Impact Stories from Economic Impact Policy Area
Fellow invited to join WEF Network of Global Future Councils
Fellow(s): Lindiwe Matlali (2017)
Country: South Africa
Cohort: 2017
Policy Area(s): Economic Impact, Empowering Women and Girls, Entrepreneurship, Professional Development
Fellow invited to join WEF Network of Global Future Councils
Fellow Lindiwe Matlali (South Africa, 2017), founder of Africa Teen Geeks (ATG), has recently accepted an opportunity to join the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Network of Global Future Councils, a multistakeholder insight network that mobilizes experts from various fields and regions to generate deep understanding of frontier topics, such as AI and sustainable development, and explore their effects on other global, regional and industry-specific challenges. Lindiwe will serve on the Global Future Council on the Future of Cyber Security for the 2023-2024 term. Lindiwe has been involved with the WEF since 2020, when she won the Social Innovator Award from the Schwab Foundation. Following that, Lindiwe became a contributing writer, speaker and partner with the WEF. Most recently, at this January’s WEF Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland, Lindiwe made notable appearances at the stakeholder dialogue “Inspiring Innovation: How to Create the Next Generation of Entrepreneurs” and the press conference “Trailblazing Entrepreneurs Attacking the World’s Biggest Problems.” Present on both panels was John Dutton, Head of UpLink, an innovation division of the WEF, which has recently partnered with Lindiwe’s ATG to launch an innovation and networking accelerator designed to bring African youths into the WEF ecosystem. “Talent alone is not enough,” Lindiwe posited at the press conference. “Most of us are here because we had talent and social capital. We were in front of people who saw [our] talent and were able to support [us].” Her contributions to the event garnered a mention in the WEF’s Outcomes from the 2023 Annual Meeting report (p. 22).
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Report Date...: 2/13/2023
STEM4ALL interviews Fellow
Fellow(s): Dinara Moldosheva (2022)
Country: Kyrgyzstan
Cohort: 2022
Policy Area(s): Economic Impact, Entrepreneurship, Professional Development
STEM4ALL Interviews Fellow
Fellow Dinara Moldosheva (Kyrgyzstan, 2022) was recently interviewed by STEM4ALL for her contributions as founder of Innovation Lab. STEM4ALL is a joint platform launched by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) with the aim of promoting gender equality and increasing the representation of women and girls in STEM fields in Europe and Central Asia. Innovation Lab is an ecosystem involved in intellectual property, innovation infrastructures, startups, STEAM and gender development. In the interview, Dinara acknowledges that “the whole world is trending towards globalization, digitalization, exact sciences, engineering [and] mathematics.” She highlights that although hers is a landlocked and developing nation, they are rich with human resources. “Our potential is our people. This is an innovation. This is a creative solution. This is a creative economy. This is STEM,” she explains. “Because we have had STEM, one might say, in our families since ancient times.”
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Report Date...: 2/13/2023
Fellow hosts NASA spacecraft operations engineer
Fellow(s): Faten Khalfallah (2015)
Country: Tunisia
Cohort: 2015
Policy Area(s): Economic Impact, Professional Development
Fellow Hosts NASA Spacecraft Operations Engineer
Fellow Faten Khalfallah’s (Tunisia, 2015) First Skills Club, in partnership with the Tunisian Space Association and the U.S. embassy in Tunisia, recently hosted NASA spacecraft operations engineer Nagin Cox for their Space Day with NASA event. The guest speaker spoke on her professional experiences at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Sunnyvale, CA and gave an inspirational presentation entitled, “Dare Mighty Things: Mars Rovers Paving the Way.” Faten co-founded the First Skills Club with her husband, Rabah Hammouda, to provide educational programming for kids to develop their English communication skills through STEM education.
Read More »Report Date...: 2/13/2023
Fellow startup launches WellShift biofeedback app
Fellow(s): Abeer Albashiti (2022)
Country: Jordan
Cohort: 2022
Policy Area(s): Economic Impact, Entrepreneurship, Professional Development
Fellow Startup Launches WellShift Biofeedback App
Larimar technology, a wellness, performance and productivity startup funded by fellow Abeer Albashiti (Jordan, 2022) recently announced the launch of its first technological tool, the WellShift app, available in Arabic and English. Larimar offers self-regulation tools designed to monitor and transform emotions, wellness, performance and resilience for both individuals and enterprises. The technology can be used in a standalone capacity or be integrated with existing smart wearables. Abeer credits her participation in TechWomen as a major contribution to Larimar’s social capital growth. “While in California,” she explains, “I visited HeartMath, the research center on which 60% of Larimar’s scientific research depends. [There, we] discussed the psychological backbone of my innovation and initiated a partnership.” Abeer is a wellbeing advocate and emotion AI builder who founded Larimar to help people utilize emotions and life experiences “as enabling data for actionable insights like boosting wellbeing, improving customer experience, gaming and security threat detection.”
