Mariam Adeyemi: Skill Gap In Black Community Inspired Me To Start Techavilly
Childhood Influence
THANKYOU for this question; this is a story a lot of people have been waiting to hear. My growing up was fun, even though I came from a polygamous family. It was a large family, because of the extended family members around us back then. And you know what? The competition was obvious.
I was one of the most stubborn amongst all the children, but there is one thing everyone knows about me. It’s ‘ bravery.’ I wasn’t afraid of taking risks and I am still not. The truth is that I burn my fingers sometimes, but that has never stopped me from trying again. As a matter of fact, my childhood story is a whole book.
Trust me,
TO engineer a better society, we need people of different genders, races and backgrounds solving our problems. Mariam Adeyemi’s passion and commitment to unlock potential is admirable. With her technology- training platform, Techavilly, she is breaking stereotypes of who a role model should be. A passionate tech enthusiast committed to unlocking potentials, transferring knowledge and transforming lives through digitisation and tech training, Mariam is the founder of Techavilly, a technology training platform aimed at empowering the black community through skills and knowledge transfer. She founded the company alongside her college friend, Omotoyosi Ogunbanwo who is also a tech enthusiast and currently works at Amazon USA.
Since 2020, Techavilly has trained over 10,000 black people from 2020 till date, helping them to fit into today’s dynamic job market. She rolled out the company’s very first training in 2020 in the middle of the pandemic. She chose that period to give back by sharing knowledge for free and giving people hope for a better life.
Mariam, who has worked with reputable companies, moved to the United States of America in 2017 to improve her skills, and remain relevant in the job market. She got her master’s degree in Business Analytics from Texas A& M University and was privileged to work with organisations such as Samsung Electronics America and other mid- sized companies in the United States. Mariam is the first female Edtech ( Educational Technology) founder to launch an educational communication app in Africa. She is committed to bridging parent- teacher communication while developing and transforming the child in the process. According to her, the goal is to expand across African schools and integrate technology into the school curriculum. Discorz App, which is gradually expanding, and penetration is improving, is currently available for download on Google Play and App Store.
She shares her inspiring story in this interview with ESTHER IJEWERE.
but I will crunch it as much as I can. I grew up wanting to be heard even amongst my siblings. I wasn’t the most brilliant though, but I was the most daring and my late mum loved me just like that. I attended a boarding school for my secondary school education in Ijebu Ode; Adeola Odutola College to be precise. I was super smart, and I ended up as the Assistant Head Girl for my set. I wasn’t made the Head Girl, because I didn’t do sciences and
I wasn’t as vocal as expected, even though I was a top performer academically.
Remember I said I don’t give up. With my Commercial & Arts background, I represented the school for literature and debating competitions and I won several awards for the school, even more than other categories of competition the school went for at that time.
I had my bachelor’s degree in Mass Communications from the University of Jos, and graduated with honours. I contested for Student Union positions, but never won. Like I said, I love taking risks and I enjoy learning in the process. So, to answer your question, my childhood never imagined what I have become today, not at all.