CyberSafe Foundation, a Non- Governmental organization with a mission to facilitate changes and ensure a safer internet for all has launched a new initiative called “Cyber Girls”
According to the Founder and Executive /Director of CyberSafe Foundation – Confidence Stavely. CyberGirls is born out of the urge to fight societal issues affecting girls and the society at large and also empowering girls with required skills to close the cyber skills gap with
“What if one program could contribute to fighting poverty, combating cybercrime, help close gender parity in tech, fight early pregnancy, close the cyber skills gap, contribute to fighting unemployment/underemployment, dissuade girls from choosing illegal work like prostitution. What if we could compliment punitive measures against cybercrime in Nigeria with a catch-them-young program that feeds the information security talent pipeline with bright minds?”
About Cyber Girls
Cyber Girls will be a fellowship program of Cybersafe Foundation that will equip girls with globally sought-after cybersecurity skills, positioning them to start a career in cybersecurity and seize work opportunities within Nigeria and across the world. During the one-year duration of this fellowship, the Cyber Girls beneficiaries will be exposed to computing and cybersecurity fundamentals, career paths in cybersecurity, and upon choosing a desired career path, will be taken through an appropriate learning path to get hands-on skills, mentorship, become certification ready, get internship/job shadowing opportunities and if old enough, secure an entry level job placement.
This fellowship program will contribute to solving these problems and more
- Combat cybercrime
- Address gender disparity and early pregnancy
- Fight poverty
- Close the skills gap
- Fight unemployment/underemployment
In other to achieve this, cybersafe foundation is set to partner with Tech hubs, Institutions and well-meaning individuals to help achieve its vision of providing cybersecurity skills to this young girls.
The Programs Lead for Cyber Girls – Simbiat Sadiq said “We are super excited at how people/organizations has welcomed this initiative. It shows we are going to make a whole lot of progress and we cannot wait to see the talents that will come out of this programs . And yes, THEY ARE GOING TO BE GIRLS TOO!!!!!”
The Cyber Girls Ambassador
The Cyber Girls Ambassador Nanbaan Micah – 19year old girl who lives in Kaduna and is in her second year at the Nigeria Airforce University where she is studying cybersecurity. Prior to gaining admission in the Academy, Nanbaan was inspired to begin a career in cybersecurity and reached out to Cybersafe Foundation. We made an exception for her, provided her training and mentorship for a duration of 10 months.
Shortly after, Nanbaan put her new hard and soft skills to use and soon landed herself a part-time role at a cybersecurity company based in Atlanta. She has been working at this company for close to 1 year while in school.
Nanbaan is proof that girls can start early and build a successful career in cybersecurity. We are therefore on a mission to create more Nanbaan’s across Nigeria and cause ripple positive economic effects
How To support the Cyber Girl Fellowship Program
Here are a few ways you can support this initiative;
- Donate Cash to the initiative
- Signup as an internship/job placement partner
- Adopt a Cyber Girl
- Make in-kind donations (e.g high performance laptops)
- Volunteer your skills and time
Click HERE for more information about CyberGirls
