Sometime around May 2020, I applied for The Future Is Female mentorship program, a PR and communications mentorship program exclusively for African female tech founders offered by C. Moore Media International Public Relations (CMM), a New York-based PR firm focused on African tech. After weeks of waiting, I was ecstatic to learn that I’d been selected as one of the program’s 12 finalists from out of 136 applications.
This opportunity arose while I was thinking about the best rebranding strategy for Techducate, our digital literacy-focused Ed-tech startup based in Kenya. #PerfectTiming. During the program, I took part in a masterclass with CMM’s MD/founder, Claudine Moore, as well as three customized one-on-one mentoring sessions led by CMM mentors.
I learned so much, but here are three things that stood out for me…
• Storytelling is essential, especially for a startup and its founder
• Developing an effective digital and media presence is essential
• Every startup must develop a content execution strategy for social media platforms and all its communication channels
These lessons have contributed significantly to the success of our startup.
What Happened Next
Aside from the program’s lessons, the opportunity arose to collaborate with Tholang Mathopa, one of the other mentees of the 2020 program and founder of RPA Nuggets, a South African Intelligent Automation, Artificial Intelligence (AI), and analytics startup. Young women in Kenya were trained in AI skills due to this collaboration, empowering them to pursue career opportunities in tech.
I am grateful for the opportunity to network with other young women from all over Africa as part of The Future is Female Mentorship Program. By sharing our experiences, we learned from each other’s personal experiences.
Among the program’s high points was the individually tailored one-on-one mentoring sessions with CMM mentors, who provided valuable and implementable ideas on how to improve my startup. I also applaud the program for being well-thought-out and adaptable, given our differing schedules and time zones.
As a growing startup, we will leverage the skills we gained through the program to scale our impact while positioning ourselves to attract prospective partners and investors.
It’s great to see the program continue to gain international media attention and partnerships. We are grateful to CMM for choosing us to be a part of #Classof2020 of The Future Is Female Mentorship Program.