When I was first approached about joining the organizing team for Pitch Ethiopia 2019 I was still adjusting to an intense MBA program, and learning to balance school and family. Despite my reservations about the timing, I accepted the role because I knew it would be a good way to stay plugged into the startup ecosystem in Africa, and to start applying some of what I had learned in my MBA already. Now that the week of Pitch Ethiopia events in Addis Ababa is over, and I’m back in Chicago, I can clearly see that saying ‘yes’ to this opportunity was a fantastic decision that I will cherish for a long time.
Continue reading “Pitch Ethiopia 2019: Organizing a startup bootcamp and pitch competition in Ethiopia”The State of Play — Technology Opportunities Across Africa
In 2017 I was lucky to be a contributor to the State of Play report published by the African Technology Foundation, as part of the U.S. State Department’s Lions@africa initiative. Continue reading “The State of Play — Technology Opportunities Across Africa”
African Entrepreneurs In The Halls of Silicon Valley History
Driving up the 101 highway from San Jose is like watching a timelapse of the Silicon Valley hall of fame. On a sunny California day, the quick drive from San Jose to Palo Alto includes views of global innovation titans such as Microsoft, Dell EMC, Oracle, Intel and NASA. Absent from view behind the Redwood trees, but still within a bike ride distance, engineers are hard at work at Apple in Cupertino and Facebook in Menlo Park. Palo Alto is home to Stanford University’s beautiful sprawling campus, which played a critical role in the early semiconductor industry that formed near the campus and evolved into what we know as ‘Silicon Valley’ today.
Continue reading “African Entrepreneurs In The Halls of Silicon Valley History”