Wentors, a global community of women in technology led by former Microsoft colleagues, EduAbasi Chukwunweike and Unoma Adeyemi, is committed to increasing the rate of women’s participation and retention in technology through mentorship.
The technology ecosystem is rapidly evolving and more than ever before, we are presented with an opportunity to truly be a global village. With organizations emphasizing a multicultural work environment that cuts across borders, and the development of talent pipelines across several regions in Africa and the middle east, we find ourselves on the doorstep of a world of numerous possibilities for women of colour in tech.
Wentors is creating a ripple effect in women’s development and empowerment through their mentorship program and have recently innovated a new mentorship model for women of colour across Africa and the middle east.
Having provided mentorship for 4000 women across 5 continents of the world in just 2 years, the fast-growing community of women are introducing a group mentorship experience to cross-border mentorship.
Toluwase Olugbemiro, the communication lead at Wentors summarized the intent of the organization in a few words.
“We want to break the cultural barrier for women in our community. We believe this is a strategic effort to give them first-hand experience of what it would be like to work in a racially and culturally diverse team. We are introducing the Tribe mentorship program to prepare them for the possible future of work in the technology industry.”
According to Dorathy Simeon, who leads programs at Wentors, the Tribe mentorship cohort is the first of its kind for our community. It was born out of the need to ensure we cover as much grey area as we can in providing mentorship for women in technology. And being culturally prepared for work was one thing we thought needed to be attended to.
The mentorship program specifically designed for women across Africa and the middle east will see a group of 5 mentees paired up with mentors from other regions of the world. This strategic initiative of Wentors is to cater for the largest population of women of colour in the world.
According to the founders, it is also an opportunity for women in senior positions with more than 4 years of experience to give back to the women’s community and also help build the next generation of women in technology.
As Africa continues to grow, organizations like Wentors will help ensure women have access to professional mentorship which prepares them even further for the global market.
