Facilitating e-learning and advocating for social change in Kenya
Ajra Mohamed, from Mombasa, received a Queen Elizabeth Commonwealth Scholarship in 2019 to complete a master’s in Software Project Management at the University of Mauritius.
Kenya, known for its immense wildlife preserves and picturesque landscapes, is also one of the fast-growing economies in Africa. According to the most recent World Bank report, the real GDP of Kenya expanded at an estimated 5.4% in 2023, indicating a fast recovery from the recession Kenya experienced during COVID.
Kenya aspires to become a rapidly industrialised middle-income nation by the year 2030 and has adopted Kenya Vision 2030 as a development programme to revolutionise the country. As part of this Vision, Mombasa - the largest commercial harbour in East Africa and a logistics and infrastructure hub for the western Indian Ocean – has a major role to play.
Ajra Mohamed, who hails from Mombasa, received a Queen Elizabeth Commonwealth Scholarship in 2019 to complete a Master’s in Software Project Management at the University of Mauritius. She is passionate about revolutionising the technology empowerment ecosystem in Mombasa and wishes to make the city a hub for opportunities in the field of Information Technology, specifically for women. The QECS award opened doors to exceptional possibilities for Ajra. During the award, she not only gained more knowledge and skills, but also built networks that paved a way for her professional and personal growth.
The scholarship opportunity was a huge help. Because of that, I was able to go to Mauritius and pursue the Master’s. And it was because of that I now have the skills that I have, and I've been able to contribute to my country, and I've been able to build the kind of networks in both Mauritius and Kenya.
Ajra Mohamed
In recent years, Mombasa has greatly benefited from national investment in digital and physical infrastructure as a result of Vision 2030. According to the Global Startup Ecosystem Index Report, Mombasa has the 3rd best startup ecosystem in Kenya, and is ranked 12th overall in East Africa. However, back in 2013, when Ajra completed her undergraduate degree in Information Technology, the city lacked opportunities to employ young people such as Ajra who wanted to excel and grow in the IT sector without moving to big cities. For a long time Ajra relied on underpaid short-term roles or volunteering to build her professional experience, however, there were still gaps that she was acutely aware of – one such gap being lack of skills in managing software projects.
"My undergraduate grades were really good... I also had a track record of leadership in the university, but I really struggled to get employed. Right now, things have changed in my hometown, Mombasa because I was part of that revolution... but then, back in 2013, things were totally different. There weren't many technology companies in Mombasa or innovation hubs for coworking, and those that were there were only branches from big companies in Nairobi."
Finally, an opportunity struck when she was approached by a Software Developer working at Al Jazeera who was looking for educated bright minds to form a youth community in Mombasa to transform the Information Technology sector in the city. Ajra took up the opportunity and started off a small initiative as a Community and Partnerships Lead at M-Power, a Community-Based Organisation (CBO). While training young women on one of the projects to design and develop software programmes, more specifically mobile applications to be pitched to potential funders for grants, Ajra developed the motivation to build her skills in software project management which led her to apply for a Queen Elizabeth Commonwealth Scholarship.
"It was that really keen interest to develop project management skills so that I could better contribute to the community projects that I was doing. That desire drove me into wanting to specifically pursue postgraduate studies in software project management as part of the Queen Elizabeth Commonwealth Scholarships. I immediately got drawn to the Queen Elizabeth Commonwealth Scholarships because of the prospect of getting to study in Africa. And it so happened that there was such a course for a part-time Masters in Mauritius, and that's the one that I applied for."
Not only did the QECS give Ajra the chance to study closer to her home but also happened to expand her views about Mauritius in particular, and perspectives on Africa as a region in general.
When I went to Mauritius, I would say I found it surprising in a very pleasant way that not only was the country very friendly, in terms of its citizen, but the culture was very similar to where I come from in the Coastal City of Kenya. I was able to relate to a lot of the cuisines there. So, I didn't feel as much of a cultural shock than I would’ve expected.
Furthermore, she is one of those alumni who were studying abroad when COVID hit the world the strongest. Despite the challenges that the pandemic had created, Ajra’s overall experience remained positive.
