Learn about TechWomen’s expansion to Chicago!

TechWomenTechWomen

TechWomen is an Initiative of the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs

  • Home
  • Program
    • Overview
    • 2024 Impact Projects
    • Professional Development
    • Cultural Exchange
    • Delegation Trips
    • Impact
    • TechWomen@10
  • Participants
    • Chicago Emerging Leader Profiles
    • San Francisco Emerging Leader Profiles
    • Eligibility and Application
    • The Experience
    • Award Details
  • Mentors
    • Why Mentor With TechWomen?
    • Professional Mentor Overview
    • Cultural Mentor Overview
    • Impact Coach Overview
    • TechWomen Mentor Application
  • Get Involved
    • TechWomen Alumnae Summit
    • TechWomen Chicago
    • Host an Emerging Leader
    • Host an Event
    • Other Ways to Get Involved
    • Host companies and partners
  • About Us
    • Who We Are
    • Program Countries
    • Connect
  • FAQ
    • General
    • Participants
    • Mentors
  • Blog
  • Log In

The Power of Resilience: My five-round journey to TechWomen

September 15, 2023 By Zaria Qadafi 10 Comments

Guest post by Aderonke Sakpere, 2023 Emerging Leader of Nigeria who is heading to Chicago.

Editor’s note: Aderonke Sakpere’s guest post is part of our series, Emerging Leader Voices, which invites TechWomen Emerging Leaders to share their voice, perspective and experiences with the TechWomen community.

It’s always tempting to believe that as a bright student or leader, one’s dreams will come easily. In my 12-year journey as an academic and technology researcher, I’ve come to realize that resilience often counts far more than sheer intelligence. Even gaining selection into TechWomen required enduring five rounds of applications. This is my story of how and why I never gave up until I was selected to become a TechWomen Emerging Leader in 2023.

So, what did I do in the midst of these rejections?

First, I realized that my dream of bridging the gender gap in technology needed to be turned into something tangible. This compelled me to start the Tech Girls Club in 2019.

Aderonke (center left) poses at the inaugural event of the Tech Girls Club with Professor Akinola Olalekan, Head of Computer Science Department of University of Ibadan in 2019, and Bunmi Gaji, keynote speaker from major telecommunications company MTN, Nigeria.

 

The inaugural meeting attracted over 30 girls. With just $40 dollars in funding, I leveraged my network to secure a keynote speaker in IT management and giveaways for the participants from MTN, Nigeria, a major telecommunications company.

Secondly, I pursued collaborations with individuals, industries and NGOs that shared the vision of the newly founded club. In four years of existence, we have collaborated with 16 different organizations, organized four boot camps, and held over 10 high school and university talks aimed at bridging the gender gap in tech. Since inception, we have impacted over 2000 girls.

Tech Girls Club hosts an outreach program and boot camp on scratch coding and design thinking which was held at a high school in Ibadan South-West, Nigeria.

Thirdly, I continued to grow my professional and leadership skills. I achieved this by participating in mentorships opportunities provided by organizations such as MIT and Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings. The Heidelberg Laureate Forum Foundation recognized my potential and offered me mentorship and scientific exchange with Nobel Laureates. Through these opportunities, I created KoEde, a platform that uses gamification to facilitate children’s learning of African indigenous languages. Additionally, I co-founded the Lindau Mentorship Hub, which connects young scientists to leading mentors in their fields of need.

This post is dedicated to those who have made multiple attempts to secure opportunities but continue to face rejection. Don’t give up. Turn your dreams from mere thoughts and musings into actionable steps, even if it means starting small. Keep on growing and seeking collaboration and growth opportunities. And always remember:

“Enthusiasm is common. Endurance is rare.”

– Angela Duckworth, American psychologist, author and academic

Share this:

  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • Email

Filed Under: 2023 Program, Emerging Leader Voices, Sub-Saharan Africa

Comments

  1. Cora says

    September 15, 2023 at 12:53 pm

    Congratulation Aderonke!! if we want something, we need to keep trying. See you soon

    Reply
    • Aderonke Sakpere says

      September 19, 2023 at 4:01 pm

      Thanks so much Cora.

      Reply
  2. Jennifer says

    September 19, 2023 at 8:19 pm

    Phenomenal!
    I look forward to meeting you soon, Aderonke!

