Women Leaders in Data and AI (WLDA) and the Alliance STEAM Afrika (ASA) Education have honoured Amanda Obidike for her work in empowering thousands of girls from underserved communities in Nigeria and many African countries with science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education.
Obidike, Founder and Executive Director of STEMi Makers of Africa, was honoured by these two different women-led organisations for the work she has been doing with her organisation since 2018.
WLDA and ASA Education (an initiative of the Association Return Initiative for the Development of Sub-Saharan Africa) are tech-based international organisations that honour women who are promoting science, technology, engineering, the arts, and mathematics (STEAM) vocations, data science, and artificial intelligence (AI) to reduce gender gap and unite women at the forefront of data and AI innovation to shape a meaningful future.
For the WLDA honour, Obidike was nominated in the Best Motivator Award category alongside six other global female change-makers.
By virtue of the WLDA recognition, Obidike will be provided a unique platform to connect with her industry peers from F1000 companies, discover technological solutions, tackle complex data challenges, and advance both personally and professionally.
For the ASA Education award, Obidike – alongside other 59 international women, including many Nigerians − was honoured for leveraging the organisation’s four key actions, the agreed framework for meeting its mission: developing teachers, promoting STEAM engagement, supporting STEAM education policy, and promoting networking of educators
Reacting to the two honours, Obidike stated “When women rise, we all rise.”
She further stated that the recognitions are testimonies that her work and advocacy in empowering African girls and equipping STEM educators across 21 African countries – using ‘Africa by us, for us’ philosophy − are valid and commendable.
On the other hand, Obidike admitted that there is still work to be done to ensure an equitable and accessible environment for girls to thrive in STEAM.
According to her, in other to achieve this, there is also a need to support women to defy stereotypes and the stigma of their passion, especially in a patriarchal society.
“We also need to work with universities and educators, and set up STEM spaces to steer collaboration, growth, learning and development,” she added.
In light of this, she stated that the honours will encourage her and her STEMi team to double on their mission to boost employment, innovation, and inclusion, and aim to empower a talent base of two million young Africans with emerging technologies, and real-world problem-solving skills to excel in STEM pathways, shape the future of work, and contribute to the development of the changing workforce by 2030.
Amanda Obidike, who consults across Africa and the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) nations, is a sustainability leader who builds effective teams, grows revenue through strong partnerships, manages change, and streamlines community service operations.
