Lily Edinam Botsyoe mirrors African tech industry’s future at TEDx
Lily Edinam Botsyoe is among the few Africans to mount the TEDx UCincinnati stage, and the lessons gleaned from her career journey will be helpful to many as she’s among the many representing the future.
In her words during an interview with TheAfricanDream.net she said, “my Silhouette is my career in technology which on the surface looks like the smoothest of journeys but has taken a lot of unlearning and relearning to find my unique path.”
Originally from Ghana, Lily had a vision for her career from a young age – to go to medical school and become a doctor. But life took her in other exciting directions. Building up one’s personal leadership and preparing for growth can prepare one for any career and in any industry.
She is presently a Master’s student of Information Technology and an Adjunct Instructor at the University of Cincinnati. The institution researches the deployment of technology in service of public needs.
As an aspiring Tech Policy Analyst, she speaks widely on issues related to the internet with a particular interest in women and youth inclusion, accessibility, cybersecurity, and digital sustainability.
Her recent TEDx talk at Cincinnati in Ohio, the United States, conveys the message of being bullish on one’s vision and flexible on the execution as one transition in their journey, especially modeling after another.
She employed the “TICS” personal/self-leadership skills framework to share how one can excel in their own unique journeys in the technology field, through curating what their journeys will be.
“TICS” is an acronym for Technical, Interpersonal, Conceptual, and Strategic Skills.
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The young tech enthusiast explained the importance of interpersonal skills in her TEDx UCincinnati talk, “how are you remembered on a team? Are you the one whose presence is felt or the one people would rather avoid?” she rhetorically asked.
“Your ability to relate and communicate advances you a step further in your career. Maybe you are starting your journey or now at a place where you can influence others in their journey, Silhouettes again remind us of what outline we are handing down to others to fill in,” she added.
TheAfricanDream.net encourages you to watch and share Lily’s talk below for more details:
Ms Edinam Botsyoe is an old student of Notre Dame Girls Senior High School and holds an undergraduate degree in Computer Science from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Kumasi, Ghana.
Through her work at the Hacklab Foundation, Lily was recognised as part of four young Africans from the Global Shapers Community, an initiative of the World Economic Forum, who have joined forces to give one million African’s access to digital skills, technology education with partners such as Twitter, IBM, Nvidia, Vodafone, Standard Bank, Oracle and Apple, among others, through the Hacklab Foundation.
Written by Oral Ofori for TheAfricanDream.net
Oral Ofori is Founder and Publisher at www.TheAfricanDream.net, a digital storyteller and producer, and also an information and research consultant.