    Reply
  3. Binta Moustapha says

    September 20, 2023 at 12:42 am

    Congratulations and enjoy your TechWomen Experience

    Reply
  4. Olubunmi Abel says

    September 25, 2023 at 3:32 am

    Brilliant! Resilience is a mental and emotional strength that enables us to adapt, grow, and even thrive in the face of difficult circumstances. It was quite inspiring to read about how you demonstrated that you have the inner strength to not only survive life’s trials but to emerge stronger and more capable than before. Thanks for sharing. Kudos👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽

    Reply
  5. Oladele Campbell says

    September 26, 2023 at 12:49 am

    What a resonating lesson!
    Congrats, Ronke.
    More power to your elbow in your drive to encourage more girls into computing.

    Reply
  6. Felicia Ajayi says

    October 3, 2023 at 7:59 am

    Congratulations, dear sister.

    Reply
  7. Isi Ejoh says

    October 4, 2023 at 1:44 am

    Great motivation ! Thanks for sharing your story.

    Reply
  8. Aderonke Sakpere says

    October 5, 2023 at 12:48 pm

    Thanks so much!

    Reply
  9. Hikmat Titilayo Balogun-Abiola says

    November 29, 2023 at 2:06 am

    Congratulations! Thank you so much for sharing this source of inspiration, Madam Aderonke. I wish to connect with you to learn further ways of navigation.

    Reply

Speak Your Mind Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 901 other subscribers

Sign Up for TechWomen Updates

JOIN OUR MAILING LIST

Recent Posts

  • Protected: TechWomen Alumnae Outreach Toolkit
  • TechWomen 2024 Week 5: Connection. Impact. Diplomacy.
  • TechWomen 2024 Week 4 Highlights | From Pitch to Celebration: Emerging Leaders Shine
  • TechWomen 2024 Week 3 Highlights | Empowering Women, Building Solutions
  • TechWomen 2024 Week 2 Highlights | From Mentorship to Impact: A Week of Growth and Collaboration

Categories

  • 2012 Program
  • 2013 Program
  • 2014 Program
  • 2015 Program
  • 2016 Program
  • 2017 Program
  • 2018 Program
  • 2019 Program
  • 2020 Program
  • 2022 (Fall) Program
  • 2022 program
  • 2023 Program
  • 2024 Program
  • Alumnae
  • Announcements
  • Application & Outreach
  • Application Tips
  • Central Asia
  • Conferences
  • Cultural Exchange
  • Delegation Trips
  • Emerging Leader Voices
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Girls Education
  • Guest Blogs
  • IIE
  • Impact
  • Lean In
  • Mentor Application
  • Mentoring Girls
  • Mentorship
  • Middle East and North Africa
  • Partnerships
  • Professional Development
  • Scholarship
  • Seed Grant
  • Solar Power
  • STEM
  • Sub-Saharan Africa
  • Technology
  • Uncategorized
  • Washington, D.C.

Archives

  • November 2024
  • October 2024
  • September 2024
  • July 2024
  • June 2024
  • May 2024
  • January 2024
  • December 2023
  • October 2023
  • September 2023
  • August 2023
  • July 2023
  • May 2023
  • March 2023
  • February 2023
  • January 2023
  • December 2022
  • November 2022
  • October 2022
  • September 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013

Tags

2013 program 2014 program 2015 program Africa Alumnae application central asia Community cultural exchange Cultural Mentor delegation trip delegation trips Education Egypt emerging leaders emerging women leaders Empowerment Entrepreneurship guest post impact Jordan kazakhstan Kenya kyrgyzstan Leadership MENA Mentor mentoring girls Mentors mentorship Middle East Morocco nigeria Rwanda San Francisco seed grants Silicon Valley south africa STEM TechWomen TechWomen Alumni Tunisia Twitter U.S. Department of State women in tech

CONTACT US | MEDIA | Privacy Policy | Terms and Conditions | Cookie Policy | Sitemap
Copyright © 2025 TechWomen | Site by MIGHTYminnow

 

IIE partners with the U.S. Department of State on the TechWomen program. We are reviewing this website to ensure compliance with recent executive orders and other guidance.

   

Copyright © 2025 · TechWomen on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

 

Loading Comments...