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Summary
Stella Amarachi Justin is the co-founder of Kedrus Academy and a trained social educator. She is a change-maker who uses her tech skills and academic knowledge to train and upskill Nigerian workers in data literacy and AI skills.
In the fast-paced tech world, Stella Amarachi Kedrus emerges as a unique social instrument pedalling the world with tech. In this interview, we examine the vision behind Stella’s drive and passion for tech education.
Insights from Stella Amarachi
- Can we meet you?
My name is Stella Amarachi Justin. I am the co-founder of Kedrus Academy, where we upskill the Nigerian workforce with data and AI skills to improve their productivity, drive innovation, and make better business decisions.
- As the co-founder of Kedrus Academy, what inspired you to start the ventures, and what are the academy’s primary goals?
As a trained social educator who got into tech immediately after graduation, I quickly discovered the massive digital skills gap in my beloved country, Nigeria. At a time when the world was preparing for the future of work, Nigerian youths were nowhere near the digital skills, global awareness, and requisite level of preparedness for global competitiveness.
This is much more evident because we keep churning out graduates who are not employable, and there is a constant need for companies to retrain their graduate trainees before full engagement. After working for years as a data professional, I decided to lend my voice to change through Kedrus Academy. Putting together my educational background and digital skills (Data and AI) to create an Edtech solution where we train and empower the Nigerian workforce with Data and AI Literacy skills to improve their productivity and drive positive change in their businesses.
- You have trained over 2,000 individuals globally on Data Analytics. What strategies do you employ to ensure effective knowledge transfer and skill acquisition during these training sessions?
At Kedrus Academy, we recognise that our students come from varied backgrounds and have different levels of exposure to technology before joining our classes. We, therefore, apply a very high level of emotional intelligence and empathy in the way we go about our instructor-led live boot camps, where we are able to interact with our students, listen to and respond to their questions in real-time, and offer hours of intensive support throughout their learning period.
Through our active students and alumni communities, we are able to monitor, mentor and hold our students accountable. We follow up with our students to ensure they’re getting along with the classes and completing their projects, and we offer technical support where necessary. Our students are also able to take on-demand data and AI courses online from our website kedrusacademy.com
- In your opinion, what are the most significant challenges currently facing the field of data analytics, and how do you stay ahead of emerging trends and technologies to address these challenges?
The most significant challenge currently facing the field of data analytics in Nigeria is a lack of awareness. Many people have not come to understand the immense potential available to them in this niche.
Even business owners and decision-makers have yet to grasp the importance of data analytics as the lifeblood of their businesses. As a result, they are losing a lot of money and leaving out many potential opportunities for business growth because they make decisions based on their gut feelings rather than on data. This is because organisations with a data-literate workforce experience up to a 5% increase in enterprise value, equating to an additional $500 million. Most companies in Nigeria and Africa at large have yet to take advantage of this huge opportunity. Staying ahead of emerging trends is absolutely necessary in this field because Data Analytics is very fast-paced, especially with the current AI revolution. It’s absolutely necessary to follow up with industry updates and, most importantly, to adopt lifelong learning skills and a growth mindset.
- In your experience, what are the key factors that contribute to the successful adoption and implementation of data analytics solutions within an organisation, and how do you address resistance to change?
From my experience, there are two key factors that contribute to the successful adoption and implementation of data analytics. Openness: To what extent is an organisation willing to open up its data for analysis? So many companies are afraid of data leakage and Enterprise data Literacy: what percentage of the workforce in this organisation can read, write, interpret and communicate with data? We’ve reached a point where every member of an organisation, regardless of their job role, should be able to make data-driven decisions following the organisation’s data strategy.
- How favourable is the tech space to women?
There’s this misconception that tech is not for women, so fewer women are getting into tech. Compared to men, women do not grow fast enough in their tech career ladder.
Some other biological factors tend to hinder the participation of women in tech. One major factor is motherhood. According to Maven Clinic, 48% of new mothers do not return to work postpartum. This is why at Kedrus Academy, we have taken up the responsibility to up-skill mothers through the SkillUp Moms project, where we train these women in Data and AI skills, provide rebates to fund their childcare service, and match them to internships and job opportunities.
- Where do you see yourself and the data analytics industry in the next 5 years?
The next 5 years are full of incredible opportunities for data professionals worldwide, including me. As AI gains dominance, awareness of the importance of data analysis increases over the next 5 years. The data analytics industry will appreciate this to a very great extent. By 2030, Data Literacy will be the most in-demand skill in the workplace.
- As a leader in the tech space industry, what advice would you give aspiring tech enthusiasts, especially those looking to venture into data analytics?
Do it right away! There’s nothing to be scared of. Learning Data Analysis is not as difficult or complex as it seems, especially when you learn from a very intentional academy like Kedrus Academy.
You have absolutely nothing to lose because Data Analysis is now a basic skill that everyone should have, regardless of their current job roles, career paths, or industry.
- When you mention data analytics, people cannot easily understand what you’re talking about. How can we localise teaching and adoption of data analytics in Nigeria?
Awareness campaigns and advocacy will go a long way. Yes, we should talk more about it and lead campaigns for it as much as we’re currently doing for basic literacy skills. We need to create more awareness by educating people about the importance of data.
We also need to introduce it early to our children and youths so they don’t have to get into the workforce before realizing how relevant the skill is to their own employability. Everyone should be data literate, and it is our collective responsibility to make this a reality.
Editor’s note: This story was first published on Crispng.com
