Nnenna Nwakanma is the Chief Web Advocate at the World Wide Web Foundation. 

She is also a Nigerian FOSS activist, community organiser, co-founder of the Free Software and Open Source Foundation for Africa. In 2018, she was chosen as one of the 100 most influential people in the world in the field of digital government and has over 15 years of experience working with the UN in areas such as the information society, gender and digital equality.

In this episode, we learn about what it was like growing up in Nigeria - and why she wasn’t even given a name for the first 3 months of her life because of her gender! - how she became one of the very first to use the internet in Africa, why she views the internet as a tool for social justice, how she has learned to walk with her adversaries (as Mandela used to say), and what drives her to create an internet that is free and open to all.  

Highlights:

• 2:40 Why Nnenna was born & not given a name for the first 3 months of her life
• 4:43 Being human is enough
• 7:21 “Nnenna from the Internet”
• 8:57 Being one of the first Africans to be exposed to the internet
• 12:08 Use of the internet in African villages
• 16:44 Being a FOSS activist & walking with your adversaries
• 18:31 Attitudes are like ass holes
• 22:39 The mission of the World Wide Web Foundation
• 25:01 Running the global coalition, the Web We Want
• 28:39 Backstory to Brazil’s Internet Bill of Rights (first in the world)
• 32:56 How close are we to an open and free internet for all?

📍Show notes: www.sothisismywhy.com/69              

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