From Juja to Shenzhen: How three women found their place in technology

This story has significance for readers across Kenya and beyond.

What you need to know:

- Three JKUAT computer science students overcame gender barriers to represent Kenya and excel at a global technology competition.

- Their journey from lecture halls in Juja to Shenzhen gave three young women the confidence to dream of leading the tech industry.

Faith Mosonik, Melanie Minayo and Joanne Kinoti still remember walking into their first computer science class at the Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT) and doing a quick headcount.

Out of roughly 100 students, only about 20 were women. That imbalance followed them through their four years, into laboratories and late-night coding sessions, and eventually all the way to Shenzhen, China, for the global finals of one of the world's biggest Information and Communications Technology (ICT) competitions, where they again found themselves outnumbered.

But this time, they were not asking whether they belonged. They were representing Team Kenya in the computing track of the Huawei ICT Competition 2025–26.

For them, it was about more than technical skill. It was the culmination of a journey of self-belief that took them from lecture halls in Juja to a stage in one of China's leading technology cities, competing alongside some of the brightest university students in the world.

Kenya fielded 12 students drawn from universities across the country, organised into teams of three. They joined more than 200,000 participants from around the world, tested on their skills in networking, cloud computing, artificial intelligence and programming.

Team Kenya bagged the grand prize in the cloud track. The network track team secured second prize, while an all-women computing team from JKUAT also won second prize and, to top it off, took home the prestigious Women in Tech Award. Faith, Melanie and Joanne finished as second runners-up in the computing track, competing against 131 elite teams from more than 40 countries and regions.

Following Team Kenya's strong showing at the June competition, President William Ruto hosted the students at State House, Nairobi, on July 28, 2026. “Kenya emerged as a star performer in the competition, with three teams reaching the global finals in Shenzhen, China, and returned home with top honours,” the President wrote in a post on that day.

He said the achievement reflected years of deliberate investment in digital infrastructure, skills development and innovation. “It demonstrates that Kenya possesses the expertise necessary to build advanced cloud infrastructure, artificial intelligence systems, cyber-security capabilities and the digital backbone needed for a modern economy,” he added.

Although they did not walk away with the competition's top prize, Faith, Melanie and Joanne earned recognition for being an all-women team that held its own on the global stage. More importantly, they proved to themselves that they belonged in a space where women remain a minority.

“My experience through the competition was quite challenging and an eye-opening experience as well. It was an all-round experience,” Faith said, on behalf of the team. “There was good to it, but there were also tough times.”

All three had a background in computing, Faith explained, but being tested on a global stage gave them a hands-on, practical chance to prove what they had learnt at university. The competition demanded far more than technical know-how. It fell right in the middle of their final year, forcing them to juggle lectures, exams, research projects and months of preparation, all at once. Yet the pressure only strengthened the bond between the three of them.

“Having an amazing team and people who are like-minded, we were able to work around it, and we are here,” Joanne added.

Melanie said that after acing her Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) examination, many people assumed she already knew exactly what she wanted. “It wasn't like that for me,” she explained. “I had to start from scratch, asking myself what I wanted, if I was sure I wanted to do tech, and if I was sure I could fit in the tech space and everything. It worked out well and I finally started believing in myself when I started the ICT competition.”

For Melanie, the competition changed something less visible than a medal. She has moved past the days when she questioned whether she belonged in technology at all. “Now I have the confidence as a woman in tech,” she said. “I finally believe that I can achieve things in tech … I feel like I can finally fit in the big tech companies.”

Joanne kept noticing the same reality wherever she went: The gap between the number of men and women in tech spaces is hard to ignore. “In my class, there are about 100 people and the females are about 20,” she said.

Science, technology, engineering and mathematics (Stem) remains, by most measures, a male-dominated field worldwide, and Joanne felt that gap even at the global finals. “There is that difference and even going through the competition, you keep on seeing the difference, because even at the global stage, when you enter the competition room for the computing track, you still find fewer females than males,” she observed.

Shift in balance

She hopes to see that balance shift one day. “My hope or dream someday is to have a room full of more females than males,” she said, adding that she wants her own journey to encourage other girls to pursue careers in Stem and technology in particular.

“I want to encourage every young woman who is working towards a dream to become a computer scientist, or hopes to work in any technology company, or to build anything big for themselves as a woman in Stem. Please, take that opportunity and run with it,” she urged.

Joanne credits part of her confidence to the She Tech-Nexus Club at JKUAT, a women-empowerment club where female students in computing and IT mentor one another, exchange ideas and build professional networks. “Through the club you're able to build your confidence, interact with different people and have different perspectives of the world,” she said. “It emboldens you.”

The trip also stretched them well beyond coding. Navigating Shenzhen meant relying on translation apps, adjusting to unfamiliar food, and coping with heat they were not used to back home. “The cultural experience, well, it's been tough, especially navigating around China with the language barrier and having to use translators everywhere,” Joanne said. “It was a tough and interesting experience at the same time.”

Still, representing Kenya remained the defining part of the experience. “That was overwhelming, if I'm being honest, because there were a lot of expectations,” Melanie said.

Faith agreed, saying there is a real sense of responsibility that comes with knowing “everyone is looking at you.”

“It was a proud moment for us that we were carrying the Kenyan flag and that we were representing our nation on the global stage amongst so many other countries,” Joanne said.

Their instructor, Esther Wairimu Gichaiya, believes the team's performance speaks as much to opportunity as it does to ability. “This great achievement just shows how much a woman can do in society and even all over the world or internationally,” she said, adding it “is an indication that women are in potential to do extraordinary, only that they need a space, that small push and that small elevation so that they can show what they have and what they store within them”.

She hopes policymakers take note. “It is high time we incorporated women, especially in decision-making, especially women like the team I coached to the global stage,” she appealed.

If Shenzhen gave Faith, Melanie and Joanne anything, it was the confidence to dream bigger. These are young women who once questioned whether they belonged in technology, and now they imagine themselves leading it.

“I see myself as one of the big tech CEOs,” said Melanie, in a statement shared by all three.

“I want them to squeeze space for me … and I think it's possible,” Faith said, while Joanne put it simply: “You just have to work smart and be there and believe in yourself.”

Reporting originally appeared via Nation Africa. Read the full source for additional context.