Change Makers What motivated you to become an advocate for Internet freedom in Africa, and how did you get started? What progress have you seen in the expansion of Internet freedom in Africa over the past ten years? I ended up in this field just by default. I had worked as a media personality and supported communities to develop community radio stations and resource centres in East Africa. The work entailed resource mobilisation, programme design, capacity building, and lobbying and advocacy for community broadcasting to be recognised as a third sector in broadcasting. These efforts paid off, and I took a sabbatical and went to the University of Maryland, US as a Humprey Fulbright Fellow. Over the past ten years, there has been a tremendous increase in Africa's access to the Internet. There are more populations with mobile phones. Mobile phones have allowed more people to access the Internet. In addition, the emergence of mobile money has been a game changer in that ordinary people are now transacting through mobile money and getting financially empowered through loans and ownership of bank accounts by unbanked populations. When I returned home, I felt I was at a crossroad in that I wanted new challenges but wasn't sure what they were or what they would look like. And so, I started chatting with people and signalling my availability for conferences, meetings, or part-time gigs. It was around this time that the then-founding Convenor of KICTANet, Alice Munyua, invited me to participate in a study titled "Women and the Dark Side of ICTs." I was familiar with KICTANet and had occasionally attended events, but I was not exactly involved. I accepted the invitation to participate in the study and, from then on, took time to learn the issues in ICT through undertaking courses offered by Diplo and the Central European University. Other areas have been the emergence of social media, which has allowed unprecedented expression by citizens on various issues. In addition, the media and government have communication channels on different social media handles, through which they articulate issues for the public that may have been missed by the traditional media channels. In addition, the development and protection of ICT infrastructure is now key since governments have moved several services online and the public is increasingly using online services. Also, the different stakeholders, from government and businesses to civil society, are now accepting the need to embrace multistakeholder approaches, particularly when it comes to ICT policies. I am inspired by KICTANet's work, which has significantly shaped ICT policies and regulations in Kenya. My work with KICTANet has greatly contributed to the promotion of digital rights in Kenya through policy advocacy, awareness campaigns, capacity building, and public participation in the policy-making process. 24 A CIPESA Series