"When I went to Mauritius I experienced COVID there, and how very supportive the government was both to Mauritians and non-Mauritians. I really loved how they treated all of us equally. I never got a sense that, I'm not Mauritian so maybe the government during COVID is not prioritising me. That wasn't the case at all, I felt so safe, I felt so respected and also cared for. And that definitely changed my perspective of the country."
Ever since Ajra has had that experience of living abroad and feeling safe and respected at the same time, she has made many more trips to other African countries.
‘I wasn't as intimidated to travel to those countries as I would’ve been and I would honestly say that was as a result of having been exposed to travelling to another African country, which is Mauritius. I'd never travelled to any other African country before Mauritius. Yes, I would say it definitely shaped my perspective of giving people and other countries a chance.’
Her stay in Mauritius has also exposed Ajra to examples that she wishes to replicate in her country, Kenya. For instance, one of her current campaigns is inspired by her experiences about paid period of leave in Mauritius. She is also impressed by Mauritian Government’s policies around free education and health services and wishes to run future campaigns on those matters.
The scholarship experience enriched my understanding of global interconnectedness and the role of education in fostering development. It also highlighted the potential for mutual learning and collaboration between Kenya and Mauritius, enhancing my commitment to driving educational and technological advancements in my own community.
Ajra’s dissertation during her Master’s in Software Project Management was about a theoretical framework for an e-learning platform. Ajra opines that it would not have been possible for her to address such an ambitious research problem at a Master’s level had she not been granted her QECS award.
"I would say my research was very ambitious in the sense that I remember I targeted ,at least 2000 experts and professionals, and if it wasn't for the research grant that I got from the Queen Elizabeth Commonwealth Scholarships to do my research really well, both in Mauritius and beyond, I don't think I would’ve been able to confidently and effectively reach that target, to be able to come up with quality research that ended up making me succeed in my master's."
The benefits of that network of professionals and experts in the Instructional Design and the E-Learning sector that Ajra had built to conduct and complete her research did not stop there. For Ajra, those networks have proven to be a source of opportunities for both professional and personal growth. It was one of her connections that led her to an activist in Vihiga County, Kenya who was working with local farmers to improve on the value chain of their produce by building their capacity in production increase through knowledge and best practices.
For this purpose, they used Ajra’s theoretical framework on e-learning platforms that she had developed as part of her Master’s dissertation. Drawing on that framework, a mobile-based application was designed for the farmers in Vihiga to build their capacity and improve on the value chain of their crops.
One of my main achievements was developing an e-learning project framework for small-scale student and non-student farmers in Kenya, which led to my recruitment by Change.org Foundation as a training coordinator.
Ajra now hopes that one day she might be able to take that e-learning framework further into a full-scale project or as a building block to start a PhD.
Immediately after completing her degree, Ajra joined Change.org, the world’s largest petition platform. The seeds to getting this breakthrough job had already been planted during Ajra’s QECS award, specifically during the time when she was working on her dissertation. In order to gather data and information for her Master’s dissertation, she used LinkedIn as a platform to find experts and professionals with e-learning experience which resulted in building a large network of professionals and academics that connected Ajra with a world of opportunities, one of which was getting employed by Change.org.
When Change.org recruited Ajra, they were scaling up their presence in Africa and wanted someone from Kenya with experience in training facilitation, IT Skills, and e-learning project management.
"They were trying to build an Africa team and specifically, the three countries in Africa were South Africa, Nigeria, and Kenya. So, I was being recruited as a training coordinator for Kenya. And my role, as much as it was called training coordinator, one of the deliverables for the role was that they were trying to transition from their model of residential training, and because of COVID, they wanted to move to either a hybrid model or a fully e-learning model."
Her local experience in Kenya combined with her qualification with research in e-learning made her a perfect candidate for this role. Ajra was recruited as a Training Coordinator for Kenya and was responsible for helping the organisation figure out the best way to transition to a hybrid or fully online learning training model. This transition was inevitable due to the changes the world had started to undergo due to COVID, and Ajra was instrumental in helping Change.org Kenya adapt to the shifts by exploring remote environments to keep people connected.
Her role at Change.org later on progressed into her current position of Campaign Strategist and Partnership Specialist in Nguvu Collective which is an organisation that evolved from the Change Foundation and later separated into an independent entity.
