Women in Tech: Akilah Alumnae Series Part 4

Meet Mireille Sekamana, Junior Designer at YLabs — Global (Class of 2017)

In this special Women in Tech interview series, we’re celebrating the achievements of Akilah Alumnae who have graduated from our two-year Information Systems diploma program. These fearless females are challenging the status quo and contributing to the growing IT economy as leaders and changemakers.

Describe your current role and the aspects you enjoy most

I am a Junior Designer for an organization called YLabs. At YLabs, we design, test, and advocate for youth-driven solutions that address the biggest challenges to young people’s health and economic opportunity worldwide. I have worked for this organization since 2016 to develop engaging and entertaining digital platforms that both resonate with young people and provide them with critical information and access to services. The aspect I enjoy the most is getting to interact with the young people who we design for, understanding them, and seeing them involved in every stage of our work. I have grown so much as a professional and I love how I am bringing to life all of the skills that I gained from Akilah.

How did your Information Systems diploma prepare you for the workforce?

When working on our Information Systems projects, we were reminded to always keep the user in mind. We had to understand the users, talk to them, and bring a solution to life that best met their needs. In my current role as a designer, I have to make sure that the user’s voice and pain-points are addressed by the solution that we’re proposing.

What soft skills did you learn at Akilah that equipped you for your career?

The most valuable soft skills that I gained from Akilah, which not only helped me to launch my career but also advance and find more opportunities, include effective communication and public speaking skills. From communicating with my colleagues to the stakeholders of our programs, these skills have helped me to represent the organization that I work for on various occasions and to also find other opportunities outside of my current job.

For instance, I was part of the cohort for UNLEASH2019, a global non-profit initiative addressing the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which brings together 1,000 young global talents to innovate and collaborate on solutions to some of the world’s most pressing challenges. During our last days in the innovation hub, we had to pitch in front of everyone. I felt confident and ensured that my message would be clear and concise for my audience. This is largely thanks to the business communication and public speaking classes that made me practice enough to get to a point where I felt confident to stand in front of people and deliver my message.

What advice would you give to other females who are interested in pursuing a career in IT?

My advice to other women who are pursuing their careers in Information Systems is: experiment as much as you can! When I was still a student, I made a few tech projects that were not appealing at all but I kept trying until they became better. I knew that starting out was not always going to easy, but I put so much effort into exploring the possibilities of how to make my work stand out, which really helped me to progress and get noticed.

This is the same advice I would give to anyone who is in the tech industry. Keep doing things that you might not be proud of at the start and just keep iterating it until you get to a point where your product reflects a service you would be willing to use. Don’t be afraid to try out something that you have never tried before. It might be new software, developing an app or some coding that you want to experiment with; don’t be scared, just keep doing it until you are confident enough to present it. There are a lot of resources at your disposal today to use, make sure you leverage your strengths, look for mentors, and keep upskilling because the tech world changes all the time.

Describe your long-term career goals — where do you envision yourself in 5, 10 or 20 years?

My long term-term career goal is to empower more girls and motivate them to join the tech industry. It breaks my heart to see the low percentage of women who are currently in the tech industry globally. I want women to be confident and join the tech world! When I get to a point where I have mentored a number of other young women to advance in their careers, I will say my career goals are achieved.

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