, and improving electricity access simultaneously. Started in 2015, WISEe leads technical PV training, hands-on installation, and entrepreneurship guidance for Kenyan women entering the renewable industry. Based out of Nairobi, they are looking to spread to all counties in Kenya and have led Solar Pump Irrigation System training in Malawi, Ghana, Uganda, and Kenya. Since their founding they have completed 29 trainings and reached over 880 trainees.
The success of WISEe is due, at least in part, to the fact that both the trainers and the trainees are women. Catherine Nyambala, co-founder of WISEe, emphasized that this allowed women to take full advantage of the hands-on training. “Women only classes because after being in a class full of men for five years I felt like I couldn’t touch the panel, in womens only classes everyone works together. They are very collaborative and everyone gets hands- on experience.
Nyambala made it clear that WISEe has been made possible due to the work of its partners. For PV training and installations, WISEe has partnered with Remote Energy, a US based non-profit that leads PV training and mentorship programs across the world. WISEe has also partnered with Strathmore University and We Share Solar to further expand its ourtreach.
In conversation with Jedidah Kaseva, a WISEe trainee who is now working in e-mobility, it became clear that people who complete training find themselves part of a community. Kaseva emphasized that WISEe has allowed women who previously had no affiliation with renewable energy to enter the clean energy work force. WISEe not only helped her enter the renewable industry, but has encouraged her to seek advancement.