Our fourth guest in the East Africa bloc is Kenyan Zipeta Nabwala, the Chief Executive Officer of Liverage Online. Liverage Online is creating sign language awareness in society and providing equitable opportunities to deaf communities across Kenya. If you are curious, then listen in.
Conversation Overview
Zipeta’s varied background in training, technology, and mentorship provided the perfect foundation for developing UX/UI Design skills and working with varied communities. Zipeta enjoys working with deaf people and is passionate about finding simple technological solutions that can make a difference in deaf people’s lives. Zipeta likes to work on challenging projects, but what really makes her happy is creating something that people can benefit from. It was a pleasure to speak with Zipeta to learn more about her startup and how she is supporting the deaf community in Kenya.
Connect with Zipeta
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Conversation Highlights
- “We realised that there was a huge miscommunication gap between the deaf and hearing.” Zipeta N. [1:47]
- “We are solving two things, one is the miscommunication gap and secondly the digital gap for the deaf communities.” Zipeta N. [4:21]
- “Currently most people do not want to learn sign language and also they treat the deaf like they are disabled. The parents of the deaf also hide the children from the society. The institutions are not offering courses that tailor to the deaf. So the deaf have a hard time enrolling in a course. Zipeta N. [6:20]
- “The end result is they learn how to protect themselves online and in terms of the UI we are hoping by the end of the year that most of them will find jobs in the UX/UI industry.” – Zipeta N. [13:40]
- “How the platform works, so far we are just doing physical training…we are using a chatbox on Whatsapp.” Zipeta N. [17:00]
- “Leverage Online started in February of this year. I started with a friend of mine who is currently the cofounder. We started under a school tent.” Zipeta N. [21:17]
- “Yes, we have already gotten around two corporates. They saw the success of this and really wanted to work with us. They will starting in January of next year. Many organisations are willing to sponsor us.”
Zipeta N [23:40] - “My initial vision is an online university for the deaf across Africa.” Zipeta N. [33:20]
- “Don’t start the journey alone.” [39:00]
Resources Mentioned
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