Working on the ENGAGE project with the University of Nairobi has made me reflect on how much early exposure to technology can shape someone’s path. That first moment of writing code and realising you can build something, it can be a turning point. It certainly was for me.
What makes ENGAGE powerful is bigger than the technical skills being taught; it is about those getting the chance to learn them. AI is shaping our world fast, including public health, but most of the models and tools we use are designed far from Kenya, by teams that don’t reflect the diversity of people they impact.
Bringing more voices into that process, especially from young people here, and especially from women, isn’t just a nice idea. It’s necessary. We need local perspectives to solve local problems. And the more diverse the team, the better the questions, the better the tools, the better the outcomes.
What excites me most is the shift we are seeing: from passive users of global tools to active builders of homegrown solutions. That’s where real change starts. The University of California San Francisco is proud to partner with the University of Nairobi and its partner institutions on this project.Fitti Weissglas
Co-Principal Investigator ENGAGE Project
