<div dir="ltr"><span id="gmail-docs-internal-guid-8d97a6d7-7fff-91e0-f402-6f5fd454c8d2"><span style="border:none;display:inline-block;overflow:hidden;width:262px;height:77px"><img src="https://afchix.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/cropped-Afchix-logo-VF.png" width="194" height="64" style="margin-right: 0px;"><br></span><br><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:10pt"><span style="background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);vertical-align:baseline">AfChix held its fourth “TechWomen Summit” online event on 11</span><span style="background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);vertical-align:baseline"><span style="font-size:0.6em;vertical-align:super">th </span></span><span style="background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);vertical-align:baseline">September 2024 as a reunion. The virtual event dubbed ‘AFCHIX REUNION 2024’ brought together women from Kenya, Uganda, Ghana, Botswana, Malawi, Nigeria, Mauritius, and Morocco. We got a chance to reconnect and reignite the face-to-face community engagement forums after the slowdown that resulted from the COVID-19 pandemic. This was a side event hosted alongside the </span><a href="https://www.internetsummit.africa/" style="text-decoration-line:none"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;text-decoration-line:underline;vertical-align:baseline">Africa Internet Summit (AIS) 2024.</span></a><br></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:10pt"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline">The event featured diverse discussions and conversations. We had a chance to hear the “before and after” reflection-based themed career journey of members of the AfChix community. We also more specifically discussed the future of AfChix. Key highlights included the following: </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:10pt"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline">Strategic Plan:</span><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline"> In 2023, AfChix launched a strategic plan that focuses on defining strategic pillars that are important for the growth of the organization</span><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline"> </span><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline">to scale our program work. These include:</span></p><ol style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px"><li dir="ltr" style="list-style-type:decimal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt" role="presentation"><span style="font-size:11pt;background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline">Strong Organization:</span><span style="font-size:11pt;background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline"> There is a need to strengthen corporate governance so that AfChix as a body and an organization can have leadership structures that allow us to be a long-term organization offering value to our community members. We have gone ahead to set up a board and an International Advisory Panel that will offer visionary input in steering the organization into the future. AfChix is registered as a non-profit organization in Kenya where we now have a secretariat and I am very grateful to our </span><a href="https://afchix.org/about-us/#ourteam" style="text-decoration-line:none"><span style="font-size:11pt;background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;text-decoration-line:underline;vertical-align:baseline">current team for driving the future of AfChix</span></a><span style="font-size:11pt;background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline">.</span></p></li><li dir="ltr" style="list-style-type:decimal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt" role="presentation"><span style="font-size:11pt;background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline">Building Strong Chapters:</span><span style="font-size:11pt;background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline"> The AfChix strategic plan envisages an AfChix Community built on strong chapters driven by techwomen role-model volunteers. AfChix activities with 25 Chapters have included: advocacy, mentorship, capacity building, role modeling, networking, sharing opportunities, digital literacy, summits, and conferences. We want to do more of these activities with our champions and role models to continue growing and keeping the pipeline of women in computing careers in Africa. We want to formalize, strengthen, and increase AfChix Chapters. Members expressed interest in starting new chapters and joining existing chapters. </span></p></li><li dir="ltr" style="list-style-type:decimal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt" role="presentation"><span style="font-size:11pt;background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline">Capacity Building Programs:  </span><span style="font-size:11pt;background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline">Even though we have had many technical skills capacity activities over the years and computing career workshops for high school girls, we intend to turn them into deliberate programs. We intend to work on strong evidence-guided programs that feature mentorship, technical hands-on skilling, leadership capacity building, role modeling, networking, sharing opportunities, policy influence, advocacy, digital literacy, summits, and conferences. Our flagship focus on mentorship will remain our strong motivation in the delivery of our programs.</span></p></li><li dir="ltr" style="list-style-type:decimal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt" role="presentation"><span style="font-size:11pt;background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline">Capacity Building in Leadership:</span><span style="font-size:11pt;background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline">  We realize that there are various practical skills you need at different levels of your career. We have seen that as technical women progress into leadership roles, they have different challenges and we plan to enhance our programs so that we are taking women through support initiatives that touch across, from formation all through to leadership roles, where the ball game is a bit different.