Learn about TechWomen’s expansion to Chicago!

TechWomenTechWomen

TechWomen is an Initiative of the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs

  • Home
  • Program
    • Overview
    • 2024 Impact Projects
    • Professional Development
    • Cultural Exchange
    • Delegation Trips
    • Impact
    • TechWomen@10
  • Participants
    • Chicago Emerging Leader Profiles
    • San Francisco Emerging Leader Profiles
    • Eligibility and Application
    • The Experience
    • Award Details
  • Mentors
    • Why Mentor With TechWomen?
    • Professional Mentor Overview
    • Cultural Mentor Overview
    • Impact Coach Overview
    • TechWomen Mentor Application
  • Get Involved
    • TechWomen Alumnae Summit
    • TechWomen Chicago
    • Host an Emerging Leader
    • Host an Event
    • Other Ways to Get Involved
    • Host companies and partners
  • About Us
    • Who We Are
    • Program Countries
    • Connect
  • FAQ
    • General
    • Participants
    • Mentors
  • Blog
  • Log In

Emerging Leaders refine their projects at Pitch Summits

February 25, 2021 By TechWomen Leave a Comment

At the TechWomen Regional Summits, Emerging Leader teams gathered with Peer Advisors and Impact Coaches to share their progress, workshop their action plans and get feedback on how to create successful and impactful pitches. By the time teams convened once more at this month’s three Pitch Practice Summits, Emerging Leaders had further refined their pitches, arriving ready to practice, share their challenges, and gather feedback that would allow them to put the final touches on their action plan projects.

Here are some sneak-peeks into the Pitch Practice Summit breakout rooms, where Emerging Leaders shared their progress and where Impact Coaches and Peer Advisors were able to ask questions, share their expertise and engage in conversations meant to support Emerging Leaders in finalizing clear, concise (just three minutes!) and impactful pitches that communicate the ways in which they plan to uplift their communities.

Team Algeria: empowering youth and tackling waste issues

With DZ Train 2 Recycle, the Algerian Emerging Leaders hope to address both youth unemployment and waste issues by empowering young people to transform waste into recyclables. Their goal is to reach 100 unemployed youth by 2022, empowering them to sharpen their entrepreneurial skills by creating microenterprises. “We want to turn raw materials into a successful business for young people,” the team said. “We want to show them the possibilities. It’s up to us to help them.”

The Impact Coaches encouraged the team to find a “hook” for their introduction — something that pulls the audience in — and to be prepared to explain how they plan to scale.

Team Uzbekistan: supporting women on maternity leave

In Uzbekistan, women on maternity leave take an average of three years maternity leave per child, and are often left isolated and at a financial disadvantage. With a lack of affordable child care, the Emerging Leaders argue, women are not only left financially vulnerable but also lack the support and community they need. Team Uzbekistan’s solution is to create a platform for women to support one another with childcare as well as work with major firms to create childcare spaces in the workplace, allowing mothers to get back to work faster.

After their pitch, the Impact Coaches and Peer Advisors encouraged the team to define their success criteria and make a clear plan to how they’ll grow their platform.

Team South Africa: providing interactive STEM kits to kids

South Africa faces a shortage of STEM professionals, and the Emerging Leaders want to inspire youth by providing simple, affordable, fun and educational STEM kits. With Letsatsi STEM Kits  — Letsasi translates to “sun” — the Emerging Leaders hope to enlighten kids with lessons on water purification, food science and more. The team has already engaged with the South African Agency for Science and Technology Advancement (SAASTA), and soon hope to bring 500 kits to kids within a 12-month period.

“I can tell you’ve been practicing,” said Caitlin, Algeria’s Impact Coach. She then encouraged the Emerging Leaders to look at the competition in the market and find how they add differentiated value. “I think you can brag about yourselves more a little bit,” she said. “It’s ok to mention skills you have that don’t have a certification that comes with them.”

Team Lebanon

After the 2020 Beirut explosion, communities were left battered, vulnerable and without the resources they need. The mission of Fadfedi باللبناني, which means express yourself freely, is made up of three pillars: supporting women through testimonials and live chats, connecting them with mental health experts and providing a community of other women facing similar struggles. The goal of their mobile app is to address mental health issues that could arise from events like the explosion and to raise awareness about resources. Already, Emerging Leaders have met with mental health experts who are guiding them on how to best support their community.

The Impact Coaches and Peer Advisors were moved by the impactful start of their pitch, and provided their feedback on ways to best apply for funding that will allow the Emerging Leaders to expand on their app and further their mission.

