Impact Stories from Empowering Women and Girls Policy Area

Fellow Founded Incubator Joins AfriLabs Network

Fellow(s): Ichraf Jarray (Tunisia, 2022)

Country: Tunisia

Cohort: 2022

Policy Area(s): Economic Impact, Empowering Women and Girls, Professional Development

Hive 12, a multi-faceted incubator founded by fellow Ichraf Jarray (Tunisia, 2022), has recently entered into a partnership with AfriLabs, one of Africa’s leading networks of technology and innovation hubs. In a milestone expansion event, Hive 12 represented one of 19 new hubs from Angola, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Ghana, Kenya, Namibia, Nigeria, Tunisia and Zimbabwe to join the AfriLabs network this spring. “This partnership marks the first step towards developing African markets for our startups, creating opportunities for both parties, and expanding our network,” Ichraf shared in a recent post. Hive12 operates as not only an incubator, but also a co-working space and consulting practice with the recent addition of a research and development department all to serve early-stage startups for women and youth.

Report Date...: 7/10/2023

Mentor(s): Mentor Jill Finlayson

Company: Berkeley Lab

Mentor Type: Professional

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

Mentor Jill Finlayson was recently featured in an episode of Aarna’s News podcast, “Knowing When to Leave, Finding the Right Fit,” where she shared her career journey and the importance of adaptability, transferable skills, and diversity and inclusion in the workplace. Hosted by Aarna Sahu, Aarna’s News is a collection of stories from leading women in STEM who’ve influenced the workforce and inspired others to join the fields. During her interview, Jill emphasized the importance of pivoting, pursuing growth opportunities, and finding career-value alignment. “Embrace change and stay curious,” she advised. “Your career path doesn’t have to be a straight line.” Jill currently works at the University of California, Berkeley where she serves as the managing director of CITRIS Innovation Hub and director of the Expanding Diversity and Gender Equity in Tech (EDGE) Initiative.

Report Date...: 10/02/2023

Fellow earns Mini-MBA from Felestineya Business Program

Fellow(s): Abeer Saidam (Palestinian Territories, 2020-2021)

Country: Palestinian Territories

Cohort: 2020-2021

Policy Area(s): Economic Impact, Empowering Women and Girls, Professional Development

Fellow Abeer Saidam (Palestinian Territories, 2020-2021) recently earned her Mini-MBA from the Felestineya Business Administration Program, an initiative offered by the Bank of Palestine in collaboration with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and in partnership with the Business Women Forum (BWF), and Ernst & Young Company (EY). The program provides skills and leadership development for women entrepreneurs and project leaders across Palestine who possess demonstrated business acumen. “It has been an intense and rewarding experience and I’m proud of the knowledge I’ve gained,” Abeer shared in a recent post. “I now feel more confident than ever in tackling complex challenges.” Abeer is the founder and CEO of Khzanty, an e-commerce platform for women wishing to buy, sell, and donate bespoke clothing

Report Date...: 9/25/2023

Fellow founds STEM Sensitization Talks for Nigerian girls

Fellow(s): Adeola Aremu (Nigeria, 2022)

Country: Nigeria

Cohort: 2022

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

Fellow Adeola Aremu (Nigeria, 2022) recently launched her first event for nonprofit initiative, STEM Sensitization Talks, which was held for secondary school girls in Kwara State, Nigeria. The purpose of the event was to educate girls on the gender gap in STEM and encourage them to enroll in science and technology classes for the upcoming academic year. “It was an eye opening session for the girls as they affirmed that STEM seeds have been sown in their hearts,” Adeola shared in a recent post. She has launched this initiative to steer girls toward STEM courses on their promotion to Senior Secondary classes, which is a major determinant for continuing on into higher education and careers in STEM. “It’s a ‘catch them young’ approach,” Adeola wrote in recent communications with the team. “It’s a way of giving back to TechWomen.”

Report Date...: 9/18/2023

AFITech

Fellow(s): Aziza Krimaa, Fatima-Zahra Benyaaqoub, Hajar Salamat, Manar Ouaritni, Meriem Haddouchi (2022)

Country: Morocco

Cohort: 2022

Policy Area(s): Economic Impact, Empowering Women and Girls, Environmental Sustainability, Professional Development

VMWare has donated an additional $3000 USD to Team Morocco 2022 for their impact project AFITech, Alert Fire on Time Initiative.

Fall 2022 Team Morocco has recently received just over $3,000 USD in additional seed funds from program partner and sponsor VMWare, to assist in the development and implementation of their seed-grant winning impact project, AFITech, Alert Fire on Time Initiative. Earlier this year, Aziza Krimaa, Fatima-Zahra Benyaaqoub, Hajar Salamat, Manar Ouaritni and Meriem Haddouchi launched a fundraiser seeking additional capital for the launch of AFITech. Mohna Dhomse, a VMWare Information Experience Leader and TechWomen mentor since 2011, spearheaded the company’s donation. Mohna shared that her extensive volunteer hours made her eligible to “further amplify my service learning contributions by recommending a VMware Citizen Philanthropy Investment grant to a nonprofit of choice.” VMWare’s funding will supplement costs for AFITech’s early wildfire-detection system, which will protect precious argan trees by deploying a network of tree sensors that measure temperature, humidity and carbon monoxide levels in argan forests. These sensors will then send alerts to local emergency authorities when fire is indicated, triggering early firefighting efforts and reducing the devastating environmental and economic impacts of argan forest wildfires. The pilot program will defend women farmers of Amskroud Village, whose livelihoods depend on the harvesting of argan oil, a globally-marketed skin and hair care ingredient.