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Report Date...: 2/6/2023
Fellow(s): Pamela Azanfouet (2022)
Country: Cameroon
Cohort: 2022
Policy Area(s): Economic Impact, Entrepreneurship, Professional Development
Pamela founded NGO Nkwangtech Foundation to facilitate mentorship in STEM and encourage the pursuit of STEM careers and entrepreneurial applications.
Fellow Pamela Azanfouet (Cameroon, 2022) recently expressed gratitude to TechWomen partner organization Juniper Networks for having donated 20 computers to Nkwangtech Foundation, an NGO that she established in 2021 to connect students and job seekers with mentors, while inspiring them to pursue careers and creative entrepreneurial opportunities in STEM. Pamela has explained that the youths in the city of Bafoussam, capital of the West Region of Cameroon, face many roadblocks accessing employment and education, which can inhibit their ability to fully realize their potential and contribute to their community. Through Nkwangtech Foundation, they gain beneficial exposure to new skills, professional networks and opportunities to quickly advance their careers and professional goals. “By this donation,” Pamela shares, “Juniper networks gave us the strength to believe and to continue working hard to help the youths of the western region be part of the digital transformation effect and become opportunity creators.” Pamela credits the advocacy of Professional Mentor Rebecca Biswas with driving the donation from Juniper Networks. She also expresses gratitude to the TechWomen program, which “changed my life [and] perception of myself and gave me an opportunity to learn how to communicate and interact with others.”
Report Date...: 1/30/2023
Fellow(s): Darika Aldasheva (2022)
Country: Kyrgyzstan
Cohort: 2022
Policy Area(s): Economic Impact, Entrepreneurship, Professional Development
Fellow featured in KRJC’s 33 mini MBA success stories
Fellow Darika Aldasheva (Kyrgyzstan, 2022) was recently interviewed in a magazine feature by the Kyrgyz Republic Japan Center for Human Development (KRJC) of 33 success stories of mini MBA graduates from their program. Darika is both the CEO of Jeti Media, a social media marketing agency, and the Managing Director of Noosphere, a public relations agency. Speaking on her leadership style, she says “I don’t educate, but I talk with the team and I get feedback. This is necessary,” she emphasizes, “to keep employees who want to develop, establish collaboration between specialists and take responsibility.” She also shares that trying to choose between business and personal life “is a false dichotomy. You cannot devote yourself to one thing,” she explains. “Those who devote themselves [solely] to family begin to hate the family and the same goes for work. Work-life balance is necessary and it is quite possible.” The KRJC was established 20 years ago to support Asian countries with transition market economies and to promote cultural exchange with Japan.
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Report Date...: 1/30/2022
Fellow featured in KRJC’s 33 mini MBA success stories
Fellow(s): Abir Khaldi (2022)
Country: Tunisia
Cohort: 2022
Policy Area(s): Economic Impact, Professional Development
Fellow featured in KRJC’s 33 Mini MBA Success Stories
Fellow Abir Khaldi (Tunisia, 2022) recently led a workshop entitled “Deep Learning: Hands-on Artificial Neural Networks” for the first edition of Africa AI Week, organized by the African Networking and Innovation Platform (ITAUN). The event offered conferences and training sessions for all students, teachers, researchers and professionals from the African continent this past December. Abir lent her expertise as a university professor at the Higher Institute of Technological studies in Nabeul, Tunisia (ISET Nabeul) and the co-founder of Coworky, the first entrepreneurial hub and coworking space in the Cap-Bon region of her country. She has a Ph.D. in Computer Science and is currently researching cloud security, Big Data, Dev Ops, networks, graph partitioning and Artificial Intelligence at the Riadi Laboratory in ISET Nabeul.
