By Sharon Adisa

It’s not always that you get to sit together with a group of youth from different countries who are passionate about transforming their communities, countries and the continent of Africa. Well, the YALI EA Regional Leadership Program makes that happen.

My name is Sharon Adisa, a change agent from Kenya. I am the founder of Kendesk Digital Services, a Digital Management company in Kenya, a Branding Taskforce Member for Kakamega County and the founder of Shaboard, an organization that seeks to mentor and train girls and young women in Technology, Leadership and Entrepreneurship.

Being a member of YALI Network helped me discover the YALI Regional Leadership program. I am more than honored to have gone through the YALI EA Regional Leadership Program which has been my support pillar in my Leadership and Entrepreneurship journey. I was part of YALI cohort 23 in the Business and Entrepreneurship track Group O (Inset: L-R  Mercy -Kenya, Sharon -Kenya, Mabior- South Sudan, Museveni - Uganda, Jane- Tanzania, Shilingi- Tanzania)

My business has tremendously improved, thanks to the design thinking lessons. I now teach other entrepreneurs and aspiring entrepreneurs about the importance of Human Centered Design.
Interacting with fellows from different countries opened my eyes to how deeply endowed the African continent is, and especially East Africa. Most of the time, we perceive other countries from what we watch on news or mere hearsay, but taking time to talk to other fellows about their countries gave me a different and fresh perspective and It challenged the prejudices I had held on for long about other countries. The problem in this case is that Africans aren’t telling their own stories but rather leave it to outside media to tell them.

After the YALI program, I was challenged to tell more stories especially about young women and also improve on my mentorship activities. So, I actively blog at www.shaboard.com , where I write about women issues and also share opportunities to inspire the next generation of female entrepreneurs and leaders. The blog features different upcoming young women entrepreneurs and women in technology to give them exposure to untapped markets and shines light on different women and organizations impacting the lives of women and girls in the community. Some of the YALI fellows from my cohort (photo below) have been featured and it gives me great joy to see this exposure impact their businesses and projects positively.

It’s not just about telling stories, but a creating role models that young girls can look up to for inspiration. I believe that young girls don’t need just an education but also a strong mentoring framework to help them unleash the inner power that could catapult them to being great leaders and entrepreneurs who would create a huge impact on the world around them. I hope to see a significant reduction in the digital gender divide and gender economic divide where more women are in a position to take charge of their lives, transform their communities and the world at large.

Check out my website to see more activities that I have undertook as part of my YALI Transformation journey. You can also follow me on social media: Facebook , Twitter, LinkedIn.