“The future of Kenya is in the informal economy. Job growth has been stagnant in the formal economy but has been growing in the informal economy. We must figure out how to make workers in the informal sector more credible as most people think that informal workers are substandard and not as qualified.” – Judith Adem Owigar
Judith Owigar is the Founder of JuaKali Workforce and cofounder of AkiraChix, a social enterprise creating livelihood opportunities through connecting informal economy workers to clients on demand. Juakali Workforce aims to address the challenge of growing youth unemployment and improve the livelihoods of skilled manual labourers in Kenya.
Judith Owigar is also the cofounder of AkiraChix which she started with her friends and colleagues in response to the challenges and gendered attitudes they faced as women working in the tech space in Africa. They created a space (AkiraChix) where women could come together and learn from each other with the goal to be so good that nobody would question them. Judith’s work with AkiraChix has been a significant boost for women innovators in Africa. AkiraChix’s vision is to ‘nurture generations of women who use technology to develop innovations and solutions for Africa’ and this has contributed greatly to empowering women in Africa both technologically and financially.
In 2012, Judith received Anita Borg Change Agent award in recognition and honor for her work. She was also listed as one of the top 40 women under 40 award for women who have made a significant impact on Kenya, economically and socially. She is an East Africa Acumen Fellow and an International Focus Fellow. She was listed as one of 10 African voices to follow on Twitter by CNN.
We celebrate Judith Owigar for setting the pace for women.
