Laura Tich
Kenyan cybersecurity architect Laura Tich has turned a one-phone WhatsApp chat into East Africa’s boldest pipeline for women in infosec. In 2016, frustrated by conference rooms where she was the lone female engineer, she launched SheHacks Kenya; today the community boasts more than 350 penetration testers, malware analysts and SOC interns, complete with a satellite chapter in Zimbabwe. Tich’s formula is hands-on: weekend capture-the-flag drills, CV clinics led by CISSPs, and a mentorship ladder that pairs university sophomores with senior threat hunters. Alumni now staff banks, telcos and government CSIRTs that once hired almost exclusively from abroad, proof that local talent can secure local networks.
Recognition followed, Business Daily listed her among its Top 40 Under 40, Womenbut Tich measures success in certificates earned and barriers dropped. She is brokering scholarships with global training vendors, lobbying Kenya’s ICT Authority to earmark internship slots for SheHacks graduates, and outlining a pan-African bug-bounty platform that will pay novices for finding vulnerabilities. As ransomware balloons and gender gaps persist, Tich’s message is clear: cybersecurity is Kenya’s next export, and women will write its source code.