Dissolving Barriers to Socio-Economic Gains with Real-World IT Projects
At the 2017 AWS re:Invent in Las Vegas, Amazon Web Services (AWS) made important announcements and hosted unique activities celebrating the diversity of its customers, partners, and employees. Within the We Power Tech diversity track, they hosted the Diversity in Tech Lightening Talks, which has inspired Enquizit to collaborate with some of these leaders of tech inclusion to help bring technology opportunities to students around the world.
In order to provide information technology (IT) training to disadvantaged Kenyan youth, Digital Divide Data (DDD), a Kenyan- based institution that collaborated with AWS to facilitate upward economic mobility and promote gender equality in the region. DDD delivers courses in software development, project management, content management, and other domains, as well as practicums to familiarize students with AWS offerings and approaches. As part of this relationship, AWS provides certifications to graduates. Watch the video below to learn more about how DDD works with AWS.
Together, these organizations are shaping the future of technology and providing tactical ways for people in tech to get involved. However, the remaining hurdle is onboarding graduates to real-world IT projects. Many large organizations and government agencies, including those in the U.S., are still hesitant to adopt an offshore, remote-work model to employ fresh graduates from the DDD and AWS Cloud Academy in Kenya. This is where Enquizit works is aiming to make a difference.
Following re:Invent, Enquizit brought two 2017 graduates from Nairobi to our headquarters in Tysons, Va. to spend a week becoming familiar with the company, practices, and completing tasks on current projects.
Maureen Chebet graduated at the head of her class of 30 and participated in the DDD and /AWS Cloud Academy program as part of a work-study in association with her college, Kenyatta University. She learned and developed a passion for application and web development. Damaris Namukhosi Sirengo has capitalized on the opportunity to work directly with several clients, including Duraspace and Shofco, based in Nairobi, where she leads a team of nine and applies the management skills garnered from her academy training.
In the future, iIt is Enquizit’s intention to acquire several talented graduates and onboard them to projects that will allow them to work for customers remotely, performing cloud migrations and delving into managed services.
“We hope to further dissolve barriers to socio-economic gains for motivated and intelligent youths in regions that lack the opportunity for them to realize their potential. Demonstrating our strong relationship with AWS and a commitment to being a socially -responsible IT company, we’ll strive to get these young professionals the chance they’ve earned,” said TC Ratnapuri, Enquizit President.
Besides the business of IT managed services, our guests had an opportunity to do a bit of sightseeing in Washington D.C. on their last day in the states. The young ladieswomen were excited to see the White House. They also enjoyed riding the Metrorail to the National Air and Space Museum; and of course, observing the treasures that the Smithsonian houses. They said the street food was pretty good too!