As a Campaign Strategist she has been responsible for providing direction and coaching to emerging women leaders from marginalised communities with lived experiences of systemic injustices on how to organize and mobilize support. The process involves guiding them in developing strategies, facilitating connections with key stakeholders, offering training and tools for campaign execution, and helping to amplify their campaign's message through press and social media engagements. In that role she not only built a database of all the relevant journalists and their areas or expertise, but also drafted strategies on how to catch media attention on a range of issues including health, gender equality, education, sanitation, environment and climate change, etc.
"One of my tasks as a campaign strategist was to build a database of journalists including the issues each of them was working on and their contact details. While doing that I also read their work and tried to understand their personalities so that I could advise the activist on designing strategies to pitch the stories to them and how to get them interested in listening to them and covering their story. And then also partnerships, because at the end of the day, any social impact project cannot be done in isolation."
She is a successful campaign strategist because she believes in a holistic approach to campaigning by not only highlighting the social issues but also by outlining possible solutions, mapping out partners, resources and people in power or with the level of influence that can push for the change being advocated for.
"We focus a lot on interventions as well so that … we're not just surfacing problems, but also offering them proposed solutions. We tell them that you can think of us as thought partners. So let's work together to implement these ideas at the community level, or at the county level. All of it requires a significant amount of capacity building that you take them through, research how to engage with different people, especially decision makers and the media."
Ajra works closely with women activists form marginalised communities who are trying to advocate for some reforms in the educational sector, especially by engaging the Government and the Ministry of Education. Furthermore, she offers support in crafting advocacy strategies that empower women leaders to create deep social impact; conducting training sessions to enhance the skills of young activists; building strong relationships with key stakeholders, including government bodies and NGOs to support their campaigns; and overseeing the implementation of advocacy campaigns to ensure they achieve desired outcomes.
Overall, as a strategist for social change advocacy campaigns, partnerships, and government relations at Nguvu Collective, her role focuses on supporting emerging women leaders from marginalized communities across Kenya by offering them expertise in effective online and offline advocacy campaigning, resource mobilization, partnerships, alliance building, government relations, and media outreach.
Moreover, Ajra’s projects address multiple social causes including improving access to education and menstrual products for girls in rural Kenya, to supporting strategy for advocacy campaigns on maternal health rights for women across Kenya and especially women living with disabilities.
"I coordinate with local partners, community leaders, and international partners to develop sustainable solutions that address barriers of access to justice, human rights and equality."
As a lifetime member of Forum for Advancing Women Educationalists (FAWE), Kenya Chapter, Ajra is frequently engaged in consultative and collaborative activities that provide support to the Kenyan Government as well as other key stakeholders across the country to design national strategies.
One such example is her role in mobilising the Kenyan Government to shift over from traditional teaching methods to online based platforms. As part of that campaign, Ajra’s expertise has been engaged in several consultancies with the Ministry of Education to provide support to the government for introducing e-learning platforms in schools and other educational institutions.
Ajra believes that such changes are necessary to ensure uninterrupted education for all, including girls and children living with disabilities. Although, the ongoing work on introducing e-learning tools and platforms in Kenya is slower than expected, Ajra is hopeful and glad that the movement has begun, and primary and secondary education schools are prioritising implementation of newer policies.
Ajra’s dedication and influence in the social impact advocacy and education sector have not gone unnoticed. In July his year, she was recognized as one of the Top 40 Under 40 Women by Business Daily, Kenya's only economics newspaper published by Nation Media. It is ‘Kenya’s most widely read daily business publication, a must-read for decision-makers, entrepreneurs and career professionals.’ The Top 40 Under 40 Women a prestigious award celebrating trailblazers who are disrupting the status quo and reimagining success. Being on the list has been a source of immense pride and humility for Ajra. She felt honoured to have been nominated and selected as a finalist. The accolade not only marked a significant milestone in her journey but also highlighted her continuous growth and development as a leader in social impact, education and beyond.
Ajra is proud of the connections she has built through obtaining the QECS award and plans to keep those connections alive by either drawing inspirations or through collaborations. Together with her Supervisor from the University of Mauritius, Ajra is working hard to get her Master’s research published. She is also aspiring to apply for another scholarship to start a PhD.