The IEEE Photonics Society Kenya Chapter, IEEE Communications Society Kenya Chapter, IEEE Women in Engineering (WIE), and IEEE Industrial Electronics Society Kenya Chapter jointly organized a picnic at Karura Forest under the theme #GiveToGain. Bringing together women and student allies from across engineering and technology, the gathering created a relaxed and welcoming environment for networking, mentorship, knowledge sharing, and community building.
The choice of Karura Forest added particular meaning to the experience. Located within Nairobi, the 1,041-hectare forest is one of the world’s largest urban gazetted forests and an important natural and recreational space for the city. It is home to walking trails, rivers, waterfalls, caves, indigenous vegetation, and extensive biodiversity. But Karura is also a place with an important history of civic engagement and community action. In the 1990s, environmentalist and eventual Nobel Peace Prize laureate Wangari Maathai helped lead efforts to protect the forest from development and illegal land acquisition, making Karura an enduring symbol of conservation, public stewardship, and the power of individuals and communities to advocate for change.
The surrounding environment encouraged participants to experience professional engagement differently. The picnic focused on creating connections among students interested in joining industry. By taking professional development outside the traditional lecture hall, the organizers created space for conversations that were less structured and more personal. Participants could exchange experiences, learn from one another, and explore opportunities for collaboration across Kenya’s engineering and technology community without the boundaries that can sometimes accompany formal professional events.
Career Insights Through Conversation
A highlight of the gathering was a professional development talk given by Rhoda Moraa, an AI/ML Engineer at Safaricom PLC, who spoke about building a career in the technological industry. Working in artificial intelligence and machine learning places Moraa within an area that is rapidly reshaping how organizations use data, automate processes, develop digital services, and solve complex problems. Her experience at Safaricom—one of Kenya’s major telecommunications and technology companies—also gave participants an opportunity to hear from a professional working where engineering, data, communications, and emerging technologies increasingly intersect.
Rather than focusing only on technical expertise, Moraa shared her professional journey and reflected on career development, leadership, and the opportunities emerging for the next generation of technology professionals. For students and young professionals in attendance, hearing directly from someone actively working in AI and machine learning helped connect academic and technical interests with the realities of an evolving technology career.
Her participation became particularly meaningful when the formal presentation ended. Over pizza and juice, participants were able to continue the conversation with Moraa, asking career questions, discussing their own aspirations, and hearing firsthand perspectives on navigating the technology profession. The keynote speaker was no longer simply someone addressing an audience from the front of a room; she became part of the gathering.
That accessibility helped turn a presentation into mentorship. For students and early-career professionals, informal access to an experienced industry professional can make career possibilities feel more tangible. Questions that someone may hesitate to ask during a formal Q&A—about career decisions, uncertainty, leadership, workplace experiences, developing skills, or finding opportunities—can emerge much more naturally through conversation. At the same time, experienced professionals gain an opportunity to better understand the ambitions, concerns, and perspectives of the generation entering the field.
Collaboration Across IEEE Communities
One of the most successful—and somewhat unexpected—outcomes of the picnic was the level of interaction among participants representing different IEEE communities.
By bringing together Photonics, Communications, Industrial Electronics, and Women in Engineering, the event intentionally crossed technical and professional boundaries. Participants were introduced to people and perspectives beyond their usual networks, creating conversations among disciplines that increasingly overlap as technologies become more interconnected.
The setting helped make those connections more organic. Rather than attendees separating into familiar technical groups, the shared picnic experience encouraged interaction across societies and career stages. Conversations generated ideas and enthusiasm for future joint activities while strengthening relationships among the participating IEEE Chapters.
This cross-society approach is particularly valuable for emerging technology areas. Artificial intelligence, communications, photonics, electronics, sensing, computing, and other fields no longer develop independently of one another. Creating opportunities for professionals from these communities to interact can expose participants to different technical perspectives while opening possibilities for interdisciplinary collaboration.
The event also demonstrated the complementary roles that IEEE technical societies and affinity groups can play. Technical societies connect individuals through areas of professional expertise, while communities such as IEEE WIE can create additional pathways for mentorship, leadership development, inclusion, and connections that extend across disciplines.
