Breaking the glass ceiling
Emma Miloyo is Keya’s first female architect. She graduated from Jomo Kenyatta University and went on to design high-profile buildings. She also happens to be also the first female president of the Architectural Association of Kenya.
Transcript
00:00 Even though the goals are lofty, for Emma Miloyu, there has never been an obstacle she hasn't overcome.
00:07 It's really a male-dominated field and many times you're the only woman on the construction site.
00:12 And you really have to be assertive, be confident of who you are, understand that you have the knowledge and you're able to execute.
00:20 She is Kenya's first female architect, graduating from the Jomo Kenyatta University to build high-profile buildings, a very rare case still.
00:29 Nairobi's Upper Hill area is home to some of the most spectacular architectural designs in Kenya.
00:39 And breaking the glass ceiling as the top telly is Emma Miloyu.
00:44 I'm an architect and I happen to also be the first female president of the Architectural Association of Kenya.
00:51 Emma Miloyu knew she wanted to be an architect from a young age, but she realised that to achieve her dream, she would have to work harder than her peers.
01:01 That meant kicking off her career by being the first woman to graduate from Jomo Kenyatta University of Technology with a first-class degree in architecture.
01:11 I loved my art lessons and I was very creative as a child and I happened to also have a very good art teacher in my high school who sort of mentored me and that's how I found myself in architecture.
01:23 But at the time when I was getting to university, it was still very much a male-dominated field.
01:29 In some ways it still is, but at least at the academic level now there's a big shift.
01:34 I did not intentionally start out wanting to be the first female president or the like. I got in just wanting to make a change.
01:42 Then at one point I was there at the doorstep of being the first female president of the Architectural Association of Kenya and I realised it was an opportunity not only for me, but for all the other women who looked up to me.
01:55 And I said I had no choice almost in that point that I had to break that glass ceiling.
02:00 Emma Miloyo's successes are hard won. Architecture in Kenya is still very much a male-dominated field, which means getting access, respect and recognition as a woman is that much harder.
02:14 So today we're at the Africama House, which is the headquarters of the Jesuits in Africa. And it's a building that's very dear to me because it's a building that really encompasses what sustainability means.
02:30 So we gave the brief to Emma. We were looking for a place that was largely self-reliant in terms of power, water, recycling.
02:42 And if you walk through the building, and I'm sure you can see how bright a building it is, from a working point of view that we would see each other working.
02:51 There were no self-contained offices. And from a working point of view, it represented a huge step forward for us where we had previously been in three separate parts of Nairobi.
03:00 The response from those who come here is nearly always very, very positive.
03:06 They enjoy the building. They enjoy the grounds. And for us too, the surroundings of the building were an important part of what we put together.
03:15 I think between ourselves and Emma, I think we accomplished it very, very well. I think it was a good working partnership.
03:23 Emma Miloyu has not let her gender or access to opportunities limit her.
03:36 In 2016, Architect.com named her among five emerging female architects in East Africa.
03:44 In 2018, I was named a top 40 under 40. I'm not under 40 anymore, despite the look.
03:51 Anyway, yeah, and I think that was just, you know, about the leadership roles that I had taken up. I think that was a big, it was a big deal.
04:01 The fact that I've inspired many other female architects and female leaders to come up through the ranks, a big legacy for me.
04:08 I think it's, like I said, success is not measured by what I have achieved and shouldn't be measured by what people individually achieve,
04:15 but the legacy that you leave behind and the impact that you have on other people.
04:19 So as you can see, I'm very proud when I see young women coming up in the field and being able to mentor them and be a role model to them.
04:26 It's really, really fantastic.
04:29 As more women enter and excel in male-dominated spaces, as Emma Miloyo raises to even greater heights, she shows that anything is possible for anyone.
04:40 [Music]