Hertechtrail; Empowering African Women in Tech for Free Since 2019.

Hertechtrail is a community/organization of African women in Tech founded in Nigeria. It runs an Academy with the aim of equipping ladies and women with tech skills. HerTechTrail Academy is the Heart of HerTechTrail. A 100% virtual learning platform for African women in Tech.

Founded by Port Harcourt Female Techist Gloria Ojukwu , Hertechtrail is contributing to human capital development in no small measure.

According to Adeva IT, Despite accounting for nearly half of the total workforce, women held only 25% of all tech jobs in 2018. Worse, this figure is lower than the proportion of women in technology jobs in the 1980s.

According to the founder of Hertechtrail, she founded the foundation in order to bring some balance to the statistics stated above.

She said Hertechtrail aims to close the digital and technology knowledge gap between men and women. “We are empowering girls and women all over Africa with varying degrees of digital, deep tech, and soft skills needed in the technology ecosystem” she said.

Brief History of Hertechtrail

HERTECHTRAIL was founded by Gloria Ojukwu on the 30th November, 2019 with the intention of assisting women in pursuing careers in technology.

Hertechtrail has since inception worked very hard to help African women/ladies get started and sustain their Tech careers with relevant on-demand tech and digital skills. It has since grown into a global movement with members from Africa and beyond.

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Hertechtrail says it aims to support and inspire women to outclass and fly higher in Tech careers and businesses in Africa. According to the founder, she and her team wanta to see an Africa where women are proportionally represented in all spheres and sectors in the Tech Industry.

In the past two years, this Tech Academy has trained over five hundred ladies 500 in various areas of tech, transferring soft skills to women in Africa.

Hertechtrail offers scholarship to women who are willingly and committed to advancing their careers in tech.It’s interesting to note that these women who have undergone these training and those who are currently being trained are all on scholarship. As a matter of fact, some of the trainees got Laptops as a way of enhancing their learning experience.

In an interview with the Founder, Gloria Ojukwu, she confirmed to Techlinks that over 500 women have undergone trainings since 2019. She also said that about 100 students were admitted into UI/UX Design and Web development tracks respectively.

Among the 100 students admitted sixty (60) made it to the finals of Hertechtrail Academy Cohort 2 which kicked-off on 11th October,2021, a day which happened to be the International Day of the Girl child.

Trainings Organized

Since inception in 2019,

What Hertechtrail Offers

Workshops and practical trainings.

Members of this Tech Academy are trained in modern tech skills to be job or business ready in selected tracks in the tech industry.

The International Community.

People who pass through Hertechtrail academy have unlimited and perpetual access to the Slack channel of the academy. This will enable them to connect with the global community.

By simply joining the slack channel, the ladies have a chance of meeting their next learning buddy, tech co-founder, or even employer or even angel investor.

Job Board.

After passing through the academy, Women have a chance to land their dream jobs or even more intermediate/senior roles. This is because the academy makes intentional efforts to place their graduates on jobs available to them.

Moreso, the academy uses her network to get requests of available opportunities from tech companies especially companies that are working hard to achieve gender balance. Through this network, graduates of the academy stand a good chance of landing a job soon after their training.

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Mentoring in a Group.

In Hertechtrail, Members are not left alone after training; instead, they are placed in group mentorship programs until they find work or start a tech business.

Scholarships and complimentary tickets.

Members are eligible for scholarships to premium courses in their chosen tracks, as well as free admission to meetups and conferences.

Free Mentorship

Students are not left on their own after training. Top graduating students are placed with amazing tech companies.

All students are mentored on how to get freelance jobs from places like Upwork, Fiverr. Students are also taught how to setup their own businesses, build personal brands and professional resumes.

Tech Courses available at Hertechtrail.

Hertechtrail offers trainings in

• Web development; Frontend development, Backend development,
• Product Design; UI/UX design, Visual design etc
• Product Management,
• Project Management,
• Digital Marketing,
• A-Z of Photography and Phonography,
• QA Testing,
• Product Design. Etc.

What some of the graduates of Hertechtrail had to say.