Rumbidzai Mhlanga, Sunday Life Reporter
THE Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (Stem) Trust in partnership with Data Science Zimbabwe had a three-day mentorship and job shadowing programme in Bulawayo last week.
The organisation was established last year and the Innovation Academy was launched on 1 August this year. Victoria Ngono, the founder and executive director of the organisation said they were keen to open doors for women.
“The Girls in Stem Trust is a non-profit organisation that was formed in October 2018, through our deliberate drive, by exposure to all facets of Stem as well as the digital skills that come with it we are paving the way for a vibrant generation of women leaders and entrepreneurs in Stem. The cornerstone of Girls in Stem Trust is her Digital Skills, Her Future.
We recently partnered with iRock UK, a social enterprise with chapters in the United States of America and the United Kingdom to bring an Innovation Academy to Bulawayo for all aspiring girls and women as well as help them pursue and reach their goals, which is why we are running this three-day programme to mentor women in Bulawayo.
“Our primary focus is to help give the girls in our community a stepping stone into the exciting world of Stem and the opportunities that Stem-related careers present for young women and girls in the era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
It is our mission to impress upon the girls that mentorship, digital skills training, business entrepreneurship all fused with Stem related studies will create a well-rounded job-ready Stem professional.
“For this programme that we are running 20 girls benefit from being exposed in the Stem environment in the corporate world in Bulawayo that is, they have been placed in various companies that have Stem occupations and possible carriers that the girls would want to do.
This is the second cohort to benefit from Stem since this is our second time running such a programme,” she said.
Ngono added that their future plans were to impact on the lives of one million girls in the country.
“Our future plans and mission as Girls in Stem Trust is to touch and impact on the lives of one million girls in Zimbabwe through Stem by 2030 and help them penetrate the Technology start up ecosystem through equipping them with the necessary skills to be savvy Stem business entrepreneurs and well-rounded Stem professionals,” she said.
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