Meet Orbit Community Program Ambassadors

Though geographically distant, Berlin, Dar es Salaam, Lagos, and Nairobi, are cities unified through the Filecoin Orbit Community Program, a program powered by Filecoin Foundation and Protocol Labs to amplify the voice of the Filecoin, IPFS, and libp2p communities.

Filecoin Orbit Ambassadors work to organize events, create content around their work, and activate their local communities to ensure that anyone ready to get involved with the Filecoin network has access to educational resources and support to thrive. In just 4 months, our Filecoin Orbit Community members organized 20 events and 3 conferences in 12 cities, totaling over 3,000 participants.

Here are several stories from Filecoin Orbit Ambassadors including what they do in the community, how they got started in Web3, and where you can get started when you’re ready to join the Filecoin Community.

Leading the Next Generation of Learning, Brian Ahimbisibwe

Brian Ahimbisibwe’s interest with crypto can be traced all the way back to his experience as an economics teacher. Through studying its market cycles, he found his roots in blockchain.

“For me, blockchain quickly evolved into a passion — learning more about how it can help solve real-world problems,” he said. “Take banking, for example. Current traditional challenges in the banking system in some countries in Africa mean that many people are unbanked”

“I’m passionate about raising awareness for and driving adoption of blockchain technologies. With my education in economics and experience teaching, I just knew I had to jump in and help people understand the real-world use cases that these technologies power.”

Community connection is key to Web3, and that extends to the way we talk about it and involve new members. For Brian, this rings especially true, as he views it as an opportunity to help educate others and bring clarity to the topic of blockchain.

“Hosting a hackathon here in Africa would be a huge milestone. For now, my emphasis is on awareness and adoption, but adoption and additional learning by creating awareness. To me, this would look like having active communities in different universities.”

Head over to the Orbit Uganda Meetup Group for details on upcoming events, and follow Orbit Uganda Twitter for the latest developments in the Ugandan Filecoin Community. Follow Brian on Twitter to keep up with his work in the Filecoin Community.

Creating Stronger Bonds through Filecoin, Chukwuemeka Enoch Mbaebie — ETH Nigeria

Chukwuemeka Enoch Mbaebie is a software developer, alumni of the Ethereum Foundation’s Devcon, and a member of ETH Nigeria. For Enoch, the Filecoin Orbit Community Program opened up the opportunity to meld his passion for advocacy with his professional skill set.

“When the Orbit Community Program launched, it was an easy decision to get involved. I like sharing my knowledge and telling people about new technologies — attendees write about them and have business opportunities coming out of these conferences.”

Less than two years after becoming involved in the blockchain space, Enoch is helping to build it and working to get more people involved in Web3 through the Filecoin Orbit Community Program.

“Recently, I had the opportunity to host a conference, and it was a huge opportunity for Nigerians from my local community to learn about decentralized technology and connect directly with advocates and builders in the Filecoin ecosystem.”

Storage Provider Meetups, Conferences, and FIL Lagos are crafting new possibilities in Lagos, FIL Lagos alone drew over 1,000 attendees in person and online. And Enoch sees more opportunities ahead, including events that will help grow the West African Filecoin community.

Explore the Orbit Nigeria Meetup Group page and ETH Nigeria Twitter for details on upcoming events, and follow Enoch on Medium to keep up with his work in the Filecoin Community.

Building The Future of Decentralized Markets, Timo Lee — Secured Finance

Timo Lee, a Berlin-based Community Lead for Secured Finance, is helping spur financial innovation in the Filecoin community. An early follower of IPFS technology, he’s driven to help provide access to the emerging financial markets and business opportunities in crypto.

“I used to be a mechanical engineer in the German automotive industry. Back in 2018, I met the IPFS core developers. They were talking about IPFS protocol specs, peer-to-peer, and super fundamental things. That was a turning point for me — I really saw what the next generation web would look like, and it was exciting.”

Timo sees the Filecoin Orbit Community Program as a crucial opportunity to provide education in the Web3 space. As the Filecoin network continues to grow, so do the opportunities for new markets to come into Web3 for the first time.

“I have been to many hackathons, and there are lots of developers building NFTs on top of IPFS. This is just one use case — for any storage-related project, you can build on top of IPFS and Filecoin. And, with the Filecoin Virtual Machine (FVM) launching soon, there will be increasing traction in the corporate communities.”

Secured Finance is aiming to build robust financial and crypto finance markets and key business collateral management building a yield curve for cryptocurrencies. Learn more about Secured Finance here, and follow Timo on Twitter and LinkedIn for news about upcoming Orbit events to get involved in.

Advocating Filecoin Developer Success, Allan Mang’eni — Wengi Web

Allan Mang’eni is an experienced software developer and developer advocate at Wengi Web hailing from Nairobi, Kenya. His experience with the Filecoin project has been one of opportunity and possibility.

As a developer, there are many factors to consider when planning a new project, and IPFS’ unique infrastructure gave Allan a sound foundation on which to build.

“IPFS is a gamechanger for development. Peer-to-peer networks allow speed and reliability that isn’t possible with HTTPS. For files like NFTs, this is a huge utility.”

Developing the next generation of applications is only one part of Allan’s work. As an Orbit Ambassador, he’s able to give back to the Web3 community and contribute to its growth, and he has several personal goals as a Filecoin Orbit Ambassador.

“One [goal] is to grow the local Filecoin community. Another is to work towards having a storage provider network in my country. The third goal is to advocate for using renewable energy to provide Filecoin storage. And finally, I’m passionate about working with local authorities to help educate about Bitcoin, Filecoin, and other projects in the Web3 space.”

Wengi Web is a blockchain research and education company fueling the next generation of developer innovation at Filecoin. Head over to their website to learn more.

Get involved by checking out the Orbit Kenya Meetup Group page and Twitterfor details on the next gathering and registration information.

Activating the Filecoin Community, Martin Silvester Kyanja

Martin Silvester has a background in creative marketing and digital marketing Strategy. His connection to the African tech community, curiosity about the next phase of the internet, and his desire to help others learn led him to the Filecoin Orbit Community Program.

Through these events, Martin got to witness the excitement and enthusiasm for the network firsthand. In just a handful of months, he’s watched the digital landscape rapidly shift toward new economic opportunities in the growing African tech community.

As the Filecoin network continues to expand, he believes that it can benefit everybody, and that web3 education represents a fresh opportunity to get more African countries involved in its long-term development.

“I want to see the local Filecoin community grow — more Ambassadors in my region and events in different cities. The most important part is in the sharing of education and increasing access to knowledge about IPFS and Filecoin, because at the end of the day, growth and opportunity begins with education. “

Head over to the Orbit Tanzania Meetup Group for details on upcoming events, and follow Orbit Tanzania Twitter for the latest developments in the local community. Follow Martin on Twitter to keep up with his work in the Filecoin Community.

Get Started With Filecoin

Joining the Filecoin community is easy and has a place for everyone of all interests, backgrounds, and skill sets. Follow Filecoin and Filecoin Foundationon Twitter to stay up to date on the latest information, then join the conversation on Slack.

Want to dive deeper? Get involved with the specialized Filecoin groups and teams below to help you take your next steps into the community. Join the second cohort of Orbit Ambassadors here, and subscribe to the Filecoin Community Calendar to stay up to date on our community events.