Building on its quest to build a diverse and inclusive team, Sterling Bank has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Technology for Social Change and Development Initiative (Tech4Dev), a non-profit social enterprise working to provide access to decent work for Africans through digital and technology skills empowerment and advocacy.
At the signing ceremony held recently at the Marina Headquarters of the financial institution in Lagos, Sterling Bank officially committed to partner with the Tech4Dev as an experiential learning partner for its Women Techsters initiative. The Women Techsters is an initiative of Tech4Dev aimed at bridging the digital divide between men and women in the technology ecosystem by empowering 5 million women across Africa with digital and deep tech skills by 2030. The organization is currently in partnership with Microsoft to empower 10,000 women in 2021 across five African countries: Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, South Africa, and Egypt.
Speaking at the signing, Tech4Dev’s Co-Founder and Executive Director, Oladiwura Oladepo reiterated the importance of the partnership with Sterling Bank. In her words, “Gender equality is at the heart of what we do at Tech4Dev and is a huge part of our Women Techsters initiative. We are delighted about forward-thinking organizations like Sterling Bank, who are thinking of what the workforce will look like in the next two, three, five years and the importance of gender balance within the ecosystem. At the end of the internship period, we want Sterling Bank to be able to say they got value from the interns.”
In the same vein, Olayinka Oni, Chief Digital Officer at Sterling Bank spoke on the company’s desire to build a diverse team, “Diversity is not a compliance agenda, it is an intentional strategy. Internship for us is also intentional. We are interested in any project that grows the ecosystem like the Women Techsters initiative”.
Some of the Women Techsters Fellows across the 5 countries on the continent are presently in the final week of their intensive training and will be direct beneficiaries of this partnership with Sterling Bank on a 6-month internship period with the company.
Present at the signing was a diverse team from both Sterling Bank and Tech4Dev, making mention of Olayinka Oni – Chief Digital Officer, Sterling Bank ; Chigozie Anyasor – Head, Enterprise Solutions Engineering, Sterling Bank; Dipo Adebajo – Head, Organisation Development and Talent Acquisition, Sterling Bank; Oluwakunmi Idowu – Talent Acquisition Partner (Internship desk), Sterling Bank ; Oluwadamilola Pillot – Team Lead, Talent Acquisition, Sterling Bank ; Oluwafemi Ehindero – Team Lead, Org. Development and Change Management, Sterling Bank; Oladiwura Oladepo – Executive Director, Tech4Dev; Yemisi Arowosafe – Communications Lead, Tech4Dev; Joy Uche – Women Techsters Program Associate, Tech4Dev.