Cikay: Treating people fairly key to career advancement

Dar es Salaam. Cikay Richards is the Chief Executive Officer of Lyra in Africa and the founder and partner of Rehoboth Advisory Services.Her career journey began as a Project Manager at the European Centre for Telecommunications Research (now the CONNECT Centre for Future Networks and Telecommunications Research) at the internationally renowned Trinity College Dublin, one of Ireland’s most successful university research centres.Her role involved dealing with client relations management, events management, and acting as a central liaison for newly inducted staff and research students. She also coordinated the preparation of reports and other management information and documents for the department.Lyra in Africa is a dedicated non-governmental organisation committed to realising economically sustainable and vibrant communities in rural Tanzania, guided by key cross-cutting thematic areas of gender equality, climate change, and equity for people with disabilities.Lyra in Africa envisions a future where every individual in rural Tanzania has access to opportunities that enable them to thrive economically. We believe that economic sustainability is not only essential for individual well-being but also for the overall prosperity and development of communities.Cikay said that through Lyra in Africa, she has learnt a lot and seen how people’s lives are being transformed through the support of the organization. She has learnt about the challenges students go through, including walking a long distance to and from school, not having enough learning materials, including not having adequate sanitary pads, to name a few.At Lyra, they are also educating students about period poverty and a way of making sure sanitary pads are made available. Lyra is also availing the opportunity of learning through information technology by donating computers to rural schools.“Lyra Africa has been able to support rural schools by donating 9 computer labs each with 33 computers, and we have been able to build hostels to accommodate girls who have long distances to walk to and from school,” she said.The hostels accommodate girls from wide rural areas (where secondary schools serve villages up to 30 km apart), who can attend secondary school safely and complete their secondary education.Lyra works with the local government, and together they have built 14 hostels in the Iringa Region and has started the construction of 15 hostels in 2023.She said she learned a lot while there. Working with various institutional leaders she has had the opportunity be mentored. This mentorship has helped her excel into who she is. She recognizes the importance of mentorship, and she is calling for more leaders to do mentorship for young people.“I would have a face-to-face chat with my boss, who would ask about my progress. She would ask if we needed help, and she taught me a lot of different things, including things related to personal life,” said Cikay. She is currently identified as an influential figure in the business community in Africa and Europe, a woman leader, and a farmer who has failed so many times in some of her agricultural projects.“Lack of understanding of market trends made me fail many times in some agricultural projects. I learned a lot from failing after knowing what it means to fail, and now the lessons gained from the failure are teachings to me and other people on how not to fail,” said Cikay.  Previously, she farmed pineapples and cassava, sold vegetables, kept bees, and also went on poultry keeping.She said her career journey is backed up by not staying in her comfort zone and facing whatever fear is in front of her in order to survive. Waking up, dressing, and showing up to opportunities have made her where she is today.“Knowing how to deal with different challenges that many are facing in their career progress is key. Learning is a lifelong process. Being able to avoid second-guessing has been my area of strength.  As a way of giving back to the community, she is also mentoring other people now. She said youths lack soft skills, and these skills are very important for people to succeed in their career journey.Explaining on how she gets people to mentor, she said that some of them approach her and some of them she approaches them herself. However, she only mentors people who are ready to listen and follow what they have been supported with.She said women go through different situations like gender-based violence, gender inequality, and unequal pay, to mention a few, which are barriers driven by some cultural backgrounds. These situations are of great concern leaving women struggling to rise.As the CEO, her role includes fostering key relationships with stakeholders and donors, applying her expertise in strategic leadership, government relations, policy compliance, programme implementation, and financial oversight, ensuring organisational integrity and effectiveness, and serving as a transparent and effective liaison to the Board of Trustees.While still a student, Cikay also worked as a portfolio assistant manager at The One Foundation, where she designed and developed a €1 million scholarship fund for separated children seeking asylum. This led to the award of over 40 third-level scholarships to young migrants during the 2010–2014 period.She said she started with research and what it takes, and then she went ahead with her task. She is happy that she was able to make a change in people’s lives through the scholarship, and until today she still gets feedback.Commenting on how she strikes a balance between her career life and her persona, she said that family comes first. she thinks there is no a perfect balance as a working mother. But she lists her work and priotize what comes first and what follows.She previously worked with Ernest and Young as a Manager in Switzerland where she excelled in creating lasting relationships, navigating new terrains and strategy development. With her guiding principle and treating people fairly and being good to the people around her. Treating people fairly avoids toxic working environment and avoid mental health challenges at the work place something which is underplayed in most of the work places.“When you treat people good will help people deliver as they feel valued. You are also creating a friendly environment of working while enjoying what you do. As a leader you need to be kind to everyone as you don’t know what people are going through,” said, Cikay.As Executive Director of the European Business Group Tanzania (EUBG), she successfully executed EUBG’s turnaround which created a platform that fosters the expansion of trade between Tanzania and Europe.Her work bridged the private and public sectors and involved regular contacts with upcoming investors, members of the diplomatic core, and senior Government officials, as well as with the members of the EUBG network.Cikay’s first professional role in Tanzania was as Head of Operations and Administration at Architectural Pioneering Consultants, where her responsibilities ranged from managing operations, finance and HR to running tenders that resulted into execution of multi-million-dollar projects.In 2018 Cikay was awarded for creativity and innovation in revamping the Embassy’s scholarship programme and in 2021 she was recognized in top 50 Women in Management Africa.Cikay has an M. Phil. from Trinity College Dublin in International Peace Studies, a BA in International Relations from Dublin City University, an Advanced Diploma and an IPMA in Project Management from the prestigious Institute of Project Management in Ireland.