Google chooses KwaZulu-Natal student as Women Techmaker
Multinational firm singles out Durban University of Technology student Nombuso Msweli as ambassador for its South African women’s project.
Durban University of Technology (DUT) student Nombuso Msweli has been named a Women Techmaker ambassador.
The final-year information and communication technology student also is a representative for Google Developer Group (GDG) Cloud Durban. These accolades recognise and encourage her efforts to empower women in the technology industry.
What is a Women Techmaker?
Women Techmaker ambassadors are community leaders around the world. They are passionate about achieving gender equality within a technological field generally considered to be male dominated.
Google chose Msweli based on her involvement in the GDG Cloud community and projects such as VarsityGenie.
This title gives her a platform to host events to help women grow, learn and bridge the gap in the technology industry. Msweli will also attend webinars with experienced women in the field, and be assisted with ideas to grow her own technology focused initiatives.
How Msweli aims to empower
As an ambassador, Msweli defines her role as creating a space where women are inspired to work harder on their skills. She also wants to inspire more females to join the industry and build a community which will be motivated to be the change needed in the ICT industry.
“The tech industry is known as male dominated,” said Msweli.
“It is rare to see females who are in it to actually shine, not just to achieve the diploma or degree. My role as an ambassador is to bring or create that equal space for males and females in technology.”
Hosting ‘Reframe Your Mind’
Over the Women’s Day long weekend, Msweli hosted the Google Meets event “Reframe Your Mind for a Career in Tech”.
Targeting female students and graduates, the event aimed at helping and guiding women who don’t know how to take their careers further, especially in the midst of a pandemic.
Msweli invited women doing sterling work in technology to join the event and share their advice.
“A few days ago, I hosted my first event for female students and graduates to help them understand what to do while studying. Also, after university, what is there in terms of leadership, entrepreneurship, employment to name a few,” she said.
Msweli’s goal for the future is to have innovative centres where young people can think and test their skills. The idea is to go beyond what is taught on paper, as well as to empower rural areas through computer centres.
She also wants to focus on uplifting women in leadership and entrepreneurship.
