Impact Stories from Professional Growth Policy Area
Fellow shares expertise with King Abdullah II of Jordan
Fellow(s): Hiba Shabrouq
Country: Jordan
Cohort: 2017
Policy Area(s): Education Diplomacy/Mentoring, Empowering Women and Girls, Professional Growth, Youth Engagement
Last week, 2017 fellow Hiba Shabrouq was invited by King Abdullah II and Crown Prince Hussein bin Abdullah of Jordan to share her expertise on the leading issues facing Jordan. Alongside a group of distinguished young professionals, Hiba discussed politics, economics, technology and entrepreneurship at King Abullah’s palace, offering her input on solutions to Jordan’s challenges.
Hiba is part of TechWomen seed grant-winning team Ozwah, an initiative that educates and empowers female orphans through training and workshops. At the meeting, Hiba spoke about Ozwah’s mission to address Jordan’s education gap through hosting intensive STEM workshops and capacity building trainings for the country’s young girls.
Report Date...: 5/13/19
Fellows organize Central Asia’s first JavaScript Conference
Fellow(s): Ainura Sagyn, Veronika Iurchenko, Saltanat Alieva, Natalia Molchanova
Country: Kyrgyzstan
Cohort: 2016, 2017, 2018
Policy Area(s): Professional Growth
Last week, 2017 fellow Ainura Sagyn and 2016 fellows Veronika Iurchenko and Saltanat Alieva organized Central Asia’s first-ever JavaScript conference, held in Bishkek. The event, JS Central Asia, received support from the U.S. Government Exchange Alumni Small Grants Program provided by U.S. Embassy Bishkek, as well as the American Councils for International Education Kyrgyzstan. The one-day gathering was attended by 350 people and included keynote speakers who traveled from the UK and Ukraine to share their expertise.
With an emphasis on highlighting accessibility and inclusion in IT, the event was an opportunity for attendees to hear the newest JavaScript technologies and network with other developers. U.S. Ambassador Donald Lu opened the day, speaking about Kyrgyzstan’s growing IT community and new opportunities for women in the local tech space. The rest of the program comprised workshops, concurrent sessions and keynotes, including a presentation from 2018 fellow and a full stack JavaScript developer Natalia Molchanova.
Leading up to the conference, the fellows were guests on local television programs, participating in panels and interviews to speak about their work, their TechWomen experience and the upcoming event.
Report Date...: 5/6/19
Fellow’s team wins third place at Hackathon for Social Good
Fellow(s): Yamama Shaka’a
Country: Palestinian Territories
Cohort: 2016
Policy Area(s): Education Diplomacy/Mentoring, Professional Growth
2016 fellow of the West Bank Yamama Shaka’a co-mentored a team that won third place at NYU Abu Dhabi’s 8th annual Hackathon for Social Good in the Arab World. The three-day programming marathon brought together students, startup founders and tech professionals with a goal of promoting the use of technology for social good. Together, the teams developed innovative apps to address a problem facing the Arab world, culminating in pitching their ideas to a panel of judges.
Yamama, a teaching assistant, lab instructor and Mozilla Tech Speaker co-led a team that created Helping Hands, an app that coordinates donations in times of crisis. Through the app’s portal, international donors can connect to local charities,who are able to provide additional information and list specific community needs and resources.
Report Date...: 5/6/19
Fellow presents at gender equality conference
Fellow(s): Samia Elhanchi
Country: Morocco
Cohort: 2017
Policy Area(s): Professional Growth
This week, 2017 fellow Samia Elhanchi was invited to speak at the Day of Reflection about Gender Equality, a gathering hosted by the Mediterranean Network of Engineering Schools that focused on gender inclusivity in engineering fields. Samia, an engineer and project and portfolio manager at Orange Maroc, presented on how fostering networks of women can help close the gender gap and increase women’s success within STEM fields.
In addition to speaking about her own experience as a woman engineer, Samia used the TechWomen Year 7 Evaluation Report to share data on programs that foster networks of women professionals and contribute to reducing the gender gap in STEM fields. She also shared her experience as the president of EMI Women’s Club, a women’s group and mentorship program that works towards economic empowerment for women in engineering fields.
Report Date...: 5/6/19
TechWomen alumnae collaborate with TechGirls for STEM event
Fellow(s): Nisreen Deeb
Country: Lebanon
Cohort: 2013
Policy Area(s): Education Diplomacy/Mentoring, Empowering Women and Girls, Entrepreneurship, Professional Growth, Youth Engagement
This week, 2013 fellow Nisreen Deeb collaborated with TechWomen and TechGirls alumnae for an event aimed at educating and inspiring girls interested in STEM fields. Nisreen is the co-founder of Girls Got IT, an initiative that exposes girls aged 15-17 to STEM through interactive workshops on robotics, 3D printing, website design, game development and more.
The Girls Got IT event, supported by UNICEF Lebanon, was attended by 600 public and private school girls from throughout the country. The day featured inspirational keynotes, group sessions and 25 workshops led by local startup companies. 2018 seed grant-winning team My ioLab participated in the event, hosting a workshop on IoT and innovation.
As part of a broader effort to unite alumnae of TechWomen and TechGirls – an ECA program aiming to inspire teenaged girls to further pursue STEM – three TechGirls alumnae participated as volunteers, supporting Girls Got IT with logistics, registration and workshop facilitation. “I love TechGirls and their passion, and I always try to include them in our events” says Nisreen. The day was Girls Got IT’s biggest event to date; moving forward, Nisreen hopes to include as many girls as possible, contributing to their mission of ensuring that no girl is left behind.
Report Date...: 4/29/49
Fellow’s team wins Judge’s Award at robotics competition
Fellow(s): Faten Khalfallah
Country: Tunisia
Cohort: 2015
Policy Area(s): Education Diplomacy/Mentoring, Empowering Women and Girls, Professional Growth, Youth Engagement
2015 fellow Faten Khalfallah and her team of high school students won the Judge’s Award at the 2019 VEX Robotics World Championship High School Division, held this week in Louisville, Kentucky. Faten is the regional project manager at VEX Robotics and the VEX Girl Powered initiative ambassador in Tunisia.
The largest robotics competition in the world, the annual event brought together more than 1,500 high school teams from around the globe to build robots and compete in engineering challenges. The Judge’s Award is reserved for a team that deserves special recognition for their accomplishments, perseverance and team unity during the competition season. Previously, Faten and a team of students won four awards at the 2018 FIRST Global Challenge robotics competition in Mexico City.
Report Date...: 4/29/19
Fellow wins 2019 African Digital Woman at Margaret Awards
Fellow(s): Arielle Kitio
Country: Cameroon
Cohort: 2016
Policy Area(s): Education Diplomacy/Mentoring, Empowering Women and Girls, Entrepreneurship, Professional Growth, Youth Engagement
This month, 2016 fellow Arielle Kitio received the African Digital Woman Award at the annual Margaret Awards in Paris. Now in its seventh year, the awards are held in celebration of Digital Women’s Day, a day created in 2013 that aims to inspire women to innovate in the digital sector.
This year’s awards were themed “Women: World Changers” and recognized leading women who demonstrate commitment to a better world through their work and achievements. Arielle was recognized for her impact as the founder of CAYSTI, a STEM education program that educates young students through their youth tech lab, incubator and after-school programs. “I am moved, honored and grateful to have been selected as a winner,” says Arielle.
Report Date...: 4/29/49
Fellow introduces new technologies to rural women farmers
Fellow(s): Zuleyha Achilova
Country: Turkmenistan
Cohort: 2018
Policy Area(s): Empowering Women and Girls, Environmental Sustainability, Professional Growth
This month, 2018 fellow Zuleyha Achilova organized a two-day training for women farmers in the Lebap region of Turkmenistan. Zuleyha, who created and organized the group, is an M&E Specialist for USAID-funded programs and works throughout her country to introduce biotechnologies in wastewater treatment.
Working with colleagues from the USAID/Turkmenistan Governance Support Program, Zuleyha applied her learnings from her TechWomen mentorship at Northgate Environmental Management for the two-day training, creating a curriculum that taught women farmers about innovative and cost-effective biotechnologies in climate-smart agriculture. Using a hands-on approach, the women were introduced to wastewater treatment methods that improve cultivation technique and maximize food production. “Women farmers are struggling to improve their livelihoods and need innovative approaches for meeting their needs,” says Zuleyha. “This training will increase rural women’s knowledge and practical skills on low-cost wastewater treatment, ensuring availability of clean and safe water.”
Report Date...: 4/22/19
Fellow wins Young Professional of the Year at Nexte Awards
Fellow(s): Sebay Momoh
Country: Sierra Leone
Cohort: 2018
Policy Area(s): Education Diplomacy/Mentoring, Empowering Women and Girls, Professional Growth, Youth Engagement
This week, 2018 fellow Sebay Momoh was awarded Young Professional of the Year at Sierra Leone’s Heirs Africa and Nexte Awards. Nexte, the philanthropic arm of Heirs Holdings, works to to minimize economic inequality in Africa and create a generation of successful entrepreneurs.
Attended by government officials, entrepreneurs, philanthropists and academics, the annual awards recognize individuals who are making meaningful contributions to development through hard work and commitment to innovation. Sebay, a petroleum engineer and program coordinator for STEM Women SL, was awarded the Young Professional of the Year award for her contributions to national development. “Some days the vision I’m striving for isn’t as clear to me,” says Sebay. “But then there are times like these that reignite the fire and inspire me to keep pushing.”
Report Date...: 4/22/19
Fellow speaks at San Francisco’s Google Cloud Next ’19
Fellow(s): Hanan Youssef
Country: Egypt
Cohort: 2013
Policy Area(s): Professional Growth
This month, 2013 fellow of Egypt Hanan Youssef traveled to San Francisco to speak at Google Cloud Next ’19, a global conference that brings three days of education and inspiration to a diverse audience of developers, CEOs and those passionate about the cloud’s next generation. There, attendees share challenges and solutions in order to provide an accessible, scalable and socially responsible cloud.
Hanan, a product manager at Google Cloud Platform in Seattle, took part in the event’s opening keynote to show the audience live migration in action on the SAP Google Cloud platform. The keynote session was opened by Google’s CEO Sundar Pichai and featured Google Cloud’s leaders and customers showing how the cloud can transform businesses as well as improve the lives and circumstances of people around the world.
Report Date...: 4/22/19