Team Turkmenistan: educating women on breast cancer awareness

“We want to save lives,” said the Emerging Leaders of Turkmenistan as they presented their breast cancer screening and awareness tool. Through an online platform, they hope to address the issue of a lack of diagnostics in their country and potentially save thousands of lives. With a social media campaign and local partnerships, the Emerging Leaders want to empower women 16 and up to take preventative action and reduce the number of breast cancer cases in the country.

During feedback, the Impact Coaches shared existing resources that the Emerging Leaders can use to help educate women in their country. They encouraged the team to connect their project to the greater international issue of breast cancer awareness while providing solutions that are specific to their country’s needs.

Team Rwanda: 

Ineza means “kindness” in Kinyarwanda, and with their Ineza-Connect platform, Team Rwanda wants to address the stigma on disability by supporting differently-abled children. Their community-focused online platform will offer educational videos and testimonials that will help families navigate challenges and connect with others going through similar issues. The Emerging Leaders also hope to train healthcare workers to become disability advocates in addition to working with partners who will support them in spreading their message. “We have drive, passion and a will to give back to the community,” they said. 

After their pitch, the Impact Coaches and Peer Advisors wanted to know more about how the online community will work, and how they’ll engage stakeholders. The group also spoke about the outcomes they hope to see and how they plan to define success.

This week, Emerging Leaders will be submitting their final three-minute pitch videos that will be reviewed by a distinguished panel of Bay Area-based judges. The judges will be providing feedback based on potential for impact, pitch delivery and leveraging resources. In a change from previous years of TechWomen, all of this year’s Emerging Leader teams will receive a small seed grant that will allow them to begin to implement their projects. Follow along on Twitter as we watch their progress and capture their impact!

Share this:

  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • Email

Filed Under: 2020 Program, Central Asia, Entrepreneurship, Girls Education, Impact, Mentoring Girls, Mentorship, Middle East and North Africa, Professional Development, Seed Grant, STEM, Sub-Saharan Africa, Technology

Speak Your Mind Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 901 other subscribers

Sign Up for TechWomen Updates

JOIN OUR MAILING LIST

Recent Posts

  • Protected: TechWomen Alumnae Outreach Toolkit
  • TechWomen 2024 Week 5: Connection. Impact. Diplomacy.
  • TechWomen 2024 Week 4 Highlights | From Pitch to Celebration: Emerging Leaders Shine
  • TechWomen 2024 Week 3 Highlights | Empowering Women, Building Solutions
  • TechWomen 2024 Week 2 Highlights | From Mentorship to Impact: A Week of Growth and Collaboration

Categories

  • 2012 Program
  • 2013 Program
  • 2014 Program
  • 2015 Program
  • 2016 Program
  • 2017 Program
  • 2018 Program
  • 2019 Program
  • 2020 Program
  • 2022 (Fall) Program
  • 2022 program
  • 2023 Program
  • 2024 Program
  • Alumnae
  • Announcements
  • Application & Outreach
  • Application Tips
  • Central Asia
  • Conferences
  • Cultural Exchange
  • Delegation Trips
  • Emerging Leader Voices
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Girls Education
  • Guest Blogs
  • IIE
  • Impact
  • Lean In
  • Mentor Application
  • Mentoring Girls
  • Mentorship
  • Middle East and North Africa
  • Partnerships
  • Professional Development
  • Scholarship
  • Seed Grant
  • Solar Power
  • STEM
  • Sub-Saharan Africa
  • Technology
  • Uncategorized
  • Washington, D.C.

Archives

  • November 2024
  • October 2024
  • September 2024
  • July 2024
  • June 2024
  • May 2024
  • January 2024
  • December 2023
  • October 2023
  • September 2023
  • August 2023
  • July 2023
  • May 2023
  • March 2023
  • February 2023
  • January 2023
  • December 2022
  • November 2022
  • October 2022
  • September 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013

Tags

2013 program 2014 program 2015 program Africa Alumnae application central asia Community cultural exchange Cultural Mentor delegation trip delegation trips Education Egypt emerging leaders emerging women leaders Empowerment Entrepreneurship guest post impact Jordan kazakhstan Kenya kyrgyzstan Leadership MENA Mentor mentoring girls Mentors mentorship Middle East Morocco nigeria Rwanda San Francisco seed grants Silicon Valley south africa STEM TechWomen TechWomen Alumni Tunisia Twitter U.S. Department of State women in tech

CONTACT US | MEDIA | Privacy Policy | Terms and Conditions | Cookie Policy | Sitemap
Copyright © 2025 TechWomen | Site by MIGHTYminnow

 

IIE partners with the U.S. Department of State on the TechWomen program. We are reviewing this website to ensure compliance with recent executive orders and other guidance.

   

Copyright © 2025 · TechWomen on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

 

Loading Comments...