Engineer Maureen holds to a grand vision for what she wants to achieve with her time on earth. That was the natural order of things, having grown up around boys—she was a mother of boys—and picking a “male-leaning” course in engineering; striving to get to the top, and now thriving at said top.
“I used to play soccer,” she says, “Before jumping into engineering. I have always been around guys so I was set up for this. There are judgments and challenges and when they blend, it’s when guys tend to give up.”
“Guys,” in Maureen’s colloquial expression, should be taken to mean women. Even her language is masculine. “It is tough but you cannot make excuses. Work is work. I don’t allow people to make excuses on my behalf. But it’s been great because you also get that attention.”
"Make a unique space where the crowd follows you, that they move because of you and not the other way around. I am not driven by peer pressure; I am moved by what can have an impact."
With the tireless focus of a painter, Maureen built her career brick-by-brick, joining the University of Nairobi in 2006 to pursue a degree in Electrical and Electronic Engineering. She talks about the odd engineering jobs that she did, and the challenges and struggles of managing people on-site as the lighthouse of her journey. “Every failure is an opportunity to rise and do better. Having that faith that everything will work out when you adjust and do it better.” She credits her mentors, but she does not erase her part from the story. One, she says, learns from her mentors but you also bring your style to working—self-improvement.
She loves telling the story of how she got lost looking for a remote site in Maasai Mara. She loves that story because she was there to bring about change and give a marginalised community a chance to embrace technology, making their lives better.
How is she standing out in a male-dominated field?
“It is less male-dominated now. I stood out because I could explain myself in a meeting in tech discussions, and those are some of the things people look out for—unique solutions based on what you know and have read. It stops being about you being in a male-dominated field, but what you are bringing to the table that can solve a problem. The goal knows no gender,” she says.
“It’s about being yourself. Make a unique space where the crowd follows you, that they move because of you and not the other way around. I am not driven by peer pressure; I am moved by what can have an impact.”
Not one to swim with the current, she stands up, stands out, and, as a consequence, becomes outstanding. When she is mentoring younger girls, and seeing women, particularly persons with disabilities, get a chance to interact with digital transformation, more so in marginalised communities, her day is made.
Leadership, she says, is about learning from others, and remaining hungry for information.
It is that same hunger that is sated by working out, running, and reading. At the moment, she is reading the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, where she assigns King David as her muse—how he had many failures but still stayed true to God.
What’s a personal Goliath she is trying to slay? “I want to break that glass ceiling.”
But the shards of that glass breaking have also cut her, the blood price required to pay for her ambition. “As I was chasing my dream, I travelled often and didn’t have time for my firstborn.” Lately, however, she says, they have become close. You have to find that balance so you don’t miss out on your family’s growth as you chase your ambition. “Now, my son even decides some of the outfits I wear. Haha!”
If she could tell me just one thing, what would she tell me? “Patience pays, and the fear of God is very important.”
The future, from where she sits, is blinding. “You will be seeing me lead women in the digital transformation space. I shall be a CEO very soon,” she declares.
You cannot doubt her.
– By Eddy Ashioya
