Impact Stories from Entrepreneurship Policy Area
Fellow wins global UN competition for women in business
Fellow(s): Saida Yusupova
Country: Uzbekistan
Cohort: 2016
Policy Area(s): Empowering Women and Girls, Entrepreneurship, Environmental Sustainability, Professional Growth
This week it was announced that 2016 fellow of Uzbekistan Saida Yusupova was a winner of SDGs & Her, a competition for women entrepreneurs working to achieve the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through their business operations. The contest, sponsored by UNDP, UN Women, the World Bank Group and the Wharton School’s Zicklin Center, seeks out microenterprise owners who are increasing knowledge about the 17 SDGs addressing themes such as gender equality, clean energy and economic growth.
Saida, one of two winners out of over 1,200 applications, is a sustainable development specialist and founder of Green Business Innovation, a consultancy company established shortly after her TechWomen experience. Specializing in green and clean energy, the company focuses on curbing carbon emmissions and advancing green technologies with a mission to accelerate sustainable economies worldwide.
Saida is a co-organizer of the second annual Women in Science and Tech Week, which coincides with TechWomen’s 2019 delegation trip to Uzbekistan. TechWomen delegates will gather with STEM professionals from throughout the country, joining the Women in Science and Tech Week’s official kickoff event as well as sessions for entrepreneurs and students throughout the week.
Report Date...: 3/18/19
Fellow featured as a speaker at women in tech event
Fellow(s): Zhama Ryskulova
Country: Kazakhstan
Cohort: 2018
Policy Area(s): Entrepreneurship, Professional Growth
This week, 2018 fellow of Kazakhstan Zhama Ryskulova was a featured speaker at an event hosted by Women TechMakers Kazakhstan, an initiative that brings together women tech professionals throughout the region. Organized by Google Developer Groups throughout Central Asia, the day’s sessions streamed globally, bringing STEM professionals together for workshops and sessions on cloud computing, marketing, tech interviewing and more.
Zhama, hosted by LinkedIn during TechWomen 2018, is currently a hackerspace coordinator and Python/Android developer at Tech Garden, an innovation cluster that provides guidance and support to startups in Central Asia. Her event session, “Digital Nomad Lifestyle,” was attended virtually by tech professionals throughout the region. She spoke about how to best leverage tech skills to find remote work, pursue remote internships and seek out other digital nomad teams for collaboration opportunities. She also shared specific job opportunities for digital nomads and information about programming competitions worldwide. This month, Zhama will travel to Uzbekistan as part of TechWomen’s delegation trip, taking part in activities encouraging women and girls to pursue STEM fields.
Report Date...: 3/11/19
Fellow takes third place in Queen Rania’s education awards
Fellow(s): Hanan Khader
Country: Jordan
Cohort: 2013
Policy Area(s): Economic Impact, Education Diplomacy/Mentoring, Empowering Women and Girls, Entrepreneurship, Professional Growth
This week, 2013 fellow of Jordan Hanan Khader was invited to meet Queen Rania Al Abdullah of Jordan after placing third in the Queen’s Award for Education Entrepreneruship competition. With a goal of improving education for children in the Arab World, the competition recognizes businesses that combine social impact with a sustainable and innovative business model. Hanan is the CEO of Hello World Kids, Jordan’s first educational organization that teaches computer programming to children between the ages of 6 and 12.
Hanan was awarded a $40,000 grant from the competition and, during her meeting with Queen Rania, was recognized for her work investing in low-resource environments and bridging the gap between technology and education.
Report Date...: 3/11/19
Fellow named to Forbes Middle East 30 under 30
Fellow(s): Ameni Mansouri
Country: Tunisia
Cohort: 2018
Policy Area(s): Economic Impact, Entrepreneurship, Professional Growth
2018 fellow of Tunisia Ameni Mansouri has been named one of Forbes Middle East’s 30 under 30 2019. The list recognizes the region’s youth who are advancing the fields of science, business, arts, culture and sports and have left a mark on the economy of their region. Amani was recognized as the co-founder and CEO of Dabchy, a leading web-based fashion marketplace used by nearly 300,000 people throughout Tunisia, Morocco and Algeria. Currently, the company sees a 30% increase in transactions each month.
Last year, Dabchy was selected as a Top 100 African Startup at the Africa 2018 Forum. More recently, Dabchy was selected to take part in a one-year program with Europe’s first fashion tech incubator based in Paris.
