For 13 years in STEM advocacy working at the intersection of technology and human rights, Sophie Ngassa has been passionately teaching girls in Cameroon digital skills through project-based and mentoring programs to bridge the gender tech gap and is a pioneer Digital Rights Advocate fighting against the internet shutdown in Africa.

As a 2014 TECHWOMEN fellow, a US-based and funded leadership and mentoring program aimed at building the next-generation capacities in STEM for women and girls, she has been instrumental in identifying and developing methods of academic instruction and evaluation focusing on skills and talents for an entire network of educators in Cameroon including Instructional Technology for Distance Education during emergencies.

As founder of the Center for Youth Education and Economic Development (CYEED), Sophie champions ICT capacity building for youth, digital literacy, mentorship programs, and advocacy campaigns to encourage girls to pursue STEM careers.

As a result of experiencing two unprecedented internet outages in the Northwest and Southwest Regions of Cameroon in 2017, she has become more engaged in advocating for internet rights in Cameroon and Africa; and spends time engaging government officials and stakeholders to resolve internet connectivity issues.

Her strong advocacy for a free and open Internet during the Cameroonian Internet shutdown of 2017 and building capacity to resist Internet shutdowns has earned her an enviable reputation as a frontline Digital Rights Advocate. Several publications have shared her real-time experiences with internet blackouts in Cameroon, including Slate, AccessNow, and World Pulse.

Sophie has a strong voice fighting against the internet being shut down, especially during socio-political crises, and advocating for free and open internet through the Digital Rights Coalition she co-founded.

In 2019, she participated in the 7th African School on Internet Governance (AfriSIG) (N’Djamena, Tchad) and she also contributed to the AfriSIG2019 Practicum Output Document: An African Perspective on an Architecture for Global Digital Cooperation, 9 September 2019.

She is an AFRINIC-29 Fellow in Tunis (Tunisia), and in 2019, she joined the Board of the Internet Society (ISOC) Cameroon Chapter as a secretary and also volunteered as the coordinator of the National Internet Governance Forum (IGF Cameroon) 2021.

She dreams of a world with equal access to the internet and all the opportunities it provides. Recently her stories about her sad experiences during the internet blackout were published in Slate magazine, the AccessNow website, and the World Pulse platform amongst others.

https://slate.com/technology/2017/08/the-damage-caused-by-cameroon-s-93…

https://www.worldpulse.com/voices-rising/stories/cameroon-internet-blac…

Sophie cares about women and girls' safety and protection online and trains digital safety and security skills, grassroots community leaders, and students. She is a SOC Analyst and incident reporter and teaches cybersecurity awareness to frontline female peace builders and advocates during the ongoing Anglophone crisis in Cameroon.

She recently participated in the 17th Internet Governance Forum (IGF2022) session in Ethiopia, Addis Ababa. She was one of the panelists for the IGF Women summits organized by the Women Tech Policy Hub where she talked about Tech Innovation and Justice.