Impact Stories from Empowering Women and Girls Policy Area

Fellow named to Forbes 30 under 30 Asia 2018 list

Fellow(s): Sadia Bashir

Country: Pakistan

Cohort: 2017

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

Sadia Bashir, was selected for the Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia 2018 list in the Enterprise Technology category. Sadia is the cofounder of PixelArt Games Academy, a company that creates a platform for individuals who are interested in game development to enhance their skills and collaborate with others in the field of gaming. In an effort to address the gender gap in the gaming industry, her program maintains an enrollment rate of at least 33% women and has scholarships available for women who wish to participate. Sadia also strives to empower more women to break barriers and enter the tech industry in Pakistan and around the world. As her Forbes profile notes, “her success has inspired women in Pakistan to dream bigger.”

Sadia is one of only seven Pakistanis to make the Forbes 30 Under 30 list and one of only five women to make the list in the Enterprise Technology category.

Report Date: 4/2/2018

Mentor and fellows lead Technovation Uzbekistan workshops

Fellow(s): Saida Yusupova, Elena Selezneva, Diana Tsoy and Rekha Pai-Kamath

Country: Uzbekistan

Cohort: 2015, 2016

Policy Area(s): Education Diplomacy/Mentoring, Empowering Women and Girls

Mentor Rekha Pai-Kamath partnered with 2016 fellows of Uzbekistan Saida Yusupova and Elena Selezneva and 2015 fellow of Kazakhstan Diana Tsoy to lead workshops as part of the inaugural Women Technology and Innovation Week at Tashkent University of Information Technologies earlier this month. The Technovation Uzbekistan workshops hosted girls age 10 to 18, aiming to enhance participants’ critical thinking, entrepreneurship and programming skills by teaching them to think about issues in their communities through the lens of technology. The inaugural event was also attended by U.S. Ambassador Pamela Spratlen and officials from UNDP Uzbekistan, USAID and local universities.

Rekha and the fellows led breakout sessions, challenging participating girls to contemplate social problems and come up with possible tech solutions. Diana and Rekha also shared their experiences with startups in Silicon Valley.

Rekha is Vice President at Stanford Angels and Entrepreneurs and a board member at Fast Forward.

Report Date: 3/26/2018

Fellow featured by She Leads Africa

Fellow(s): Lindiwe Matlali

Country: South Africa

Cohort: 2017

Policy Area(s): Education Diplomacy/Mentoring, Empowering Women and Girls, Professional Growth

Lindiwe Matlali, 2017 fellow of South Africa, was recently interviewed by She Leads Africa about her work in the tech industry and her initiative, Africa Teen Geeks, a non-profit organization that provides computer science education to children and underserved youth.

Knit2code, one of the organization’s flagship programs, brings 8- to 10-year-old girls together with their female family members to teach them basic computing through knitting. The program is intended to combat the notion that the tech industry is inaccessible to women. When discussing this commonly held belief, Lindiwe says, “I want to get them to believe that they can also be their generation’s Nelson Mandela. Africa is rising and they are the ones who will rise with it.”

Report Date: 3/26/2018

Mentors collaborate with fellows of Tunisia

Fellow(s): Eileen Brewer, Erin Keeley, Amel Ghoulia, Ameni Channoufi, and Ines Nasri

Country: Tunisia

Cohort: 2014

Policy Area(s): Education Diplomacy/Mentoring, Empowering Women and Girls

Mentors Eileen Brewer and Erin Keeley recently traveled to Tunisia to lead and participate in a week of impact-focused programming in partnership with TechWomen fellows. During their trip, Eileen and Erin spoke at Tunisia Digital Day, the third annual conference dedicated to digital innovation, founded and organized by 2014 fellow Ines Nasri and her company, WebPower Tunisie. With Women Leaders in Technology (WoLTech), a non-governmental organization founded by 2014 fellow Ameni Channoufi and 12 other TechWomen fellows, they led mentorship-focused sessions for university students at Sesame University. At American Corner Tunis, the mentors shared keys to successful entrepreneurship and provided budding entrepreneurs an opportunity to receive feedback on their startup ideas. Their trip also included support for training and activities related to Technovation Tunisia’s Spring Camp in collaboration with 2014 felllow Amel Ghouila. Eileen also led cybersecurity training and presented on fundraising during events organized by accelerator Flat6Labs and Founder Institute Tunisia, respectively.

Eileen has worked in product development for over 20 years and is currently Director of Enterprise Security at Symantec and a Managing Director at Golden Seeds. Erin is an engineer and investor who has worked as a tech executive for two decades. She is now the Global Director of Engineering at HGST.

