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" If you know anything about Ethiopia, they are very security conscious, a very closed environment. It's a repressive place were journalists and bloggers are arrested all the time. "

Ory Okolloh

Place

Time

Security

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" I wish I had not believed that my work would speak for itself; the working world requires a bit more than that. "

" Most entrepreneurs think capital is the biggest problem they have - but it's not. You can have all the capital you want, but if the market fit and ability to adjust are not present, your startup will likely not succeed. "

" I'm not sure I'd be as successful as I am as a woman in a profession other than in technology. Because it tends to be a bit neutral. If you have the tools, if you can code, it's a lot more sort of merit and recognizes talent. "

" Blogging requires consistency, and you need to have some time on your hands, which I don't really have. "

" I think there's sort of an extra oomph with the younger people coming up. They're writing. They're communicating. They're sharing, and they are very much technology-driven. "

Ory Okolloh

People

Sharing

" In Kenya particularly, we have a lot to say - we're sort of obsessed with politics. We have three nightly news broadcasts, predominantly bad politics. "

" I resigned from my position as Ushahidi Executive Director and member of the Board in 2010. However, my role as a co-founder and my journey as a woman in the technology space means that I remain inextricably linked to Ushahidi, for better or worse. "

" I think the Internet is a key driver of opening up opportunities, which impacts many things, including development - I will repeat that I am not a fan of looking at technology or the Internet in Africa through the lens of development - we love the Internet for sake of the Internet. "

" I always ask the question: As more Africans are going online, are they finding content that is meaningful and relevant to them, or are they just consuming from everywhere else. As Africans, we have the capacity to generate our own content. "

" The depiction of Africa has changed in the media in that it is not always poverty, disease, and so on. "

" That's one thing you Americans take for granted, you know? That you can grow up, you know, not so good circumstances, and you can move. Just because you are born in rural Arkansas, whatever, that doesn't define who you are. "

" Technology influenced me in that it gave me an opportunity to have a voice as a woman. I think it's because the barriers to entry tend to be a bit lower. "

" Technology is the perfect refuge for African capability stifled elsewhere by badly run governments and years of misplaced foreign aid. Ubiquitous connectivity in a world without legacy infrastructure, together with the potential to learn coding or anything else online, has allowed technology entrepreneurship to flourish. "

" I think a lot of Africans in my generation, and especially those of us who have spent time overseas before coming back, are quite comfortable moving between the two worlds, though always with a lens of, 'What can we do to help our countries or regions?' "

" While I am a huge proponent of us as Africans telling our own stories and countering the negative stereotypes out there since no one else will, I am also cognizant of the power that the mainstream Western media still has on shaping perceptions of the continent. "

" When I was in law school at Harvard, the Defence of Marriage Act (DOMA) in the U.S. was a big thing. I remember the fight between the army recruiters and Harvard University due to 'Don't ask, don't tell.' "

" People thought I wrote in a very 'masculine' way. "

" Anyone who has been successful and has knowledge to share is a potential mentor. "

" I want my work at Google to have a long-term impact on the tech scene in Africa and to result in millions more Africans not just going online but having an amazing experience once they do. That's what drives me every single day when I get to work. "

" I think the Internet is having an impact in very diverse ways anchored around amplifying voice, from enabling what I like to refer to as micro-activism. "

" The Internet Governance Forum - which brings together NGOs, government officials and companies - needs to do a better job of including representatives from Africa, Latin America, and Asia and addressing their issues. "

" I think that we have been able to demonstrate that we cannot just consume software, that we can create software that can be used all over the world, that we have that kind of talent in Africa. "

" The city of Johannesburg built an app because they are getting so many complaints on Facebook and Twitter about potholes. The app allows you to report a pot hole and take a picture of it. Then, you can actually track the progress in terms of the repair, when it happened. "

" As a young African, the sense of opportunity that fills my head on a daily basis is, I suspect, reminiscent of how young Africans felt at the cusp of independence. "

" As much as innovation is important, I think we also need to just make stuff. If we look at Kenya, where I'm from, as an example, we are importing everything down to toothpicks. "

" An absence of credible information prevents citizens from participating in public decision-making, particularly on key issues of concern such as education, health, and governance. "

" At any one particular time, there is something in my life that is suffering as a result of my many responsibilities; most of the time, it's me. "

" I have a very introverted real personality. "

" If you want to amplify the data that you have, you need media, you need lawyers, you need the judiciary. Especially when governments try to shut down a particular website or when litigating on an issue. "

" 21st-century activism is different perhaps in the sense that the individual can be more present in the process, especially via social media, but the underlying drivers remain the same as desire to change the status quo. "