Joy Makumbe

2015 fellow Joy Makumbe was featured in Words That Count, an initiative that
shares stories of successful African women in STEM who serve as role models for
young girls on the continent. Joy, a civil and water engineer and project manager,
spoke about her leadership journey, her passion for engineering and the
importance of women’s leadership in male-dominated industries.
This year, Joy published Tech Girl Diaries, a book that chronicles her personal and
professional journey in STEM. Through a series of essays, Joy shares lessons and
practical advice on how parents, communities and workplaces can support girls and
women on their STEM journeys and work together towards addressing the gender
imbalance in STEM fields. “Working in a male-dominated industry is challenging
because you are always required to prove yourself to be acceptable,” Joy says in
the Words That Count feature. “I love what I do, and I have no apologies for
that…Women are powerful and have what it takes to overcome the many obstacles
they face in a patriarchal society.”​