Report Date: 3/26/2018

Mentor(s): Paria Rajal

Company: MissionU

Policy Area(s): Education Diplomacy/Mentoring, Empowering Women and Girls, Professional Growth

Mentor Paria Rajai was recently interviewed by Forbes Magazine about her work promoting diversity in the tech sector. As the co-organizer of the inaugural Women of MENA in Tech Conference held in Silicon Valley earlier this year, Paria has actively supported women pursuing careers in tech. She stresses the importance of community in helping women grow in the tech sector and having a network of others who believe in you and encourage you, saying that “sometimes that little faith and support is exactly what you need to overcome that moment of self-doubt.””

Paria is currently leading diversity and inclusion initiatives at MissionU, a company that provides critical job skills training and real-world work experience to students who are unable to afford a traditional four-year degree program.

Report Date: 3/19/2018

Fellow Appears on BBC World Service

Fellow(s): Layal Zakhour

Country: Lebanon

Cohort: 2014

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

Layal Zakhour, 2014 fellow of Lebanon, was recently profiled on BBC World Service in a BBC Minute segment called “Middle Eastern ladies who lead.” Layal, who currently works as a software engineer in Dubai, spoke about the success the MENA region has had with encouraging women and girls to pursue careers in STEM. Layal expresses confidence in her role as a female leader in tech, saying that, “if you’re very smart, people think you’re a man. No. I’m a girl. I’m a woman. Just live with it.

Report Date: 3/19/2018

Women Excellence Award

Fellow(s): Tiisetso Lephoto

Country: South Africa

Cohort: 2016

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

Tiisetso Lephoto, 2016 fellow of South Africa, won the first Guateng Women Excellence Award for Young Woman in Science and Technology. Tiisetso has an MA in biotechnology and microbiology and a PhD in molecular and cell biology. Currently, her research focuses on entomopathogenic nematodes, or microscopic insect-killing worms.

The Gauteng Women Excellence Awards were launched on International Women’s Day in 2017 as a platform dedicated to recognizing outstanding leadership, inspiration, vision, and innovation in organizations and individuals that have shaped women’s roles within the private and public sectors. Award winners were selected for their leadership skills and community impact, and were announced by the Guateng Government Premier, Mr. David Makhura.

Report Date: 3/12/2018

KTN News Center

Fellow(s): Lucy Mutinda

Country: Kenya

Cohort: 2016

Policy Area(s): Empowering Women and Girls

Lucy Mutinda, 2016 fellow of Kenya, was featured in an interview on KTN News Centre. The segment aired on International Women’s Day and focused on celebrating women’s achievements in STEM and beyond.

In the feature, Lucy speaks about her personal and professional challenges and accomplishments as a woman in STEM. She urges women to celebrate their successes as a means to inspire others and talks about her work as an engineer with Ecocycle, a company that focuses on environmental solutions to recycle sewage into clean, usable water.

Report Date: 3/12/2018

WOWW Campaign

Fellow(s): Ala’a Agha Karss

Country: Jordan

Cohort: 2017

Policy Area(s): Empowering Women and Girls, Entrepreneurship

Ala’a Agha Karss, 2017 fellow of Jordan, was selected to tell her story on the WOWW Campaign podcast series. In the episode, Ala’a shares about her journey as a single mother turned entrepreneur. Now CTO and owner of Superiors ICT, an innovative mobile and web applications development company, she speaks about financial lessons, societal expectations, self-awareness and inner strength.

The WOWW Campaign is a global bilingual online platform aimed at inspiring women around the world by sharing stories from female leaders about entrepreneurship and personal development.

Report Date: 3/12/2018

Technovation Training Seminar

Fellow(s): Darya Alontseva

Country: Kazakhstan

Cohort: 2015

Policy Area(s): Education Diplomacy/Mentoring, Empowering Women and Girls, Youth Engagement

Darya Alontseva, 2015 fellow of Kazakhstan, helped to facilitate a two-day training seminar for Technovation teams and mentors at D. Serikbayev East Kazakhstan State Technical University. The event was supported by U.S. Embassy Astana and funded by an alumni scholarship project “Support girls into STEM careers”.

More than 50 people participated in the initiative, which culminated in a pitch presentation to prepare girls to participate in the final stage of the Technovation competition. Six participating teams presented their projects and seven experts evaluated the presentations and provided feedback.

Report Date: 3/5/2018

1 2 3 … 12 Next »