Teaming Up With Women And Drones To Strengthen Women Leadership In Africa

Women and Drones—the leading membership organization dedicated to driving excellence in drone- and -air mobility-related industries by achieving equity and participation of women in all disciplines and across all employment sectors—Flying Labs and WeRobotics have many things in common. 

After being honored by Women and Drones last October with the Global Ambassador Award, we started discussing how we can more formally join forces to strengthen women's leadership in our sector. This is a cause that lies at the hearts of both our organizations, seen the sad facts our sector is facing:

1. Women are heavily underrepresented in the drone industry. This study shows that women only represent a meager 13 percent of the industry’s workforce.
2. The same study shows that within these already unfortunate 13 percent, female representation is even lower in technical and leadership positions as women tend to occupy a higher percentage in roles such as human resources, marketing, and “other.”

One element we did not have in common until recently was a regional focus on continents in which both the Flying Labs Network and Women and Drones are active. However, after Women and Drones recently launched “W&D Africa,” its first international chapter in Africa, all was now aligned for us to combine our forces and engage in a formal partnership.

"We are excited about the opportunity to collaborate with WeRobotics. Our joint efforts will strengthen our ability to fuel the growth of women in the African Drone Industry," explained Women and Drones CEO and founder Sharon Rossmark. “I am looking forward to the new partnership with WeRobotics bringing more opportunities for inspiring girls and women to become a part of or to benefit directly from this exciting and innovative industry,” adds Louise Jupp, Advisor to Women and Drones for Women and Drones Africa.

We are excited about the opportunity to collaborate with WeRobotics. Our joint efforts will strengthen our ability to fuel the growth of women in the African Drone Industry.

And Sonja Betschart, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of WeRobotics, says, “While many talented women already lead impactful social drone applications and trainings in their countries and local communities, joining forces between Women and Drones’ African chapter, the 15+ Flying Labs in Africa and WeRobotics will further strengthen drone capacity on the continent and create new opportunities.”

We will initiate activities and collaborations such as joint webinars, discussion groups, articles, and public knowledge items to help grow the number of active women drone leaders in Africa through this partnership. We also want to jointly fundraise and implement youth programs and support each other’s organizations with opportunities for leading African female experts.

We very much look forward to organizing our first joint activities this fall. If you are interested to learn more about our partnership and get actively involved, please reach out to either W&D Africa or WeRobotics.