Connecting designers across Africa during COVID-19 🇰🇪Lewis Kang'ethe, The Fearless Community - a podcast by Bailey Richardson, Kevin Huynh, People & Company, Kai Elmer Sotto, Maggie Zhang, Mia Quagliarello

“Let's bring designers together and first talk about your wellbeing. Then let's talk about the next steps forward for you as a designer.” -  Lewis Kang'ethe

Lewis Kang'ethe was first championed as a community leader in primary school when his teacher asked him to spearhead the mathematics club. When the teacher asks, the answer is either, “yes or yes.” 

Now, Lewis works as a product designer in Kenya. When he’s looking for jobs outside of Africa he often gets asked the question, “are you qualified?” Lewis started the African chapter of The Fearless Community so that designers in Africa can tell their stories. It’s a place for designers like Lewis to find work and a network. 

Members from around the world convene in local Slack channels and attend video podcast series with veteran designers. When COVID-19 became a threat, they launched the #StayConnected series first to talk about their wellbeing and then, the next steps forward for their members as designers. 

Lewis takes a “servant” leadership approach to his role as community lead in Africa. We talked with him about the attention to details when connecting people across cultures and how the community has adjusted to online meetups.

Highlights, inspiration, & key learnings:

• You can’t fake the funk.
• Getting started. Reaching out to potential members on portfolio websites.
• Bridging the gap. Connecting people across cultures.
• Virtual meetups. Leaning into playfulness and fun of being a designer.
• Servant leadership. Building with and in service of the community members.

👋🏻 Say hi to Lewis Kang'ethe and learn more about The Fearless Community.

✨ Thank you to Whitney Ogutu, “Get Together” correspondent, for bringing the story to us.

📄 See the full transcript

This podcast was created by the team at People & Company. 

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We published GET TOGETHER📙, a handbook on community-building. 

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