The International Women’s Day (IWD) Caribbean Tech Summit 2022, hosted by Google Women Techmakers, Google Developer Groups and Women in Tech Caribbean, took place mere weeks ago and WE had the opportunity to converse with the organizing committee, and capture the ‘true bandwidth’ of this 6-day Summit. Speakers and partners hailed from 10 Caribbean countries including Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, Barbados, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Guadeloupe, the Bahamas, Suriname, Brazil and Haiti.
Maria O’Brien, lead organizer, gave her take on this year’s summit. “It was humbling to observe as our speakers truly honed in on the theme of #ProgressNotPerfection, each bringing to the table incredible authenticity and candour, as they shared personal struggles as leaders, and transformational stories of overcoming obstacles, fostering possibilities, innovation and exploring their curiosity as they pursued their goals.”
Women in Tech Caribbean, founding partner of the summit, played a critical role in the engagement of Caribbean based women leaders and partners for this event. Founder and Twitter developer Insider, Janiqueka John says, “Our mission is to connect the best of our female tech talent across the Caribbean and Caribbean diaspora to empower and elevate each other, network, share opportunities, help each other to develop our technical skills, and more!”
There were many amazing #ProgressNotPerfection Moments from the Summit.
WE are sharing just a few today:
The Future is Solid
STEAM Pioneer Camille Selvon, Animae Caribe, keynote speaker of the Summit woke up the audience as she shared her journey and growth as a tech leader and woman executive. She spoke of our rich Caribbean culture and heritage, noting that it was still “steeped in bureaucracy and a post-colonial past…”
She shared her struggles and daunting obstacles, noting how many times she almost gave up when pushing Animation as an industry in our region. She poignantly went on to say, “If your roots are pulled out there are many more trees. This movement cannot be stopped. As we continue to be pioneers understand that every moment is a gift. Every soul is a gift. Every incident is a gift. Good or bad. Find the lesson in all.”
In every life, a little rain must fall
Carina Cockburn, Ecosystem leader and IADB Country representative for Trinidad and Tobago, led us through her powerful #ProgressNotPerfection story where she shared many pearls of wisdom such as - “Never forget the simple courtesies that make people feel valued and appreciated” She shared her story of returning to work after maternity leave, and feeling the need to maintain the appearance that nothing had changed. She spoke about our harsh inner critic and how acceptance and forgiving ourselves, is a key part of pushing ahead. “It is important to keep moving forward, not necessarily upward.”
Collaboration fueling the Purpose Driven Metaverse
Anya Ayoung Chee, led us into her journey of founding Wyld Flwr LLC and how it grew into a Caribbean brand that took its place next to DKNY at the world’s first-ever Metaverse Fashion Week. She reflected how after initially founding the company as a festival wear brand in 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic hit, which led to her discovery of the potential of a new path with augmented wearables- long before the explosion of NFTs and WEB 3.0.
She spoke about spending the last 12 months deep in collaboration with other innovators who shared her passion, purpose and principles. She said, “I do believe that not holding things to my chest is the only reason we have gotten this far, having trusted these partners with my vision, and watching it grow into a global conversation.”
Persistence always pays off
The amazing contribution and story from Sowmya Thottambeti from the Bahamas left us all introspecting. She shared her experiences of her internship with global industry leader Nike. Right after this internship, while she hoped for a placement, it didn’t happen right away and persistence, perseverance became another part of her journey. She found other pathways through engagement and pitching to decision makers – then succeeding in securing her current position as software engineer for one of the biggest brands in the world.
Advice to Tech Entrepreneurs
Amanda Spann, Head of Community at Tech Beach Retreat, dove right into the work that we face, in building healthy Caribbean tech ecosystems. She noted that while we could look at other ecosystems for inspiration, it is important that we define what we want to be for ourselves. She shared her approach of “leaving no element behind” noting that it takes all components to ensure a start-up thrives and sustains.
When asked what advice she would give to budding entrepreneurs, she stated the most important quality for them to develop is “being coachable”.
She stated, “There are things that are unique to this region that we should own, that we should celebrate, that we should look at as a blue ocean of opportunity.”
What are the next steps?
“The next steps for the IWD Caribbean Tech Summit are to follow through with action for increasing diversity in the Caribbean Tech Community through the empowerment of women and girls, and underrepresented groups with initiatives that will contribute to a more diverse and inclusive environment as well as the promotion of inclusive and disruptive projects that are building ecosystems to push the needle forward for diversity and representation,” shared Maria ‘O Brien.
Summit Partners included WE Magazine - Guardian Media, Animae Caribe, Caribbean Girls Hack, SISU Global Wellness, Trinidad and Tobago Animation Network, Gaming Association of Trinidad and Tobago, CaribeArt, Digital Jamaica, Caribbean InTransit, Workii, Island Sitters, Ramdin Consultancy, Draper Startup House Caricom and Design Change.
To learn more about the summit and its ongoing activities, please visit www.iwdtechsummit.org.