Impact Stories

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  Fellow(s): Olamide (Mide) Ayeni

  Country: Nigeria

  Region: SSA

  Cohort: 2017

  Project/Action: Fellow awarded grants for recycled furniture initiative

  Policy Area(s): Empowering Women and Girls, Professional Growth

  Fellow Mide Ayeni (2017) of Nigeria was recently awarded two grants to further her work: a Ford Foundation grant and a U.S. Department of State federal assistance award. Mide is the founder of Pearl Recycling, a social enterprise that transforms raw and recycled materials such as tires, bottles and plastics into furniture and art.

  Mide’s Ford Foundation grant will be used to train 100 young women in Lagos in furniture making. With her award from the U.S. government, she will equip 20 Nigerian public schools with 400 ergonomic classroom chairs made from recycled materials and will train 800 students on waste reuse in Lagos.

  Through her trainings, Mide hopes to reduce unemployment, re-purpose waste and reinvigorate the local economy.

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  Report Date: 8/6/2018

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  Fellow(s): Samia Elhanchi

  Country: Morocco

  Region: MENA

  Cohort: 2017

  Project/Action: Fellow shares perspectives with recent engineering graduates

  Policy Area(s): Education Diplomacy/Mentoring, Professional Growth

  2017 fellow of Morocco Samia Elhanchi spoke to recent engineering graduates at Career Bootcamp [website in French], an annual gathering of engineers in Morocco. The event, organized by the Engineers Forum Association, brought together 50 recent engineering graduates and experts in the field for a week of training, conferences and workshops. Experts shared their knowledge and best practices, guiding the recent graduates on their career choices and encouraging knowledge sharing. Samia is a senior project and portfolio manager at Orange Morocco.

  In her address, Samia shared lessons learned throughout 20 years in the industry, outlining her career journey, her academic achievements and the difficult decisions she made balancing professional and personal goals. Joined on stage by her husband, also an engineer, Samia spoke about how teamwork and mutual support of each other’s ambition aided their professional success. She concluded by stressing the importance of lifelong learning, reflecting on her TechWomen experience and the impact of networking, mentorship and community involvement.

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  Report Date: 8/6/2018