Impact Stories from Entrepreneurship Policy Area
Tunisia mentoring council
Fellow(s): Ameni Channoufi
Country: Tunisia
Cohort: 2014
Policy Area(s): Education Diplomacy/Mentoring, Entrepreneurship
Ameni Channoufi, 2014 fellow of Tunisia, launched the Tunisia Mentoring Council in April 2017 as part of Women Leaders in Technology (WoLTech), an organization founded by 12 Tunisian TechWomen fellows in order to empower Tunisian women working in STEM fields and help them achieve their goals. The Tunisia Mentoring Council, a six-month program, supported ten women to turn their business ideas into reality and establish their own companies, including by pairing each woman with a specialized mentor who helped them achieve their entrepreneurship goals. The program also comprised coaching and trainings designed to develop participants’ professional and social skills and boost their self confidence in order to overcome challenges and become successful entrepreneurs. The closing ceremony, held on November 4, highlighted the hard work of mentors and mentees and celebrated the first cohort of graduates from the program. WoLTech is now planning for the second round of the Tunisia Mentoring Council to launch in 2018.
Report Date...: 11/6/2017
Grace Hopper Celebration
Fellow(s): Marie Claire Murekatete, Chao Mbogo
Country: Kenya, Rwanda
Cohort: 2014, 2017
Policy Area(s): Education Diplomacy/Mentoring, Empowering Women and Girls, Entrepreneurship, Professional Growth, Youth Engagement
TechWomen was well represented by mentors and past and present fellows at the Grace Hopper Celebration, which was held in Orlando, FL by AnitaB.org. Marie Claire Murekatete, 2014 fellow of Rwanda, was honored with the Change Agent ABIE Award and TechWomen mentor, Mercedes Soria, was honored with the Leadership ABIE Award. Anar Simpson, also a TechWomen mentor, moderated a panel that featured both Marie Claire and Mercedes. 2017 Emerging Leader from Kenya, Chao Mbogo, was also honored at the event as a winner of a Systers Pass It On award, which honors Anita Borg’s desire to create a network of women technologists helping one another. Chao presented about a mentorship program she created to encourage more female students to join and stay in the field of computer science.
Read More »Report Date...: 10/2/2017
CAYSTI
Fellow(s): Arielle Kitio
Country: Cameroon
Cohort: 2016
Policy Area(s): Education Diplomacy/Mentoring, Empowering Women and Girls, Entrepreneurship, Youth Engagement
“Arielle Kitio, 2016 fellow of Cameroon, has been hard at work developing CAYSTI, an organization she founded shortly after returning home from her TechWomen experience. CAYSTI is a school tech incubator with a mission to empower students to design and start viable long-term professional projects while training them to obtain competitive technical skills. CAYSTI also seeks to reduce the gender gap and inequalities in the tech industry. So far, CAYSTI has already reached 4,000 youths from rural areas through motivational talks and workshops. A project started by a student at the organization recently received the second place prize in a social entrepreneur competition run by telecommunications giant Orange. CAYSTI has also been nominated as Best Initiative in Learning and Education of Cameroon for the World Summit Awards. Winners will be announced in November 2017.
Arielle decided to launch CAYSTI with the encouragement of her TechWomen mentor, Saura Naim, Senior Director, Head of Juniper Development and Innovation Operations at Juniper Networks.”
Read More »Report Date...: 9/25/2017
Selected for the MENA ChangemakerXchange summit
Fellow(s): Afnan Ali
Country: Jordan
Cohort: 2011
Policy Area(s): Entrepreneurship
“Afnan was selected to attend the first ChangemakerXchange summit in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, sponsored by social entrepreneurship platform Ashoka and software giant SAP. The summit took place in Dubai in late August. Afnan was one of the twenty MENA-based entrepreneurs who attended the summit, which gathered participants to network, join forces and spark change. The summit included access to mentorship, training and fundraising resources.
Afnan was selected for her work founding Eureka Tech Academy, an initiative to train children to become techpreneurs and engineers. Eureka is considered the first academy in Jordan and the Arab world to develop the innovative capabilities of children in the areas of technology and engineering.”
