Butterfly Works

Monday, August 31, 2009

Anita Borg Change Agent Awards 2009

The Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology has announced the three winners of the Anita Borg Change Agent Awards for 2009. These awards, underwritten by Google, honor technical women living and working outside the United States who work in their community to attract and support women in technology. This year’s winners are Oreoluwa Somolu from Nigeria, Anne Ikiara-Kabaara from Nairobi and Halima Ibrahim from Nigeria. The Change Agent Award winners are being recognized for their technical leadership and advocacy work.

The winners will be honored and will speak at the 2009 Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing in Tucson, Arizona September 30 - October 3, 2009.

Anne Ikiara-Kabaara is the General Manager of NairoBits Trust, an organization dealing with youth/women empowerment through ICT in the non-formal settlements of Nairobi. Anne is devoted to helping others to get further in their lives. NairoBits has a vision of giving youth technical, social and entrepreneurship skills to enable them to positively change the circumstances. Though NairoBits deals with both genders, they take extra effort and affirmative action to engage the girls. They have been successful in getting jobs for 1,500 underprivileged girls/women.

“The Change Agents exemplify how one person can make a difference in the world,” said Telle Whitney, CEO of the Anita Borg Institute. “Each of them has worked to find ways to bring the positive benefits of technology to the lives of women in their country. They are truly role models for all our attendees.”

source: Press, Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology