Impact Stories from Professional Development Policy Area
Central & South Asian Fellows Push Promo for TW 2023
Fellow(s): Central & South Asian Fellows Push Promo for TW 2023
Country: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan
Cohort: 2018, 2019, 2022
Policy Area(s): Economic Impact, Empowering Women and Girls, Professional Development
Fellows from Central and South Asia have been making a coordinated effort to increase applications from their region in 2023. This month the Fall 2022 Kyrgyz team, Darika Aldasheva, Nora Azygalieva, Bermet Dosmombetova, Dinara Moldosheva and Kseniia Tysganova, shared their recent program experience on a panel for the TECHAIM community. This event was echoed by Turkmen fellows Maral Rejepova (2019) and Maral Hudaybergenova (2018), and Uzbeki fellows Inobat Allobergenova (2022), Lilya Gafarova (2022) and Yuliya Tyan (2022), who livestreamed informational events at American Spaces in Ashgabat and Tashkent. On solo missions, Amara Dar (Pakistan, 2022) held a TechWomen-themed guest lecture for WEmpower, Kseniia Tysganova held an application brief on Instagram Live with her U.S. Embassy and Zharkyn Chsheglova (2022) gave an in-depth walk-through of the program for DevFest Women 2022 by Women Tech Makers Kazakhstan. In closing she said, “if there is a life-changing experience that allows you to find meaning and expand the boundaries of your thinking, it is TechWomen. Be brave. Believe in yourself. Apply for this program.”
Read More »Report Date...: 12/26/2022
Fellow speaks at GA of the African Academy of Sciences
Fellow(s): Emna Harigua (Tunisia, 2022)
Country: Tunisia
Cohort: 2022
Policy Area(s): Professional Development
Fellow Emna Harigua speaks at GA of the African Academy of Sciences
Fellow Emna Harigua (Tunisia, 2022) recently served as a panelist and speaker at this month’s 14th General Assembly of the African Academy of Sciences and 2nd Connecting Minds Africa Meeting themed “Science for Social Justice.” On the panel, she discussed the role of digital transformation in social justice. Emna is a Bioinformatician and a Data Scientist currently earning her PhD in the Laboratory of Molecular Epidemiology and Experimental Pathology at Institut Pasteur de Tunis. She is sponsored by a 5-year African Research Initiative for Scientific Excellence (ARISE) fellowship with a €500,000 grant. Emna is conducting research on bioinformatics and artificial intelligence for infectious and neglected diseases drug discovery. Recently, she was also nominated for the Ten Outstanding Young Persons of the Year 2022 distinction by Junior Chamber International.
Read More »Report Date...: 12/26/2022
Fellow Elmira Obry discusses TechWomen journey in recent interview
Fellow(s): Fellow Elmira Obry discusses TechWomen journey in recent interview
Country: Kazakhstan
Cohort: 2022
Policy Area(s): Economic Impact, Empowering Women and Girls, Entrepreneurship, Professional Development
Fellow Elmira Obry (Kazakhstan, 2022) recently interviewed with Kazakh online media outlet ER10 to discuss her career journey and experience as a TechWomen emerging leader. Topics included the mission of TechWomen, the application process, the cross-cultural mentorship and Elmira’s intentions going forward. “I plan to investigate the impact of technology on the involvement of women in the country’s economy,” Elmira shared, “and the development of sustainable technologies through the prism of a multiplier economic effect.”
Elmira is the founder of QWANT programming school founder and the CEO of the Bureau for Continuing Professional Development (BCPD) of the Astana International Financial Center (AIFC). “By pooling resources, efforts and expertise,” Elmira emphasized, “we can turn the tide not only on gender equality, but also on growing social and economic stratification.” During the interview, Elmira also stressed the importance of supporting teachers, modernizing technical colleges, and “developing the institution of mentoring” in Kazakhstan. “Many people think that Silicon Valley is about money,” she explained. “Actually, it’s about the supportive environment. In order to attract young people, it is necessary to create a benevolent climate [and] to maintain interest in innovation from an early age.”
Report Date...: 12/12/2022
Fellow Nermin Salah publishes study on breast cancer prodrugs with support from mentor Bianca Liederer
Fellow(s): Fellow Nermin Salah publishes study on breast cancer prodrugs with support from Mentor Bianca Liederer
Country: Egypt, United States
Cohort: 2013
Policy Area(s): Professional Development
Fellow Nermin Salah (Egypt, 2013) recently co-authored a publication in the field of drug discovery, crediting her TechWomen professional mentor Bianca Liederer of Genentech with providing helpful support and collaboration to the project. Entitled “Design, synthesis, and metabolite identification of Tamoxifen esterase-activatable prodrugs,” the study explores substances that can improve efficacy and reduce resistance to Tamoxifen, an important medication used in the treatment of hormonal-dependent breast cancers. Though she completed her program nearly ten years ago, Nermin maintains that “once a TechWomen always a TechWomen; you keep the network, support and the spirit.” She shares that Bianca and her team offered valuable assistance throughout the research process, even performing some experiments that would have been a challenge to execute in Egypt. Nermin is currently in the U.S. again as a Hubert Humphrey fellow and fondly reflects that she is “still receiving help and guidance from the whole TechWomen community.”
Report Date...: 12/12/2022
Seed grant initiative empowers orphans with aquaponic farm
Fellow(s): Seed grant initiative empowers orphans with aquaponic farm – Chiedza Mugabe, Evangelista Chekera, Henrica Makulu, Tafadzwa Murinzi and Yollanda Washaya
Country: Zimbabwe
Cohort: 2022
Policy Area(s): Economic Impact, Entrepreneurship, Environmental Sustainability, Professional Development, Youth Engagement
FOCUS Zimbabwe, a self-sustaining food cultivation initiative founded by seed grant-awarded Team Zimbabwe 2022 fellows Chiedza Mugabe, Evangelista Chekera, Henrica Makulu, Tafadzwa Murinzi and Yollanda Washaya, has successfully launched its pilot program at SOS Children’s Village in Waterfalls, Harare. FOCUS Zimbabwe seeks to enable children in orphanages to grow nutritious/organic food by empowering them through hands-on skills training and mentorship in aquaponics, the cultivation of plants and aquatic animals in a recirculating environment. Through this, they hope to cultivate entrepreneurialism, stimulate an interest in STEM and foster a sense of responsibility for the communities in which the children live, while also helping protect them from the elevated risks of drug abuse, crime, prostitution and suicide. To date, approximately 75 people have interacted with the growing system, resulting in local families gaining food to eat, produce to sell, and psychosocial benefits to their overall wellness. FOCUS Zimbabwe was launched with the funding of a $3,000 USD TechWomen seed grant. It has also received support from its aquaponics system vendor, which has donated complimentary training and consultation hours to the project as part of its corporate social responsibility efforts.
Report Date...: 12/05/2022
Fellow(s): Fellow Ichraf Jarray talks entrepreneurship on tv interview
Country: Tunisia
Cohort: 2022
Policy Area(s): Economic Impact, Entrepreneurship, Professional Development
Fellow Ichraf Jarray (Tunisia, 2022) was recently interviewed on the nationally televised Tunisian show “Dentelle” to discuss her entrepreneurial journey. Ichraf is the CEO of HIVE12 coworking space and start-up incubator, a concept she developed after seeing the enormous impacts that the covid-19 pandemic had on the business environment in her community. She wanted to “find a solution that creates some sort of sustainability” for her and other people’s businesses. During the interview, Ichraf discussed the notion of having an entrepreneurial mindset and finding a project that embodied her vision for her community and country. “When there is a vision and a commitment,” she said, “nothing can stop us.” She also emphasized the importance of shaping one’s own experiences, even when they don’t align with your original vision. The secret ingredient,” she says, is to know “I’m enough; I can do it.”
Read More »Report Date...: 12/05/2022
000 in South Punjab"
Fellow(s): Fellow Ayesha Zaman inks partnership to train 50,000 in South Punjab
Country: Pakistan
Cohort: 2022
Policy Area(s): Economic Impact, Entrepreneurship, Professional Development
Skills Todo, Pakistan’s premium skills-based e-learning platform, co-founded by fellow & CEO Ayesha Zaman Hammaad (Pakistan, 2022), has recently announced a partnership with Digital South Punjab aimed at strengthening the tech ecosystem in South Punjab, Pakistan by training 50,000 local students and professionals. Ayesha and her partner, COO Namra Nasyr, inked the agreement with Rizwan Majeed, Founder of Digital South Punjab and Director of Information Technology at Islamia University of Bahawalpur. Together, they believe that the partnership will raise awareness of the benefits of digital skills education in concert with academia and bring fruitful tech industry prospects to the region.
