Hello, I'm Yolanda
An energy and Climate Tech enthusiast hoping to change the world bit by bit.
As a Software Engineer at Dataminr, I have gained valuable experience working with diverse teams, including backend, frontend, and mobile development. Throughout my journey, I have honed my skills in various technologies such as React, React Native, TypeScript, JavaScript, Python, Java, and Figma. My enthusiasm for renewable energy generation, distribution, and storage drives me to make a lasting impact in this field. My ultimate aspiration is to work in the climate Tech industry and contribute to a greener and more sustainable future for everyone especially those in underrepresented communities. In addition to my professional goals, I am deeply committed to empowering young women and girls. By helping them overcome obstacles and develop essential skills, I aim to nurture the influential leaders and trendsetters of tomorrow
From a very tender age, I have always had a desire to fix gadgets and troubleshoot problems with appliances in our home. From fixing broken irons, sockets, DVD players to opening up stoves, and changing fuses in adapters, in a bid to make them work again. I have also always had a strong desire to solve problems in general and becoming part of a solution. One of the problems that I saw myself solving was the lack of reliable and renewable electricity in many parts of the world. I want to be a policy maker and make policies that will enable even those in marginalized places to have access to electricity. During the summer of 2019, I interned at Reclon Consulting engineers where I gained invaluable skills as an electrical engineering intern. I am conversant with AutoCAD, MATLAB, Solid works, Spice(Eagle), Soldering, Revit, Blender, Laser Cutting and RStudio. While at Smith College I participated in Sustainability Challenge that saw my teammates and I win $1000 dollars for our dorm and $500 to implement drying rakes as an alterantive to dryers in an effort to save energy.
During the summer of 2017, I took a programming class which spiked my interest for writing code. Ever since then, I have always had a strong desire to learn more about programming. I am a self taught front end web developer and programmer. I have developed skills in HTML, Bootstrap, CSS, Java, Javascript, Python, C/C++ and Arduino. I collaborated with a few friends in building the ZiFarm Website. I love writting code and creating websites during my spare time. I have also collaborated with collegues from school in coding games like; hangman, spooky mansion, Afric_travel, Aquarium, and fish grid all of which can be found on my github.
I love mentoring and inspiring young girls to achieve their goals to reach their full potential. I have always dreamt of empowering the girl child & believe she is capable of achieving great things given the opportunity to do so. I am a recepient of the Davis Projects for Peace grant that enabled me to start a mentorship program called Girls in Robotics for young girls who are interested in STEM in Zimbabwe. Girls in Robotics empowers young girls through teaching them Robotics, Programming and electronics. During the Girls in Robotics bootcamp, girls were taught how to assemble robots, write Arduino code for them as well as make them work electrically and mechanically. Girls in Robotics educates young girls empowers them to be able to make a change in their respective communities.
I have worked on a number of personal projects some of which are listed below.
A virtual web dice, designed to assist you in making decisions when a physical dice isn't available. Utilize this web-based version to make dice-driven choices, ensuring a fair and random outcome every time.
