Driven by her innate love for science and technology, Danielle Mullings recounts fond memories of teaching herself how to use platforms like Microsoft to challenge the limits of what was already familiar to her. Danielle believes strongly in the power of tech and innovation in edifying society and identifies this as a critical driving force for her passion for tech .

Marrying her love for technology and the arts, Mullings is a The University of the West Indies (UWI) Open Scholar studying for a BSc in software engineering with a minor in film studies. Her dynamism currently finds her as the UWI Mona Guild President, youth leader, television host/producer and partnership and campaign officer for Transform Health. “Transform Health is a global coalition that advocates for the use of digital technologies as a catalyst for achieving global health coverage by 2030,” Mullings noted. In her capacity as partnership and campaign officer at Transform Health, Mullings is looking forward to establishing more national coalitions in Indonesia, Ecuador, Kenya, and India to influence policies from a local to government level.

Exciting for Mullings is the opportunity to be working with youth groups for other key digital health initiatives, including the Governing Health Futures 2030 operated by the Lancet and Financial Times commission. In this capacity, Mullings has found herself speaking at the PMNCH’s Lives In The Balance summit global event, as a guest speaker alongside the World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. She used the platform to share the youth’s perspective, mainly Caribbean nationals, on optimising health care systems against the backdrop of both the COVID-19 pandemic and the current global technological revolution.

A champion for advocacy, Mullings was also recognised as one of the Young Experts in Tech for Health in the Americas Region. In addition, Mullings was also a UNICEF U-Report Jamaica ambassador. She and her team worked assiduously to begin the development of a mental health chatline, which was recently launched in March of this year. As UWI Mona Guild president, Mullings has led fund-raising campaigns geared towards providing access to laptops for students on campus and teaching students about the opportunities in the technology industry.

During the onset of the novel coronavirus pandemic, Mullings was involved in training secondary level teachers on how to use digital devices such as laptops and tablets and online streaming platforms. From this experience she gained insights into the digital literacy gap for both students and teachers. She, therefore, regards digital literacy as a fundamental approach to ensuring that Jamaica becomes a digital society. Mullings also emphasised that gaining access to hardware devices is crucial, and lobbying for lower import fees is critical to gaining wide-scale access to the devices sustained by stable and secure internet access.

She is excited to be a woman in tech because it gives her the leverage to use her influence and impact to contribute to her community and the wider society. Mullings credits her involvement in initiatives such as Youth Can Do IT and mentorship for the early success she has experienced. She is keen on ensuring that she also mentors the up and coming generation and connects them with opportunities to build their capacity.

In the coming months, Mullings is looking forward to sharing thought leadership insights through publications aimed at the growth and development of the industry. Mullings focuses on partnering with local bodies to continue to advocate for health initiatives in Jamaica through technology.

Ultimately, Mullings is committed to encouraging young people to believe in themselves. She also believes that she can influence the equal representation of minorities in the technology space through her work as she aspires to become a world leader in technological representation for the Caribbean and Latin America, focusing on enhancing the Caribbean’s pursuit of the sustainable development goals such as SDG 3 Good Health and Well-being.