Ayesha has also recently accepted a role as a Startup Mentor for NewChip, an Austin, Texas-based online accelerator that provides founders with tools and skills to build, scale, and fund their startups.
Report Date...: 12/05/2022
"Team recognized by BBC & Ambassador after seed grant win"
Fellow(s): Team recognized by BBC & Ambassador after seed grant win – Amara Dar, Sadaf Gul, Ramla Syeda Hassan, Syeda Sadaf Shah, Anum Sadiq and Shehnaz Zakia
Country: Pakistan
Cohort: 2022
Policy Area(s): Economic Impact, Entrepreneurship, Environmental Sustainability, Professional Development
The fellows of Fall 2022 Team Pakistan, composed of Amara Dar, Sadaf Gul, Ramla Hassan Sadafi Shah, Anum Sadiq and Shehnaz Zakia, were recently featured in BBC News Urdu to acknowledge their having recently been awarded $3000 in seed grant funding for the impact project they developed during their TechWomen program.
The project, AGAHI, will be a mobile technology campaign aimed at raising climate change awareness in the wake of the devastating floods in Pakistan this summer.
In addition to being featured in BBC, the team also recently met with the Ambassador of Pakistan to the USA on 26th Oct. 2022 to discuss AGAHI shortly after the close of their TechWomen program in Washington D.C.
In the meeting, the ambassador expressed his appreciation for the efforts of the U.S. Department of State and ECA for providing opportunities for Pakistani women in STEM to excel through exchange programs. He also encouraged Team Pakistan to complete the project with full dedication, offering assurance of the Embassy of Pakistan’s support in the sustainable execution of the project and the development of future collaborations.
Report Date...: 11/28/2022
"Fellow initiative expands to include coding bootcamps"
Fellow(s): Fellow initiative expands to include coding bootcamps – Selma Ndi
Country: Cameroon
Cohort: 2022
Policy Area(s): Economic Impact, Empowering Women and Girls, Entrepreneurship, Professional Development, Youth Engagement
Fellow Selma Ndi (Cameroon, Spring 2022) successfully ran two coding bootcamps this year for her startup, DataGirl Technologies. DataGirl Technologies is an ICT initiative that aims to introduce university girls to coding as a pipeline to career opportunities. This year’s bootcamps consisted of 12 weeks of full-time web development training followed by three-month internships. The first cohort graduated 10 full-stack developers in July, with four participants having already secured gainful employment. This October, they graduated their second batch of 15 full-stack web developers. “DataGirl leaves no one behind by focusing on equal opportunity in technology and using an individualized approach to teaching,” Selma explains. DataGirl Technologies’ impact was recently highlighted in a Technext news story this summer, most notably for training over 3,000 girls since inception.
Read More »Report Date...: 11/28/2022
"Fellows announces partnership with UpLink at UN Summit"
Fellow(s): Fellows announces partnership with UpLink at UN Summit – Lindiwe Matlali
Country: South Africa
Cohort: 2017
Policy Area(s): Economic Impact, Education Diplomacy/Mentoring, Entrepreneurship, Professional Development, Youth Engagement
This fall at the United Nations Summit on Sustainable Development Goals in New York, Fellow Lindiwe Matlali (South Africa, 2017) announced a partnership between her initiative Africa Teen Geeks and UpLink, a division of the World Economic Forum (WEF) tasked with supporting innovation. Together they “hope to build a movement of teen innovators and raise awareness of sustainability issues around the globe,” she noted, with a program designed to arm the next generation of students with the hard and soft skills needed to lead creative STEM-based innovation and entrepreneurship in Africa.
Lindiwe became a contributing writer, interviewer, speaker and panelist for the WEF after winning their Social Innovator award in 2020. She also spoke at their Pioneers of Change event in 2020 and interviewed African-American tech-preneur and inventor of Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) Marian Croak, about whom she is also producing a documentary.
In her involvement with the WEF, Lindiwe is particularly focused on democratizing access to power and influence by bringing in children from disadvantaged communities to participate in the exclusive business network. “How can we take children with skills and talent and put them in front of someone who can make it happen for them?” she asks. “This is really about teaching kids how to innovate for non-consumption and innovate themselves out of poverty. It’s about leveling the playing field and a creating an ecosystem of innovators who can access WEF networkers, the people looking for those innovations,” Lindiwe expanded. “I want every kid to know that they can create global companies by serving the underserved.”
Report Date...: 11/21/2022