</span></p></li><li dir="ltr" style="list-style-type:decimal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt" role="presentation"><span style="font-size:11pt;background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline">Communication: </span><span style="font-size:11pt;background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline">We also want to continue with the community engagement work that we are doing. We want to be very deliberate about putting together</span><a href="https://afchix.org/afchix-impact-stories/" style="text-decoration-line:none"><span style="font-size:11pt;background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;text-decoration-line:underline;vertical-align:baseline"> </span><span style="font-size:11pt;background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;text-decoration-line:underline;vertical-align:baseline">impact stories</span></a><span style="font-size:11pt;background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline"> because they make a difference. We believe that learning from each others’ journeys will inspire us all. This is why we are putting together this series of impact stories ‘</span><a href="https://afchix.org/afchix-impact-stories/" style="text-decoration-line:none"><span style="font-size:11pt;background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;text-decoration-line:underline;vertical-align:baseline">celebrating my journey</span></a><span style="font-size:11pt;background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline">’ about how people have interacted with AfChix and what has happened to their careers over time. We are enthusiastic about having more online events and webinars hosted by members of our community going forward.</span></p></li><li dir="ltr" style="list-style-type:decimal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:10pt" role="presentation"><span style="font-size:11pt;background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline">Evidence Generation and Policy Influence</span><span style="font-size:11pt;background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline">: We simply don’t want women to be users of technology, we want them to be creators, people who influence how technology is designed, created, and implemented. We want to generate gender-disaggregated data that will influence policy to reduce the leakage across the career pipeline of women in computing. </span></p></li></ol><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:10pt"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline">I want to take this opportunity to thank all our community members who shared their “before and after” reflection-based themed career journey stories that have been published on our website </span><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline">impact stories page:</span><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline"> </span><a href="https://afchix.org/afchix-impact-stories/" style="text-decoration-line:none"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,255);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;text-decoration-line:underline;vertical-align:baseline">AFCHIX Impact Stories – AFCHIX</span></a><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline">. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:10pt"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline">We continue to welcome AfNOGChix/AfChix community members' career journey stories. No story is too young or too small. By recollecting and sharing your career journey, you get to see and celebrate how far you have come. You see how well you have navigated challenges and overcome obstacles. Stories, like these already published build identity and a sense of purpose. They also make others relate to and celebrate our individual and diverse experiences in the journey of life.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:10pt"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline">We have also streamlined our social media platforms to enhance community engagement and invite our internet ecosystem community to follow us:</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline">LinkedIn: </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/afchix/" style="text-decoration-line:none"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,255);background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;text-decoration-line:underline;vertical-align:baseline">https://www.linkedin.com/company/afchix/</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline">X: </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><a href="https://x.com/Afchix" style="text-decoration-line:none"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,255);background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;text-decoration-line:underline;vertical-align:baseline">https://x.com/Afchix</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:10pt"><span style="background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);vertical-align:baseline"><br></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:10pt"><span style="background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);vertical-align:baseline">For more information, create or join a chapter, reach out to us at </span><a href="mailto:admin@afchix.org" style="text-decoration-line:none"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,255);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;text-decoration-line:underline;vertical-align:baseline">admin@afchix.org</span></a><br></p><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline">See you at the </span><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline">5</span><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline"><span style="font-size:0.6em;vertical-align:super">th</span></span><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline"> TechWomen Summit 2025 in AIS'25! </span><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline">We are because you are!</span></span><div><span class="gmail_signature_prefix">-- </span><br><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline">With sincere gratitude,</span></div><div>Dr. Dorcas Muthoni</div><div><b>Founder, </b><b>AfCHIX</b></div><div><img src="https://ci3.googleusercontent.com/mail-sig/AIorK4xhOq0FnzyxGIPOMawUGKDg0ldWiKdfXL7d0lQsWjou_coHyEqb2BLh4PmsEOPsko9tILr2u4dt0KXJ" width="200" height="100"></div></div></div></div></div>