Report Date...: 09/04/2023

Fellows speak on women driving innovation at Kcell ‘23

Fellow(s): Zhanargul Izimova, Zharkyn Chsheglova

Country: Kazakhstan

Cohort: 2018, 2022

Policy Area(s): Economic Impact, Empowering Women and Girls, Professional Development

Fellows Zhanargul Izimova (Kazakhstan, 2018) and Zharkyn Chsheglova (Kazakhstan, 2022) shared the stage for a panel discussion entitled “Women Driving Innovation in Kazakhstan” at the Kcell Eurasian Mobile Summit 2023 in Almaty this August. Zhanargul spoke on strategy and Eurasia as a fintech leader of digital transformation, while Zharkyn appeared as an ambassador of the Google Women TechMakers program and fellow of TechWomen. “Behind every successful woman is a tribe of successful women, a mission that I took with me from my Silicon Valley mentors,” Zhanargul wrote in a recent post. The Kcell Eurasian Mobile summit brings together regional experts in telecom to address changes and innovations in the field.

Report Date...: 9/04/2023

Fellows speak on women driving innovation at Kcell '23

Fellow(s): Zhanargul Izimova (Kazakhstan, 2018) Zharkyn Chsheglova (Kazakhstan, 2022)

Country: Kazakhstan

Cohort: 2018, 2022

Policy Area(s): Economic Impact, Empowering Women and Girls, Professional Development

Report Date...: 9/04/23

Fellow serves as cybersecurity panelist and podcast guest during DATAFest Africa conference in Nairobi

Fellow(s): Sophie Ngassa Monkam (Cameroon, 2014)

Country: Cameroon

Cohort: 2014

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

Fellow Sophie Ngassa Monkam (Cameroon, 2014) recently served as a panelist and live podcast guest in Nairobi, Kenya during DATAFest Africa, an annual event centered on the continuously developing impact of data science on the African continent. The podcast session, titled “Innovative pathways to digital resilience for women at work,” revolved around exploring different methods to empower women, improve their proficiency in digital skill and equip them with the necessary tools to adapt and excel in the digital environment of the contemporary workplace. Sophie is an Incident Response Analyst and Digital Security trainer for human rights defenders, social actors and peace advocates working on the frontline of peacebuilding in Cameroon. Among her many projects, she also runs a Tech4Peace podcast powered by DefyHateNow, called “Digital Peace Building with Sophie.” This spring, Sophie served as the Distinguished Trainer at the Digital Security Training for Human Rights Defenders in Limbe and Bamenda, focusing on how women’s rights activists can utilize tools such as encryption, VPNs and two-factor authentication to safeguard their online activity. “I found my passion in cybersecurity,” Sophie explains, “amid the endless attacks that my peers and I face online working in digital advocacy in our efforts to build lasting peace and social cohesion in Cameroon.”

Report Date...: 7/31/2023

Fellow co-facilitates 10-day African Girls Can Code Initiative sponsored by UN Women and African Union Commission

Fellow(s): Emma Mphahlele (South Africa), Sara Fakhry (Egypt), Darika Aldasheva (Kyrgyzstan) 2022

Country: Egypt, Kyrgyzstan, South Africa

Cohort: 2022

Policy Area(s): Economic Impact, Empowering Women and Girls, Professional Development, Youth Engagement

Fellow Emma Mphahlele (South Africa, 2022), founder of non-profit African Youth Ignited 4IR, recently served as co-facilitator of the 10-day African Girls Can Code Initiative sponsored by UN Women and the African Union Commission. The program, designed to teach design thinking, problem-solving and soft skills, selected 40 girls from eight public schools in the inland provinces to take part in the 10-day curriculum. Topics included user interface/user experience (UI/UX), website development, mobile applications development, robotics, cyber security and programming. Emma enlisted several members of the TechWomen community to serve as guest lecturer, including mentors Lori Kahn, Jennifer Martin and Erin Keeley, and fellows Sara Fakhry (Egypt, 2022) and Darika Aldasheva (Kyrgyzstan, 2022). “Spending 10 days with the girls has added to my growth as a facilitator and an expert in STEM Education,” Emma shared in a recent post. “It reaffirmed my decision to leave corporate and to focus on the promotion of inclusivity in access to quality education for children and young people in my continent.”

Report Date...: 07/17/2023

Fellow discusses TechWomen on Reality Cheque podcast

Fellow(s): Roshaan [Saeed] Sheikh (Pakistan, 2022)

Country: Pakistan

Cohort: 2022

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

Roshaan discussed her career journey, opportunities for startups, and tips for acing the TechWomen application during her 45-minute interview with the Reality Cheque podcast.

Fellow Roshaan [Saeed] Sheikh (Pakistan, 2022) was recently interviewed as a guest speaker on the podcast, “Reality Cheque.” In the 45-minute episode, entitled “The Future of UX & UI Designers, Artificial Intelligence and Workplace Harassment,” Roshaan shares her journey starting out as a freelancer and blogger in user interface and experience design, going on to roles with larger companies like Affinity and Al-Jazeera, and most recently founding her own startup, STIPPPLE, an online marketplace for freelance designers. She also expounds upon the TechWomen application process, the complexity of the venture capital sector and startup opportunities based on UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). To close, she highlights workplace issues, such as harassment, and the importance of knowing your laws and rights.

Report Date...: 07/17/2023

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