Impact Stories from Empowering Women and Girls Policy Area
Voice of America Afrique interview
Fellow(s): Janet Fofang
Country: Cameroon
Cohort: 2013
Policy Area(s): Education Diplomacy/Mentoring, Empowering Women and Girls, Youth Engagement
Janet Fofang, 2013 fellow of Cameroon, appeared on an episode of Vous et Nous, a news show broadcasted by Voice of America Afrique (video in French). Janet spoke about her work with a technology club at Tassah Academy, where she is the director. Thanks to Janet’s work, the technology club, which previously comprised more male participants than female, is now made up of 60% girls, including as young as age seven. Janet believes that by getting girls involved in the technology club at a young age, she can help them realize that there are many paths they can take in their lives beyond marrying and staying in the home. As more girls joined the club, enthusiasm grew to the point where the technology club is now considered to be the “cool club” for girls at the school.
Read More »Report Date...: 8/28/17
Guest Blog Post
Fellow(s): Diana Nassar
Country: Jordan
Cohort: 2016
Policy Area(s): Empowering Women and Girls
Diana Nassar, 2016 fellow of Jordan, wrote a blog post to help the 2017 Emerging Leaders prepare for their upcoming experience in the U.S. Diana shared her excitement about meeting influential and inspirational leaders in Silicon Valley, the personal and professional growth she experienced as a part of the program and the lifelong connections she has made with the Techwomen mentors, fellows and others she met throughout her time in the San Francisco Bay Area and Washington, DC. By sharing what she learned from her TechWomen experience, Diana hopes to help this year’s participants feel best prepared to take full advantage of the TechWomen experience so that their experience will be as positive as hers.
Read More »Report Date...: 8/21/2017
California Women's Conference
Fellow(s): Sarah Abdallah, Maha Ech-Chefaa
Country: Lebanon, Morocco
Cohort: 2016
Policy Area(s): Empowering Women and Girls, Professional Growth
Sarah Abdallah, 2016 fellow of Lebanon, and Maha Ech-Chefaa, 2016 fellow of Morocco, were invited by Cultural Mentor Ruby Yeh to participate in a virtual panel of Arab women at the California Women’s Conference. The panelists used storytelling as a means to address the cultural barriers they have faced as women and to identify ways in which their disadvantages have made them stronger and more successful individuals. Sarah referred to the panel as “empowerment through recognition of mutual suffering and realizing that we are not alone in our hurts and experiences.”
Read More »Report Date...: 8/14/2017
Next Generation Women Leaders Award
Fellow(s): Asal Ibrahim
Country: Jordan
Cohort: 2014
Policy Area(s): Empowering Women and Girls, Professional Growth
Asal Ibrahim, 2014 fellow of Jordan, has received a Next Generation Women Leaders (NGWL) award from McKinsey & Company. NGWL awards are presented to women who want to use their talents to create positive change in their lives and the world we share. The program aims to connect entrepreneurial women from all over the world through events hosted by the company. Winners receive a financial award to implement a project of their choice and are mentored by a consultant at McKinsey. According to Asal, this award “boosts [her] confidence and gives [her] access to vast global networks which open doors to endless possibilities for the future.” Asal plans to use the financial award to broaden her volunteer work in Africa.
Read More »Report Date...: 8/14/2017
Inspiring South African Women in Tech
Fellow(s): Baratang Miya, Nomso Kana, Lindiwe Matlali
Country: South Africa
Cohort: 2013, 2015, 2017
Policy Area(s): Empowering Women and Girls, Professional Growth
Baratang Miya, 2015 fellow of South Africa, was named by Business Tech as one of five inspiring South African women working in technology. Baratang was recognized for her work as the founder of Girl Hype, a not-for-profit organization that provides coding and app development training for girls and young women. Her work was also featured in a podcast interview by the Grey Ave Podcast, where she spoke about Girl Hype, shared her personal story of how she got started in technology and talked about her travels, including to the United States as part of TechWomen. In addition to herself being an inspirational woman in tech, Baratang served as a judge in the Inspiring Fifty: South Africa 2017 competition in which Nomso Kana, 2013 fellow, and Lindiwe Matlali, 2017 Emerging Leader, were named as winners.