Report Date...: 3/11/19
Fellow brings robotics initiative to New Jersey school
Fellow(s): Rana El Chemaitelly
Country: Lebanon
Cohort: 2017
Policy Area(s): Entrepreneurship, Professional Growth, Youth Engagement
2017 fellow of Lebanon Rana El Chemaitelly recently partnered with a New Jersey charter school to bring a STEM curriculum to the student body. Rana is the CEO and founder of The Little Engineer, an initiative that educates students of all ages in robotics, coding, AI, 3D modeling and more through hands-on activities.
In 1994, Rana was in New Jersey for a training with Colex, a photofinishing equipment company. Nearly 25 years later, Rana received an email from the company’s founder, who was interested in implementing The Little Engineer programming at College Achieve Paterson Charter School. Rana went to work creating a customized training program, shipping equipment to New Jersey that covered an entire academic year of STEM learning. Rana hopes to continue working with the school and is grateful for the connection she made many years ago. “Wherever I go, I try to plant seeds,” she says. “And I’ve concluded that I will always harvest their fruits – if not at the moment, then in the future.”
Report Date...: 3/4/19
Fellow organizes digital festival for International Women’s Day
Fellow(s): Horore Bebga
Country: Cameroon
Cohort: 2018
Policy Area(s): Education Diplomacy/Mentoring, Empowering Women and Girls, Entrepreneurship, Professional Growth
This week, in honor of International Women’s Day, 2018 fellow of Cameroon Horore Bebga hosted a Digital Women’s Festival in Douala. Horore, the founder of African Women in Tech Startups (AFRICANWITS), organized the festival with the mission to reduce the digital gender divide in Cameroon and empower women in the digital domain.
With support from Cameroon’s Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications, the event hosted 200 women and girls for three days of free digital technology trainings and practical workshops led by tech experts. By the end of the festival, the women gained skills in digital marketing using Google Digital Garage, took courses on Facebook Blueprint and learned how to create visuals for the web. At the end of the week, five young women were awarded support from AFRICANWITS for their visual projects.
Report Date...: 3/4/19
Delegates visit fellow-led initiative at local secondary school
Fellow(s): TechWomen delegation trip to Sierra Leone
Country: Sierra Leone
Cohort: 2013 - 2018
Policy Area(s): Economic Impact, Education Diplomacy/Mentoring, Empowering Women and Girls, Entrepreneurship, Environmental Sustainability, Professional Growth, Special Report, Youth Engagement
On day two of the delegation trip, following an initial day of visiting cultural landmarks, delegates traveled to The Services Secondary School in Freetown. The school has partnered with Catch Them Young (CATHY), an initiative started by 2017 fellows Chrisla Koroma, Haja Sovula, Umu Kamara, Victoria Kamara and Jestina Johnson. CATHY aims to provide a platform for young minds to engage in STEM activities, providing peer mentoring and supporting the students in finding their passions and career pathways.
Throughout the morning, mentors and fellows rotated between four classrooms, sharing their career experiences and learning about challenges and opportunities that students face in Sierra Leone. The mentors and fellows encouraged the students to be tenacious, remain curious and start thinking about their futures. Mentor Pamela O’Leary spoke about the diversity of careers within the tech field, saying, “With technology, you can create a job for yourself that doesn’t even exist yet.”
The delegates also had the opportunity to visit the school’s science lab, where fellows from CATHY are working with school leadership to update the lab and provide materials and equipment to better engage students in science activities. Before leaving for the day, 2018 fellow of Sierra Leone Sebay Momoh shared an encouraging message with a classroom: “We are often the only women in the room,” she said. “There is so much you can do if you enter the sciences. Please keep working hard, be consistent and do your best. We are here for you.”
Report Date...: 2/25/19
Mentors share their expertise at Women in Leadership Forum
Fellow(s): TechWomen delegation trip to Sierra Leone
Country: Sierra Leone
Cohort: 2013 - 2018
Policy Area(s): Economic Impact, Education Diplomacy/Mentoring, Empowering Women and Girls, Entrepreneurship, Environmental Sustainability, Professional Growth, Special Report, Youth Engagement
At Wednesday’s Women in Leadership Forum, nearly 100 mentors, fellows and Sierra Leonean women leaders came together to discuss challenges and opportunities for women to step up as leaders and develop in their careers in science, technology and business fields. The morning’s program aimed to generate momentum to inspire, encourage and nurture the future generation of women leaders.