Read More »Report Date...: 9/4/2017
Fellow(s): Nadia Habsatou
Country: Cameroon
Cohort: 2016
Policy Area(s): Education Diplomacy/Mentoring, Entrepreneurship, Youth Engagement
In 2014, Boko Haram attacked a small village in the Far North Region of Cameroon. Several public places were destroyed, and today, thousands of children and young people are affected by armed conflict. “They face harm, fear, loss, kidnapping and exploitation. Schools are damaged or overtaken by armed groups.” In this guest blog post, Nadia Habsatou, 2016 fellow from Cameroon, provides an update on her team’s action plan that is helping students receive training and access to education amid many challenges.
Report Date...: 7/24/2017
Fellow(s): Lina Lebedeva
Country: Kazakhstan
Cohort: 2015
Policy Area(s): Education Diplomacy/Mentoring, Entrepreneurship, Youth Engagement
Lina Lebedeva, a 2015 fellow from Kazakhstan, was inspired by her TechWomen experience to start a school for Kazakhstani students between the ages of 13 to 18 who are interested in biology. Started shortly after returning home from the United States, the program has grown from just ten students to now approximately 100 enrolled. Popular courses include those focused on genetics and biotechnology.
Report Date...: 7/24/2017
Fellow(s): Nargiza Abdubalieva
Country: Kyrgyzstan
Cohort: 2016
Policy Area(s): Entrepreneurship
Nargiza Abdubalieva, 2016 fellow of Kyrgyzstan, was one of five people to organize InkubasiaLAB, a business model validation lab accelerator for early-stage, Kyrgyzstan-based entrepreneurs addressing social and environmental issues, June 19-23. Silicon Valley professionals, including representatives of Facebook, Google, Apple, LinkedIn, Salesforce and other startups, facilitated training, and Nargiza was responsible for entrepreneur and mentor recruitment.
Read More »Report Date...: 6/19/2017
Fellow(s): Joy Makumbe
Country: Zimbabwe
Cohort: 2015
Policy Area(s): Economic Impact, Education Diplomacy/Mentoring, Empowering Women and Girls, Entrepreneurship, Environmental Sustainability
Joy Makumbe, 2015 fellow of Zimbabwe, discusses her startup challenges and the impact of TechWomen on her personal and professional life in an interview featured on She Leads Africa. SunPower hosted Joy for her mentorship, where she “realized that there was so much untapped potential in Zimbabwe for solar power on the domestic, industrial and agricultural fields,” Joy stated.
Read More »Report Date...: 6/12/2017
IEEE Women in Engineering International Leadership Conference
Fellow(s): Nadiah Saba’neh; Salima Kaissi
Country: Morocco, Palestinian Territories
Cohort: 2013, 2015
Policy Area(s): Entrepreneurship, Professional Growth
Nadiah Saba’neh, 2015 fellow and Head of the Technical Development Directorate at the Palestinian Higher Council for Innovation and Excellence, presented an overview of the Palestinian entrepreneurship ecosystem at the IEEE Women in Engineering International Leadership Conference, May 23 in San Jose, Calif. The session was moderated by Salima Kaissi, 2013 fellow of Morocco and co-founder of eSTEM Morocco, who chaired the entrepreneurship track of the conference.
Report Date...: 5/22/2017
Hello World Kids
Fellow(s): Eman Hylooz, Hanan Khader
Country: Jordan
Cohort: 2013, 2016
Policy Area(s): Education Diplomacy/Mentoring, Entrepreneurship, Youth Engagement
TechWomen fellows are transforming generations around the world. The World Economic Forum and International Finance Corporation named 100 Arab startups shaping the Fourth Industrial Revolution, including Abjjad, founded by 2016 fellow Eman Hylooz of Jordan, and Hello World Kids, founded by 2013 fellow Hanan Khader of Jordan. The Jordanian entrepreneurs will meet with King Abdullah ll to discuss the future and the challenges of the tech startup scene in Jordan.
Read More »Report Date...: 5/15/2017
