Janet Silantoi
Kenyan cybersecurity and data-privacy specialist Janet Silantoi Leparteleg has built her career on the conviction that digital safety must reach even the most remote villages. Armed with a computer-science degree from Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology and a master’s in Cybersecurity from Lancaster University, she cut her teeth securing critical infrastructure for government ministries and advising financial-services giants on breach readiness. But it was a 2018 trip home to Samburu that sparked her signature venture: Butterfly Techies, a grassroots program that buses laptops, solar routers and volunteer mentors across arid northern Kenya, teaching schoolgirls everything from coding basics to responsible data sharing skills that have already propelled dozens into tertiary STEM programs.
Leparteleg now splits her time between Nairobi boardrooms and dusty community halls, guiding public-sector data-protection audits while scaling Butterfly Techies into neighboring Turkana and Marsabit counties. She is a sought-after speaker on inclusive digital policy, most recently briefing the African Union on gender-aware cybersecurity frameworks and advising UNDP on rural broadband rollouts. With Kenya’s data-protection act tightening and the continent’s cloud footprint exploding, Leparteleg is positioning marginalized communities not merely as end-users but as architects of Africa’s secure digital future proof that safeguarding information can also unlock opportunity.