Dear friends,
 

As 2019 starts, we take stock of our progress through last year. We expanded our programmes to new locations and forged new alliances, while embarking on new activities with existing partners.

 Over the last year, we:
 

A.) Increased our engagement with our stakeholders       and the wider public, by:
 

•      Launching a newer and more user-friendly website 
•     Reviewing and re-branding some programmes to better appeal to the target beneficiaries (e.g. the W.TEC Girls Camp is now the She Creates Camp 
•   Forged new partnerships, including the Children’s Development  Centre – Lagos, Kenneth Dike eLibrary – Awka, National Library – Ilorin, Kwara State, Kwara State Ministry of Education, FEMTECH – Kwara State to expand our W.TEC              Academy afterschool technology programmes

B.) Expanded our programming to new locations:
 

•      Set-up afterschool clubs in 9 public secondary schools in Kwara State
•       Organised the 1st She Creates Technology Camp in Awka, Anambra State and in Lekki, Lagos State Moved to new offices with bigger training space

C.) Increased the breadth and depth of our curriculum:

•     Organised our 1st Robotics-focused camp 
•     Significantly expanded our curriculum to include more Science and Engineering modules
•    Organised computing classes for children with developmental disabilities

D.) Sought to deliver programmes that support our     
  beneficiaries from girlhood to adulthood:

•     Hosted the Early Innovators Camp (for 5 – 9 year olds) for the 2nd consecutive year
•      Continued the technology afterchool clubs for 5 – 9 year olds
•      Launched the HERKathon programme (hackathon for 11 – 17 year olds)
•   Launched MentorHER (a STEM mentoring Programme for female university students)

 

E.) Received awards & media features:

•     Featured in the media, including Channels TV's Tech Trends show, Guardian Newspaper, News Agency of Nigeria, BellaNaija, National Light Newspaper, Punch Newspaper, The Nation Newspaper, PM News, Techpoint Africa and others.
•     Were a finalist for the 2018 WSIS Prizes (World Summit on Information Society) – (Capacity Building category)
•      Our Executive Director, Oreoluwa Lesi, was named one of the 100 Most Inspiring Women of 2018 by Leading Ladies Africa and the Guardian Newspaper. She was also awarded the 2018 Woman of the Year in Technology by Her Network Online global network.

F.) Celebrated W.TEC’s 10th year anniversary

•      In 2018, no less than 1,862 girls and women participated in our programmes
•     Over the last decade, we have worked with 23,000 girls and women
•    86.21% of alumnae surveyed stated that participating in the W.TEC programme inspired them to want to pursue a STEM-related career path
•    24.14%  are either studying or have completed a STEM degree in a tertiary institution
•    57.47% are using the technology skills and knowledge from the W.TEC programme they attended to generate income for themselves

From the bottom of our heart, we thank you again for supporting and sharing our work. Because of you, we have been able to increase our reach and improve the quality of our programming.

Together, we can keep working to build a pipeline that supports girls and women throughout their journeys from early engagement to a career in technology and sciences.

Please continue to support us financially so that we can do even more. Consider becoming a recurring donor and setting-up automatic monthly payments to us. And please share our work with others in your network.

Warm regards,

Oreoluwa Lesi