Read More »Report Date...: 8/14/2017
Middle East North Africa Alumni Thematic International Exchange Seminars (TIES)
Fellow(s): Mariam Keriakos and Nazha Larhissi
Country: Egypt, Morocco
Cohort: 2013, 2015
Policy Area(s): Empowering Women and Girls, Professional Growth
Mariam Kariakos, 2015 fellow of Egypt, and Nezha Larhrissi, 2013 fellow of Morocco, were invited to speak at the Middle East North Africa Alumni Thematic International Exchange Seminars (TIES) seminar held in Casablanca, Morocco in July. Funded by ECA, Alumni TIES brings together alumni of U.S. State Department exchange programs for regional, thematically focused seminars. Mariam and Nezha spoke on an all-female panel called “Identifying and Leveraging Untapped Resources and Markets.” Mariam highlighted how she used her business consulting and technology experience to launch her own business, Craftista.me, and offered guidance on how to blend entrepreneurship with social impact and strategies to create women friendly working environments. Nezha spoke about how her experience as an advisor to Morocco’s Minister of Environment brought her to realize how much global collaboration was crucial to the fight against global warming and how she used the network she established with TechWomen to co-found e-STEM Morocco with two other TechWomen fellows.
Read More »Report Date...: 8/7/2017
Small Grants Program of the U.S. Embassy Democracy Commission
Fellow(s): Nazira Sheraly
Country: Kyrgyzstan
Cohort: 2016
Policy Area(s): Economic Impact, Education Diplomacy/Mentoring, Empowering Women and Girls
Charba, a company started by 2016 fellow of Kyrgyzstan, Nazira Sheraly, received an award through the Small Grants Program of the U.S. Embassy Democracy Commission, administered by the Public Affairs Section of the U.S. Embassy in Bishkek. Charba’s mission is to use innovative technologies to create affordable and high quality greenhouses. In partnership with Atuul, a local NGO, Nazira’s company is using the grant to educate women on the greenhouse business and business in general, to coach women who are implementing their own business ideas and to monitor and evaluate the newly established businesses. To further motivate the women involved, Nazira plans to hold a competition to provide additional mentorship and support for seven winners to make their businesses more successful.
Read More »Report Date...: 8/7/2017
Fellow(s): Marie Claire Murekatete
Country: Rwanda
Cohort: 2014
Policy Area(s): Empowering Women and Girls, Professional Growth, Youth Engagement
Marie Claire received the Change Agent ABIE Award, which honors an outstanding non-U.S. woman who created or expanded opportunities for girls and women in technology. Marie Claire’s accomplishments include founding a non-profit organization called Refugee Girls Need You and becoming a Master Educator with the Technovation Challenge.
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Report Date...: 7/31/2017
Fellow(s): Faten Khalfallah and Eman Abusaada
Country: Palestinian Territories, Tunisia
Cohort: 2015
Policy Area(s): Education Diplomacy/Mentoring, Empowering Women and Girls, Youth Engagement
Two girls participating in the 2017 TechGirls program are mentored by TechWomen fellows. Eman Abusaada, 2015 fellow of the Palestinian Territories and co-organizer of Banat-Tech – a program founded by TechWomen fellows, and Faten Khalfallah, 2015 fellow of Tunisia and founder of First Skills Club, have mentees participating in the three-week exchange program. “I volunteered to be a co-organizer and Banat-Tech program coordinator at Gaza Strip. I increased awareness about the importance of diverse skills for teenagers,” Eman said. “I encouraged the girls to apply for Techgirls program. I was really proud to be the coordinator and organizer, and now Lina is in Washington.”
Report Date...: 7/10/2017
Fellow(s): Janet Fofang
Country: Cameroon
Cohort: 2013
Policy Area(s): Education Diplomacy/Mentoring, Empowering Women and Girls, Youth Engagement
Janet Fofang, 2013 fellow of Cameroon and director of Girls in Tech – Cameroon, has mentored a team of students, aged 15 to 18 years old, to compete in the inaugural FIRST Globalrobotic competition in Washington, D.C. FIRST Global shared a video of the team that wants “to find long-term solutions to the world’s most pressing issues.” Janet also helped organize the Next Einstein Forum’s Africa Science Week in Yaounde, June 27-29, which included a hackathon, women in STEM event and tech meetup.
Read More »Report Date...: 7/3/2017
