To better frame Kendi in the widening and rumbling landscape of tech, we have to take a look at the statistics.
In the global tech colosseum, women hold 19 percent of tech-related jobs in the world. In terms of leadership positions, women only fill 28 percent of the top tech seats.
To correct the imbalance, Kendi founded SheGoesTech in 2015. SheGoesTech encourages girls to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).
“It’s important that women recognise that these hard skills allow a person to sit on the deciding table and so there is a need for them to grow these skills,” she says.
"It’s important that women recognise that these hard skills [in science, technology, engineering and mathematics] allow a person to sit on the deciding table..."
She has been in the tech space for 15 years, having had stints at HP, Oracle, Intel and currently at Check Point.
Her passion in tech, she believes, will amount to nought if more women do not get on the “deciding table.” So far the SheGoesTech programme has not less than 3,000 girls on it.
Central to her passion is her spirituality, her dedication to God and what her talents mean in the wider frame of things.
“Preaching comes in different ways, not just on pulpits,” says Kendi, who has a Mini MBA in Strategy and Finance from Oracle University.
“One of the important questions we are asking now is how can people like me, people who are embedded in faith, influence the marketplace in the same ethos?”
–Jackson Biko
