Kai says it’s time to level the playing field for girls, women

Dar es Salaam. One of the many reasons society needs to promote gender equality in various spaces is to enhance a gender diversity perspective to inspire future generations.

Kai Mollel, who works closely with young people believes for gender inequality to be a forgotten tragedy, the society has to keenly work on increasing representation for the girl child.

With a background in software engineering, Kai wears several hats. She is an entrepreneur, founder of KeM Solutions company, a public relations and communication company and co-founder of STADI, a virtual hub that focuses on digital economy that empowers SMEs and first-time founders to access important skills and knowledge.

In her line of work, from engineering to computer science, working in SMEs and digital communication for development, gender representation has always been at the core.

“I have been in rooms with as little as one percent of female voices, which always provides a challenge in discussing female-related issues. We need to bring in more women in these spaces so we can broaden our perspectives as well as hear many voices,” says Kai.

She goes on to say: “Our realities are different hence the need to level the playing field and let more women in.”

She believes that inspite of the decades that gender inequality has exisisted in the workplace and in the society, gender diversity still has a chance to be incorporated in societial veins by making sure young girls have places to draw inspiration from.

“I am optimistic about the future of the Tanzanian girl child. We are working towards having representation that inspires the girl child to see that there are no limits on what they want to become or things they desire to achieve. At a time where the saying ‘if you are not at the table, you’re probably on the menu’ is relevant as ever, we need positive role models who young girls can draw inspiration from and reflect on,” Kai explains.

She further details: “By having female voices in the boardrooms, laboratories, Parliament and now the State House, it can become a crucial turning point and beacon that young girls can emulate for positive change as they push themselves forward.”

Kai advises all stakeholders to understand they have a role to play to enhance gender diversity in their respective fields.

“All stakeholders have to promote gender diversity following policies and laws, which adhere to international and national standards to gender equality. There should also be development of trainings that will shed light on the matter,” she suggests.

From a tender age, Kai has always been a solution-oriented and imaginative person whose efforts would always focus on making an impact on people’s lives.

“I believe in the power of people, for throughout history, people have developed, conquered and thrived. I have always strived to ideate, design and build interventions and communities.”

Her career journey started when she became a junior coordinator of a young entrepreneurs programme dubbed ‘3N’ (Nitabuni wazo la biashara, Nitatekeleza, Nitafanikiwa) funded by the late Dr Reginald Mengi. His vision was to help Tanzanian youth to ideate, invest, start and run their own businesses.

In that programme, Kai had the privilege to directly connect with thousands of entrepreneurs on a monthly basis by revising their business ideas and interacting with a few winners who were awarded seed money to steer growth in their businesses.

“I believe during that time through my coordinating work, is where my passion accelerated,” Kai says.

According to her, leadership is not a gift but a skill that should be watered every now and then to make the best leader out of a person.

Her leadership journey stemmed from the time she became a Sunday schoolteacher tutoring children the word of God.

“I used to be a Sunday school teacher where I would stand before toddlers and preschoolers every Sunday and teach them about God. My interaction with the children and their positive response to my teachings are part of what unearthed my leadership skills,” Kai shares.

By that time, she wasn’t sure how her career journey would unfold. Looking back on her life experiences, she says the dots are now visibly connecting.

“Establishing a new initiative or business is like being handed a blank canvas, except that unlike artists whose creativity on the canvas determine their success, business canvas never finishes since it requires a daily dose of persistence, determination, consistency alongside creativity,” she explains.

She further says: “In these times we live in, there are many opportunities embraced by their new sets of challenges. It’s not easy to establish a company and thrive let alone survive. The digital industry is fairly new and mostly a new concept in Tanzania.”

She shares that her own family is yet to grasp what her profession truly is. “When I established my digital communication agency in 2016, digital infrastructures, laws and policies were non-existent, this made us to second guess ourselves.”

For her, founding KeM was one of the toughest paths she had to go through in her life.

“I had less than one year of formal job experience, which can be deemed as not sufficient enough to lead a company but I decided to dare myself and learn with time. Almost seven years later, I am grateful of the leap of faith I had in myself as well as for the lessons learnt. I am also beyond grateful for the mentors and coaches whose hands guided me through and for the clients who believed in my work,” Kai says.

In her line of work, she has been able to work as a digital media communication specialist. She has worked with various ministers, business moguls and Members of Parliament.

“My career circles around digital technology and entrepreneurship because I understand the impact online spaces give to businesses as well as the opportunities digital platforms offer to businesses.”

She has also seen how digital economy frees young people who were once enslaved by the limits of unemployment and says: “I want to do more of that.”

With that, Kai has set a goal of reaching 100,000 youth by 2025 directly or indirectly, with whom she will share skills on digital opportunities, entrepreneurship and social innovation.