Ivy Barley

Happy Women's History Month! This month especially I wanted to highlight some less-known, rising stars in the women in tech field. Also, throughout history, the women's rights movements have often been exclusive, instead of inclusive, so I would like to take the opportunity this month to focus on women around the world, from different backgrounds, races, and cultures.

Thus, this post revolves around a young Ghanian entrepreneur who is making waves in the tech industry and working towards making programming more accessible and inclusive. Ivy Barley is a Ghanian Digital Nomad and steminist, and she is the co-founder and CEO of Developers in Vogue, an organization that trains females in the latest technologies and connects them to real-time projects and jobs. In 2017, Barley was named a part of the list of the Top 50 Most Influential Young Ghanaian.

"Whatever your passion is, you definitely need a lot of diligence and determination" - Ivy Barley.

Barley discovered her passion of programming and put in the work to get where she is today. She self-learned how to code and ended up winning $10,000 as a finalist of the Kwese #GoGettaz Competition. Recently, she obtained her MPhil. in Mathematical Statistics and a Bachelor's Degree in Actuarial Science, and she currently works at Microsoft Headquarters as a Program Manager.

In 2017, Barley was inspired to create Developers in Vogue after working at an all-girls pre-university where she helped girls with math, physics, statistics, and programming. She noticed that "The girls were very enthusiastic about coding, they also had so many great ideas." She never forgot the experience. It inspired Barley to "start a sustainable initiative that will create the ideal environment for females to code, connect and collaborate."

"Coding and generally technology has so much untapped potential in Africa. For females, the future is even brighter. Day in and day out there are so many opportunities that come up to promote women in technology" - Ivy Barley.

Through her experiences and her work, Barley has become more and more optimistic about the future of girls in technology in Africa, and she is starting to see other people recognizing all that women have to offer. Every morning, she strives to accomplish her goal of bettering her country and her continent, and we are rooting for her!