NAIROBI, Kenya, Mar 26 – CyberSafe Foundation has launched a mentorship and training program to empower women in the cyber space.
The free program dubbed CyberGirls will benefit over 500 women aged between 18-28 years old from 22 African countries.
The CyberGirls fellowship program is Africa’s largest female-focused free cybersecurity training and mentorship program, providing fellows with world-class training and mentorship to enable them to develop the skills they need to thrive in the cybersecurity industry.
The program is an initiative of CyberSafe Foundation, a non-profit organization registered in the United States of America, committed to facilitating safe and inclusive access across Africa.
The third cohort marks another milestone in CyberSafe Foundation’s efforts to close the gender diversity and inclusion gap which currently stands at only 9 percent female participation in the cybersecurity workforce.
CyberGirls Convener Angela Waweru said that this is a first step towards empowering women in cyber related careers across Africa.
“In partnership with Capital FM, we have a podcast to sensitive women on cyber security,”she said.
“We are thrilled to launch our third cohort of the CyberGirls fellowship program, which is designed to attract and empower young women across Africa to take on cybersecurity as a profession,” said Confidence Staveley, Executive Director CyberSafe Foundation.
“Our fellowship program continues to play a critical role in promoting gender diversity and inclusion in the cybersecurity industry. We believe that training more women in cybersecurity is not only closing the gender gap in the industry but also contributing to Africa’s digital transformation.” she added .
“Cyber security is a continuous learning and unlearning process,” said Peter Obadare, Chairman CyberSafe Foundation.
Dwan Jones, Director Diversity, Equity and Inclusion noted that cyber security is a male dominated career and this is a big step towards transforming women into the industry.
“Our current workforce gap is 3.4 million people. We need your experience and commitment in cybersecurity,” she said.
This year’s cohort was selected from over 20,000 applications received from across Africa, highlighting the growing interest in cybersecurity among African women.
The new cohort consists of 190+ Kenyan fellows learning alongside hundreds of their counterparts in twenty-one other African countries.
“The CyberGirls Fellowship has produced nothing but excellence in the cyber world. This has been possible thanks to the unwavering commitment of our community mentors and the guidance of highly skilled trainers,” said Bright Gameli, Board Member of CyberSafe Foundation.
The women also gave their testimonies citing incidents where they were cyberbullied or had unpleasant experiences online igniting their interests to operate as cyber security professionals.
CyberSafe Foundation is committed to driving gender diversity and inclusion in the cybersecurity industry by equipping more young women with the skills and knowledge they need to succeed.
The organization has a track record of producing top-tier cybersecurity professionals, connecting talents to job opportunities, and contributing to the overall cybersecurity landscape in Africa.
