Tuesday, 12 June 2018

Maximizing Your Current Networks


Last Saturday, I was privileged to be part of the inaugural KCE Mentors ‘Meet and Greet’ forum. The event was hosted by the American Corner/Space courtesy of the US Embassy in Kenya’s continued effort to support youth led initiatives in the country. To my new readers, KCE Mentors is a mentoring program I co-founded in 2013 as a way to give back after the opportunity to listen to the incredible work that Dr. Kakenya Ntaiya – a former CNN nominee and award-winning champion for the education and transformation of young vulnerable girls in Maasai’s Enoosaen community through Kakenya’s Dream Organization.

Over the years that I have served as the program coordinator for the KCE Mentors, it has been an honor reviewing applications from hundreds of ambitious young women across Kenya’s Universities and Colleges. I am therefore very proud to work with these Young African Women Leaders who together comprise the KCE Mentors Network. Coincidentally, most of our mentors have also been part of the Young African Leaders initiative program like me! YALI was President’s Obama’s flagship program to train and support young African leaders. 

Njeri Kihang'ah-Chege speaks to the audience on networks
To mark 5 years of mentoring teenage girls at KCE, we settled on the theme ‘maximizing your current networks’ because we felt that as an expanding mentor network of at least 200 young women, we had so much to share, learn from or tap on from each other. There was no better speaker to tackle this topic than Njeri Kihang’ah-Chege, communication expert and team leader of the Mentor Me Project in Kenya. She delivered the topic exceedingly! I therefore feel obliged to share some of her insights with you. 

Ever heard of the saying your network is your net worth? When we think about networks, we tend to imagine older more accomplished people who exist within our circle of friends or colleagues. We also look at them as people who are able to open ‘big doors’ for us. Most people fail to recognize that everyone in this world has a degree of influence. Our networks could be anyone; young or old, rich or poor; educated or illiterate…it cuts across everyone!  
Below are some of my take-away points from Njeri’s thought provoking session on the need to redefine what we think of us our networks.

  • Networks are human, do not abuse them. Many are the times we expect our networks to open doors that we very well know they cannot do. For example, just because a friend is a senior manager at a reputable company doesn’t necessarily mean s/he can easily ‘fix’ you into a non-existent job opening or, push for your proposal to be awarded a work contract. There are things networks can and cannot do and we need to put ourselves in their shoes to understand the plausible.


  • Your Network has a network. This is applies to those of us who shy from asking our connections about existing opportunities which are of interest of us. In my everyday mentoring, I always advise that just because a connection is not in your field of interest should not imply that s/he does not know somebody or somebody who knows somebody who could address your query. Njeri gave us an example from her early career life where an incredible door opened for her simply because she asked for a network’s help to get through to an institution she would never have imagined she would ever capture its attention.  In a world where social media Linked-In has made it easier to know how we are connected to people we don’t through the people we know, do take time to do your homework and make use of your network’s networks.  

KCE mentors listen on as the speaker challenges them
  • Maximize your own potential by adding value to yourself so that you are more valuable to your networks. This is particularly useful when it comes to our professional growth. Seek to acquire new skills and expertise which add value that you can share with your networks; let them find value in you.



  • Work your networks! This simply reminds us that we should endeavor to protect the reputation of our networks. I will use an example from my field in renewable energy. I occasionally receive requests from friends to advise them or recommend contractors for their home energy solutions. I am always careful to recommend practitioners who I know in person or has had good working experience with in the past through my associates. This way, I safeguard my own reputation and that of my affiliates.  And as you work your networks, always endeavor to carry yourself with dignity and patience.


So, have you been making good use of your networks? If not, it’s never too late to start. As we prepare to celebrate the International Day of the African Child this coming Saturday the 16th June, I hope you will find time to add value to network!

Tuesday, 5 June 2018

World Environment Day 2018: Beat Plastic Pollution!


While I identify as an ‘environmentalist’ and some of my past actions echo the same, I feel that I have been a complete let down to the course. I think the battle to fight climate change and secure a sustainable planet is not weakened by the ignorant and/or anti-climate change campaign industrialists. I think our biggest let down is the decision by climate change experts and specialists to remain silent or allow themselves to be blinded by short term development agenda.

I frequently allude to the words of the late Professor Wangari Maathai, through the Green Belt Movement, which reminds humans that ‘it is the little things we do that make a difference’. That said, I want to do my little thing today in honor of the men and women who tirelessly fight for a green planet. I want to remind us of the little thing that we must do to “BEAT PLASTIC POLLUTION” which is the 2018 theme of the World Environment Day. More information and updates about the official WED event hosted by the city of New Delhi in India, one of the world’s top 5 plastic polluters, can be accessed here
 
     Source: World Environment Day
According the UN, plastic waste is responsible for killing about 1 million sea birds and 100,000 marine mammals annually. A recent study warns that 90% of today’s waste will last for another 500 years, and oceans will be home to more plastics than fish!  Two days ago, CNN reported that a pilot whale died in Thailand after swallowing more than 80 bags of plastic (about 17 pounds). It is also estimated that every day, at least a truck full of plastic waste finds its way in the oceans and that this will triple by 2050 if no action is taken today. Annually, the world produces about 500 billion plastic bags and has in the last decade produced more plastic than it did in the whole of the last century. These are a few of the shocking facts we have to deal with!

Nations such as Rwanda long set an example of a commitment to reduce plastic waste by banning plastic bags while others such as US and Germany have pioneered and implemented waste to energy power plants the past 3 decades. However, the climb remains very steep and a hard nut to crack across most jurisdictions simply because it takes more than policy and political gimmicks to drive change. There must be a simultaneous behavioral change in the mindset of the people; they must understand and embrace change and see the shared value in it.  But how long it would it take to educate the entire globe and have them see the shared value in eliminating plastic use? Perhaps another decade, half a century or never. We must however try or die trying! We owe at least that much to mother nature; let us keep talking about and act to beat plastic pollution. Let it become that annoying reminder we do not want to told about anymore. But most importantly, let us avoid plastic pollution in threefold steps: REDUCE-RECYCLE-REFUSE! Ever asked yourself why it is hard to find empty Coca Cola glass soda bottles in the trash bins?  Why can’t we do the same for plastic-bottled sodas and every other drink?  I think making plastic-bottled drinks relatively more expensive (in order to retrieve the packaging cost) instead of recycling them is one of our biggest sustainability failures. Globally, it is estimated that about 1 million plastic bottles are bought per minute which is extremely sad given the fact that most if not all of these will eventually end up in the oceans.  

As we join the rest of the world to mark WED, lets REDUCE, RECYCLE and/or REFUSE all forms of plastic waste at home or school or work place. If you have a minute to spare, visit EcoWatch website for more ideas on the simple yet fun things you can do to #BeatPlasticPollution! Join the global movement today!