equipped me with design skills but also helped me land a design interview and made my life as a full-stack developer easier.
I am grateful to I4G Network and Ingressive for Good for the amazing opportunity. My advice to others would be to never give up and believe in yourself.”
You can reach Valentine here
LinkedIn-https://www.linkedin.com/in/valentine-maiyo-63096018a/.
Twitter-https://twitter.com/ValentineMaiyo
Instagram- instagram.com/miss_maiyov
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