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Report Date...: 1/30/2023
sustainable cities
Fellow(s): Maysoun Ibrahim (2011)
Country: Palestinian Territories
Cohort: 2011
Policy Area(s): Economic Impact, Environmental Sustainability, Professional Development
Fellow promotes book on developing smart, sustainable cities
Fellow Maysoun Ibrahim (Palestinian Territories, 2011) recently announced that her book “Smart Sustainable Cities: Transformation towards Future Cities” is available on Amazon in electronic and paperback formats. In the book, Maysoun provides a practical roadmap and detailed framework of factors to be considered while planning the transformation towards smart and sustainable cities. The concepts aim at helping an urban center achieve smartness and sustainability by improving the quality of life of its citizens, efficiency of urban operation and services, and competitiveness while ensuring that it meets the needs of present and future generations with respect to economic, social, environmental and even cultural aspects. This involves creating livable and equitable communities with access to affordable housing, transportation, education and healthcare. The book focuses on a comprehensive model of city planning and management, taking into account the many interconnected factors that contribute to a city’s sustainability. Maysoun hopes the book will provide “a base for planners, researchers, analysts and the interested observer to consider cities in a coherent and holistic model.” This book is the first of its kind in the Arab region written by an Arab woman specialized in this area of research. Dr. Maysoun Ibrahim is the Founder and the President of the Palestinian Information Sciences and Technology Syndicate (PALIST), Chairperson of the Innovation Supporters Network and an expert in smart, sustainable cities and the 4th Industrial Revolution.
Maysoun authored “Smart Sustainable Cities” as part of her work in fostering the United Nations Agenda 2030 and its related Sustainable Development Goals.
Read More »Report Date...: 1/23/2023
Fellow named to BBC 100 Women 2022 list
Fellow(s): Ainura Sagyn Tursunalieva (2017)
Country: Kyrgyzstan
Cohort: 2017
Policy Area(s): Economic Impact, Entrepreneurship, Environmental Sustainability, Professional Development
Fellow Named to BBC 100 Women 2022 List
Fellow Ainura Sagyn Tursunalieva (Kyrgyzstan, 2017) has recently been named one of the BBC 100 Women 2022 in their 10th annual compilation of 100 inspiring and influential women from around the world. Ainura is an ecofeminist, computer engineer, and CEO of start-up Tazar, an app that connects producers of waste —from the individual level to the corporate level—with recyclers, in an effort to promote sustainability and reduce the amount of refuse that ends up in landfills in Central Asian countries. Sagyn has also led coding and STEM workshops for over 2,000 schoolgirls in Kyrgyzstan. The BBC’s 2022 list includes a diverse group of women from around the world, including those involved in conflict and resistance in various countries, as well as notable figures in music, acting, sports, and literature.
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Report Date...: 1/23/2023
Mentor to help lead largest river renewal effort in U.S. history
Fellow(s): Gwen Santos
Country:
Policy Area(s): Economic Impact, Environmental Sustainability, Professional Development
Mentor to help lead largest river renewal effort in U.S. history
As part of a decades-long effort to save an imperiled ecosystem, mentor Gwen Santos will help lead the restoration efforts for the largest dam removal and river renewal project in U.S. history as the project’s Lead Ecologist. The Klamath River Renewal Project, a multilateral, cooperative initiative, led by the Klamath River Renewal Corporation, was approved this fall by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). Gwen has served as the Lead Ecologist on the project for the past 3.5 years while also performing her duties as Resource Environmental Solutions’ (RES) Western Region Senior Wetland Ecologist and Ecology Team Lead. Stemming from her work on the Klamath project and other endeavors on the West Coast, Gwen was Recently promoted to Director of Ecology & Regulatory for the Western Region. As the Klamath Project’s Lead Ecologist, Gwen, along with Restoration Program Manager, Dave Coffman, and Lead Fisheries Biologist, Dan Chase, will help oversee the resource protection measures during dam removal, the flora propagation effort and restoration of the former reservoir footprints, which aims to restore the degraded Klamath River ecosystem in the Northern California and Southern Oregon region. The water quality has been decimated by aging hydroelectric dams that have prevented threatened and endangered salmon and steelhead fish from reaching more than 400 miles of historic habitat in the upper river basin. The project, Gwen shares, is “vital to the future of several imperiled salmon populations on the West Coast” and has involved the propagation of “billions of native seeds and tens of thousands of native oaks and shrubs.” The Klamath River Renewal Corporation was appointed to oversee the removal of these four dams and implement a settlement agreement signed by more than 40 entities and stakeholders, including the States of California and Oregon, Tribal nations, PacifiCorp (the dam owner), irrigators, and several conservation and fishing groups.
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Report Date...: 1/16/2023