Reimagining the culture of the tech community

My name is Kaeya Jasani and I attend North Sydney Girls High School. My friend and I decided to become Digital Mentors at the end of Year 9, hoping to make a difference in our society by providing education about technology to help people who struggle with understanding how it works. Despite not requiring volunteer hours, I thought it would be a lovely opportunity to interact with older generations of our community and so far it has been! I never could have imagined the connections we have made, and how much I got to know about others. Personally, I never realised how hard it may be for people who haven't grown up with technology all around them. After helping many people with all forms of technology I realised that I was making a change (even as just a student) and that it was greatly appreciated. This program is an outstanding initiative that will help so many people around New South Wales and I am so grateful to be a part of it. Becoming a digital mentor has been very fun so far and I am looking forward to continuing, and teaching and learning things from everyone!

Hello! My name is Aditya, and I am a Digital Mentor. Being a Digital Mentor is amazing, you get to help so many people around you and give back to the community. You help people 65+ years of age understand the very complicated new world of technology, an experience they have not yet been able to have. It is truly a rewarding experience that allows you to build strong friendships with your mentees, and you get to build bonds based on respect and mutual admiration (just remember to bring the cookies and tea)! My digital mentee is my grandmother, and she is a lovely person to teach. She trusts my guidance and it is awesome to see her learning all these new things like using the search bar, Youtube and Gmail. Not only that, but I have come to grow closer to my grandmother, with us spending just 30 minutes together every week. Not only is it an amazing opportunity to help people around you, but you can also just enlist your grandparents (with their permission of course), and just teach them the basics of technology!

Anisha is an experienced tech support and security specialist. She has completed and trained as a volunteer at the hospital and particularly loves working with our hospital iPad patients.

Betty is a Software Engineer and spends her days working on user interface designs for her clients at SSW. Betty used to work for I.T. Lady and continues to support our hospital and digital mentor programs because of her love of sharing technology with others.

Eula works at Peppermint iT and utilises her love of technology to volunteer for I.T. Lady Digital Mentor and hospital programs. Eula runs training courses with Digital Mentors and helps with all the important admin on the back end.

Helen has over 40 years experience working as a biology and science teacher. She has worked for Australian Computer Society working on creating high school exam papers and is instrumental in establishing I.T. Lady Connect as a charity.