Meeting Bren on Twitter in 2022 and joining the first fellowship cohort in 2023 was one of the most pivotal moments in my professional journey.
What started as a fellowship quickly evolved into a multi-year mentorship. Since 2023, Bren has been far more than an organizer—she has been a reliable confidant, a steady sounding board, and a consistent champion of my growth as a software engineer.

The 2026 fellowship has reinforced her transformative guidance. It goes beyond social skills and challenges you to look inward. From mastering emotional intelligence in high-stakes conversations to applying structured, data-driven decision-making, the program develops well-rounded, equity-centered technical and social leaders.

My only regret is having not discovered this gem earlier.
I am deeply grateful to Bren for her unwavering support over the years, and I am genuinely excited for the journey ahead.

I have been following Bren for years, first on Twitter and later through the LearnWithBren village on Telegram, and I am a beneficiary of what happens when someone decides to give back: to share knowledge and pour into people so generously.

​This year, I became part of the LearnWithBren Inaugural Fellowship, and I am not leaving the same person I entered. We are taught, mentored, refined, challenged, and pushed to become better versions of ourselves. From mindset shifts to the use of AI, data analytics, personal branding, systems thinking, and project management, we have been exposed to so much. Week after week, our confidence grows.

​I will not lie: I came into this fellowship with my confidence beaten down by the many rejections I had faced from scholarship and job applications. I had so many questions about what I was doing, where I was going, and whether I was even on the right path. So it made perfect sense that one of the first things Bren emphasised was moving from a fixed mindset to a growth mindset. I have locked into that growth mindset, and I can feel the shift in how I see things now.

​Bren is one of the funniest people I have encountered, but she is also incredibly disciplined and consistent. Through this fellowship, she has taught us to bring that same intentionality into our own lives. The fellowship has pushed me to realise that I am in the driver's seat of my own life. As my people will say in pidgin language, “na me hold knife, na me hold yam, I fit decide how I wan cut the yam.” I have learnt to take the reins in deciding my destiny, to stop justifying inaction with excuses, to make decisions, take steps, and be accountable for where I am going. I have also always been very shy about visibility; putting myself out there, sharing my thoughts, and allowing people to see my work has always felt uncomfortable, but after our session on personal branding, I wrote my first article on LinkedIn. Before this fellowship, I probably would have come up with a million reasons why I couldn't do it. That is one of the things I appreciate most about this fellowship: Bren doesn't just teach you things. She teaches you to apply what you learn to everything you do, from career to everyday life. There is always a little voice in my head now saying, “You learnt this, remember? Now go and apply it.” She breaks down the most complex things into rudiments, draws from the lived experiences of her own life, and makes you believe that if she can do it, you can definitely do it too.

During the fellowship, I developed a solid project proposal with my accountability partner, something I did not have the confidence or clarity to do before. Then there are the reflection exercises. Bren makes you sit with yourself. Think. Question yourself. Look inward. She makes you sit back and think about questions you had never asked yourself before. It is like holding a mirror and being forced to be honest with yourself, and when you submit those reflections, her feedback is priceless and affirming, because someone sees you and is committed to helping you grow.

​Bren, you are a gift to the world—a gift to us.

​I am so grateful that my journey brought me into this fellowship. I came in feeling uncertain, but I am leaving with more clarity than I have had in a very long time, and the biggest thing I have gained is not just new skills or knowledge or a sense of community, but also a renewed belief in myself and in what I am capable of becoming. I feel like that audacious girl I thought was lost to me forever. For that, I am deeply grateful.

Thank you, LearnwithBren, for giving back so generously. Thank you for sharing your knowledge. Thank you for pushing us when we need it, believing in us when we struggle to believe in ourselves, and creating a space where growth is something we tangibly experience.

I am incredibly grateful, honoured, and proud to be part of the LearnWithBren fellowship, and I cannot wait to see who we all become from here. Thank you so much.

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I was privileged to have been nominated for the LearnWithBren fellowship and it has been very impactful. The program focused on three areas which build on each other- personal growth and
leadership, professional development, and making an impact.

One of the things I appreciate most about the fellowship is how practical and intentional the learning experience is. The practical assignments and reflections exercise encouraged me to think differently, and apply what I was learning. It also challenged me to step outside my comfort zone. While some of those challenges weren't always easy, they ultimately helped me recognize areas where I needed to improve and pushed me to become better.

Brenda is truly a leader who embodies what she teaches. She genuinely cares about seeing her mentees succeed and is ready to go the extra mile to help them achieve that. Her kind but firm approach will keep you on your toes.

Thank you Bren, for sharing your limited time and your wealth of knowledge and experience through the fellowship. Your passion, authenticity, humility and strong sense of self really radiates through.