Life At ADC with Farida Bedwei
When most people apply for jobs, their biggest fear is that their resume is not too striking. But when people with disabilities are faced with the same situation, many more factors come into play, besides their qualifications. How accessible is the office? Is there a policy for remote work? Will it be a supportive work environment?
This month on Life At ADC, we speak with Farida Bedwei, a software engineer with the MESH team at ADC-West Africa, based out of Ghana. Besides being a techie, Ms. Bedwei is also a disability rights advocate and a cerebral palsy warrior. We have a candid conversation on what her role entails, how she got here, and her message for everyone with special needs seeking a career in technology.
“Basically, what my team does is build the engine that various devices and applications can then use to run mixed reality.” This simplified take on her very technical role kicks off our conversation. The ease with which she speaks on machine learning and mixed reality is a clear indication that she has a tight grasp on what she does - and that she enjoys it.
“While this technology is still young, I can see it really impacting a sector such as education for example. Through mixed reality, a child who might not be able to attend the class for any reason can have the same experience as those physically present. This will be a notable change, especially for kids with special needs.” She speaks.
While her physical disability curtailed her dreams of going through a standard education process, it also propelled her to start her career earlier than her peers. By the time she turned 17, she had already started working as a software programmer - a feat that very few teenagers can accomplish. To date, she holds two diplomas in managing information systems and a degree in Computer Science from the University of Hertfordshire in the United Kingdom.
“After getting my degree I went back to working in the space of Mobile Value-Added Services and I wrote my first book during this period. After a few years I got bored so decided to switch industries - I started working as an IT Manager with a micro-finance organization in Ghana. I noticed that the software they were using was not efficient, and that is when I decided to build my own, which became the birth of my startup.”
Ms. Bedwei’s programming skills were quickly noticed by her manager, who saw a business opportunity in the software program she had built. The manager offered her an opportunity to start a cloud-banking solutions company. From very humble beginnings, they were able to scale beyond Ghana and signed over 300 micro-finance organizations as clients. After 11 years, she decided to hang up the entrepreneurial boots and look for a job once again. A friend who works in the Redmond office – George Armah, told her about an opportunity in ADC West and handed her CV to the headhunters.
“At this point, I was already looking for a different career challenge, so I was happy to take interviews,” she said.
But why should a person with such an impressive resume even need to do an interview? Shouldn’t her impressive achievements be enough to earn her the role?
“While my C.V was remarkable, it was more about what I could achieve, rather than what I had achieved in the past. They were also quite curious about my analytical and programming skills – which allowed the interview format to really highlight my strengths and capabilities.”
Conventional ways of conducting job interviews might not be as efficient for people with special needs. Interviewers need to be sensitive to disability limitations and make the entire process as inclusive and welcoming as possible. According to Ms. Bedwei, she was overly impressed by how the discussions went, and when the interviewers allowed her to work remotely and continue living in Ghana, she felt even more accommodated and understood.
“In most African countries, we still do not have proper policies and infrastructure that caters to people with disabilities. When organizations such as Microsoft take a lead in supporting people in my position, we get a fair chance to do our best,” she explains.
The strides Ms. Bedwei has made in her career are nothing short of spectacular, considering the cards she was dealt with. So, we ask her, what message does she have for people with special needs looking to begin careers in the tech industry?
“You must put in the work. Do not expect a free pass just because you have special needs. You need to be exceptionally good at what you are doing but institutions also need to put up an enabling environment that lets people with special needs be as productive as they can be.” – Her response is so clear and final that we begin to wonder – who is Farida Bedwei when she is not working or championing the rights of people with disabilities?
“Well, I read a lot and I go to the gym!” – She quickly realizes that the second bit caught us by surprise, so she goes on to add that being in the gym pushes her beyond her boundaries and keeps her motivated. “To be honest, I prefer the gym environment to physiotherapy.”
Oh, and if you thought that was all, Bedwei is also a published author, with a book titled KARMZAH, about a superhero with cerebral palsy. By the time our conversation ended, we were all left speechless and in awe of her drive, success, and accomplishments.
Connect with Farida Bedwei on her LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fbedwei/?originalSubdomain=gh
Check out KARMZAH on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Karmzah-Unleashing-Farida-Bedwei-ebook/dp/B07ND1NCWD/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=Farida+Bedwei&qid=1658310855&s=digital-text&sr=1-1