In a world where the sky is the limit, it’s frustrating to think there are still invisible barriers holding certain groups back from reaching their potential. There has always been an invisible barrier preventing a certain group of people, particularly minorities and women in society from reaching high-level positions in various fields.

Over many centuries, the glass ceiling has been frustrating for those who have skills, talent, or qualifications to perform certain tasks or to venture into certain professions and have been held back by certain societal and institutional barriers. Shattering the glass ceiling is a phenomenon that has inspired people across the globe to rise against the odds and strive for greatness.

Despite societal and institutional barriers, many stories have been told about individuals who have shattered the glass ceiling. This article will explore the glass ceiling and stories of individuals who have been able to overcome it by defying the odds paving the way for future generations and inspiring others to strive for excellence regardless of their gender, race, or ethnicity, and how their choices have impacted their respective fields.

Men also help overcome these barriers by actively working to create a more equitable and inclusive workplace where everyone has the opportunity to succeed regardless of their gender, championing women’s advancement, challenging gender stereotypes, and creating a culture of inclusivity, men can help break down barriers and create more level playing in the field for all.

CoELIB as an organization has also helped society to break such barriers. Through various ways including; Providing a platform that prioritizes diversity and inclusion in executive and board-level hiring. By connecting organizations with a diverse pool of qualified candidates, the organization has helped overcome barriers that have historically prevented women and minorities from reaching the highest levels of leadership.  The platform’s data-driven approach helps eliminate bias in the hiring process, ensuring that all candidates are evaluated based on their skills and experience. CoELIB’s coaching and mentoring services also help to develop the leadership skills of candidates from underrepresented groups, preparing them to succeed in executive positions. Through the program of CoELIB Incubar, CoELIB has been able to offer sponsorship to young entrepreneurs and innovators such as;

Sylvia Nyaga

Sylvia Nyaga is a young entrepreneur and innovator who was born and raised in Nairobi. She studied water and engineering at Egerton university and immediately after graduating, she joined Amani institute and studied innovation management.

She is the CEO and co-founder of Syna consultancy, a social enterprise that deals with the innovation of commode like toilets known as, Utulav or Utter Love toilets with an aim to achieve to access safe, adequate, all-inclusive water and sanitation. She designed the toilets to improve lives and eliminate the indignity suffered by the elderly, sick, and physically challenged when it comes to sanitation. The toilet has two major components; a) a support frame with wheels which is said to provide support to the toilet and the user and to also aid in portability. b)  A container-based toilet that works like a normal toilet and uses 500ml to flush. According to Sylvia, the waste is digested by a biological waste digester and is emptied manually by the caregiver. She also continues to say that it does not need to be emptied every day since it does not produce odor. Sylvia was driven to innovate the Utulav toilet, due to cases such as the unhygienic challenges that disabled people face when they needed to use the toilet, for example, some of them used empty tins and emptied them later, or even some are forced to sit on the holes of pit latrines.

According to her the impact that the toilet has on people is phenomenal and the love and the reviews are amazing which is what encourages and motivates them.

Through this innovation, she was able to receive the first capital for her prototype from the CoELIB Incubation Center. CoELIB also offered them training and mentorship which offered them the right guidance.

She says that” if I didn’t have the money, I don’t know if I could have ever begun.”

She also received grants from the equity foundation and young water solutions non-governmental organizations. She has also won several awards e.g.  Iko Safi Innovation Award (an Award from the Kenya Ministry of Water, Sanitation and Irrigation) in 2019, the Zuri Awards 2021(Innovative Category), and the Kenya Innovative Agency Award 2021(Assistive Technology Category).

Despite facing challenges such as lack of skilled labor, locally available materials being expensive, being conned in the early stages, people not willing to spend on the disabled and KEBS taking a long period of time to approve the product, Sylvia still hopes that in the future there will be better technology such that there will be no need to visit homes to know how to modify client’s washrooms.

JANE ORINA

Jane Orina is a former incubar of the CoELIB Incubation Centre. She is also the CEO of Jamor designs A shop that deals with interior design and tailoring.

The shop aims at producing unique, customized, and high-quality products for interiors and fashion designed to meet everyone’s needs.

In conclusion, CoELIB’s innovative approach is helping to create more diverse and inclusive leadership teams, breaking the glass ceiling for women and minorities through for example offering sponsorship programs and incubation of young entrepreneurs in the corporate world.

“CoELIB’s incubation model seeks to ensure that youth-led enterprises had adequate knowledge on financial resource management and business development then proceed to link them to financing for sustainability.” Wilson Karimi, Programmes manager.