Seinya Bakarr, 2016 fellow of Sierra Leone, opened the conference speaking about gender differences, highlighting the fact that in Sierra Leone only 12% of parliamentarians are women – a signal of a more prevalent challenge in her country.
To address the lack of women in leadership positions, mentor Shawne van Deusen-Jeffries stressed during her TED-style talk the importance of speaking out for others: “We as women have the opportunity and obligation to enable other women.”
The panels that followed were themed around creating supportive communities, sharing best practices on how to succeed in male-dominated environments and mentoring other women. In the first panel, “Lifting up the next generation of women,” panelists discussed cultural differences, exploring the idea that historically, women are taught to be seen not heard. Trudy Morgan, president of Sierra Leone Women Engineers, shared her personal experience of feeling she needed to be tougher in front of men in order to prove her value. “The power structures haven’t changed,” she said, “but we as women should not change who we are in order to be what they want us to be.”
In the last panel of the day, “Finding and owning your voice,” fellow Sebay Momoh spoke about how she saw her life as a brand and that “we inspire more people than we think.” Habiba Wurie, a consultant for the United Nations Development Programme, also gave her insight encouraging her fellow women to “find your tribe, cultivate your tribe, maintain your tribe. The networks will eventually come.”
Report Date...: 2/25/19
Fellows and mentors coach young entrepreneurs at Pitch Night
Fellow(s): TechWomen delegation trip to Sierra Leone
Country: Sierra Leone
Cohort: 2013 - 2018
Policy Area(s): Economic Impact, Education Diplomacy/Mentoring, Empowering Women and Girls, Entrepreneurship, Environmental Sustainability, Professional Growth, Special Report, Youth Engagement
Thursday’s Pitch Night and Startup Exhibition provided an opportunity for the delegation to engage with young women and adults to support them to learn the fundamentals of delivering an effective pitch. After explaining the core elements of a powerful pitch, 2018 fellow of Zimbabwe Natsai Mutezo led by example through demonstrating what a persuasive pitch looked like – a pitch that brought the audience in, made them imagine a scenario that they were directly involved in and brought them into the story.
Two groups of budding entrepreneurs were then asked to brainstorm a solution to an identified problem in their community and develop a pitch to sell their solution to the audience. In the young women’s group, one team chose to address the issue of trash disposal and its effect on both water sanitation and teenage pregnancy. With guidance from mentors and fellows, the girls identified a common thread, realizing that young women who go out late at night to fetch water are vulnerable to sexual violence and unplanned pregnancies. They discussed that if the community disposed of their waste responsibly, the water would be cleaner and the rate of teen pregnancy would decrease. Armed with their narrative, the girls pitched their proposal, which included leveraging local community leaders, educating young people and advocating for the safety of women at night. Although pitch winners were chosen at the end of the evening, the event was not about winning; it was about developing entrepreneurial skills, practicing teamwork and showing growing leaders that they have the ability to implement change in their communities.
Report Date...: 2/25/19
Fellow and mentor collaborate to acquire laptops for students
Fellow(s): Sabine El Kahi, Rebecca Biswas
Country: Lebanon, United States
Cohort: 2014
Policy Area(s): Empowering Women and Girls, Entrepreneurship, Youth Engagement
The relationship built between fellow Sabine El Kahi and her Professional Mentor Rebecca Biswas of Juniper Networks didn’t end after TechWomen 2014. Sabine and Rebecca kept in touch, regularly talking on the phone and sharing professional updates including news about Kids Genius, Sabine’s organization that spreads maker culture to young students through hands-on activities and courses at their two centers in Lebanon.
After training staff at a local NGO on starting a Kids Genius makerspace, Sabine learned they had no working computers. She shared the situation on one of her phone calls with Rebecca, who offered to see if her company could help. A few weeks later, multiple departments at Juniper Networks had become involved, and together the group was able to organize the shipment of 18 laptops to the students in Lebanon. “I didn’t know the level of impact that this project could have,” says Sabine. “Now, the students are learning basic skills on the computer, and soon I will train and help the instructors on teaching them coding. I will never miss a chance to maintain those TechWomen connections and create new impact projects together.”
Report Date...: 2/11/19
