Impact Stories from Professional Growth Policy Area
Fellow(s): Tiisetso Lephoto
Country: South Africa
Cohort: 2016
Policy Area(s): Professional Growth, Youth Engagement
Tiisetso Lephoto, 2016 fellow of South Africa and a postdoctoral researcher, has been named one of South Africa’s Top 200 by Mail & Guardian. During the TechWomen program, Tiisetso was hosted at Illumina. In June, Tiisetso served as a judge at the Gauteng Department of Agriculture and Rural Development’s Agriculture Research Symposium. “My experience was humbling because over the years, I’ve presented my work and scooped awards for the past five to six years at the research symposium, and I was now invited to select winners,” she said. Tiiestso has also been active in youth outreach. On June 22, she participated on a panel for youth month in Soweto, her hometown, to talk about her work and passions.
Read More »Report Date...: 7/3/2017
Fellow(s): Cisca Oladipo
Country: Nigeria
Cohort: 2016
Policy Area(s): Education Diplomacy/Mentoring, Professional Growth
Cisca Oladipo, 2016 fellow of Nigeria, presented at the International Conference on Technology, Knowledge, and Society at the University of Toronto on May 26. “I was excited talking about the TechWomen initiative and my experiences, as well as the limitless opportunities after my return to my home country,” Cisca explained. Cisca has been appointed head of the computer science department at Federal University Lokoja and helped launch a tech pipelining project supported by Google. “The Google initiative was made possible with the help of my TechWomen mentor Naisha Silva.”
Read More »Report Date...: 6/12/2017
Mentor(s): Mercedes Soria, Anar Simpson and Leedjia Svec
Company: Knightscope, Mozilla, NASA
Mentor Type: Cultural, Impact
Policy Area(s): Professional Growth
Three TechWomen mentors have been named 2017 Women of Influence Honorees by the Silicon Valley Business Journal. Impact Advisors Mercedes Soria of Knightscope and Anar Simpson of Mozilla, along with Cultural Mentor Leedjia Svec of NASA Ames will be recognized at an awards ceremony in May. The award recognizes women who “had to shatter glass ceilings, knock down doors, create their own paths and help others along the way.”
Read More »Report Date...: 3/27/2017
World Economic Forum on the Middle East and North Africa
Fellow(s): Omnia Eteyari
Country: Libya
Cohort: 2013
Policy Area(s): Economic Impact, Professional Growth
Omnia Eteyari, 2013 fellow of Libya and member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Shapers Community, participated in the World Economic Forum on the Middle East and North Africa, May 19-21, at the Dead Sea, Jordan. Omnia met leaders from partnering countries and worked with other thought leaders to brainstorm ideas on using technology to prosper and develop the region.
Read More »Report Date...: 5/22/2017
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
Google Developers Group
Fellow(s): Hoda Mahmoud, Rayan Al Zahab, Maha Ech-Chefaa
Country: Egypt, Lebanon, Morocco
Cohort: 2014, 2016
Policy Area(s): Professional Growth
At Google’s annual developer conference in Mountain View, California, 2014 and 2016 fellows: Hoda Mahmoud of Egypt, Rayan Al Zahab of Lebanon and Maha Ech-Chefaa of Morocco joined the Google community for technical sessions focused on building web, mobile and enterprise applications with Google. At the Google Develop Groups (GDG) Spotlight, Rayan shared how she launched GDG Coast Lebanon upon returning home from TechWomen.
Report Date...: 5/15/2017
Women in Data Science Conference
Fellow(s): Ouafa Benterki
Country: Algeria
Cohort: 2012
Policy Area(s): Empowering Women and Girls, Professional Growth
Ouafa Benterki, 2012 fellow of Algeria, presented on challenges in natural language processing at the Women in Data Science Conference on April 29 at the University of Science and Technology Houari Boumediene. As president of the Machine Translation Association – Algiers and Ambassador of Stanford Women in Data Science to Algeria, Ouafa helped organize the one-day conference to feature women involved in data science all over the world and to encourage women to be involved in the field.
Report Date...: 5/1/2017
Fellow(s): Rayan al Zahab
Country: Lebanon
Cohort: 2016
Policy Area(s): Empowering Women and Girls, Professional Growth
Rayan Al Zahab, 2016 fellow of Lebanon, was invited by Google to lead the women’s program of the Google Developer Roadshow in Saudi Arabia. Google Developer Roadshows are interactive conferences, providing the latest updates on Google technologies and open platforms for developers and industry leaders. On April 22, Rayan was the only female speaker and presented throughout the day to 50 women on Agile methodologies, user experience, big data and machine learning, and open-source concepts, among other topics. “It was the first event to be hosted at WadiMakkah (an incubator) that had a parallel women’s track,” Rayan explained.
Report Date...: 4/24/2017
Creating a Path to the Future
Fellow(s): Salwa Campbell, Magdalene Peters
Country: Sierra Leone
Cohort: 2015, 2016
Policy Area(s): Education Diplomacy/Mentoring, Empowering Women and Girls, Professional Growth
In February 2017, Sierra Leonean fellows, Salwa Campbell and Magdalene Peters , launched a mentorship program for girls at the Annie Walsh Memorial School in Freetown. The program, Creating a Path to the Future, will reach 400 secondary school girls and provide them with opportunities to discover their potential during a six-month mentorship. The group mentorship will focus on networking, knowledge and skill transfer, career development, professional development and situational guidance. Salwa says “Young girls have the potential to demonstrate a positive identity when they have a sense of personal well-being and a sense of connection and commitment to others. When they gain knowledge, skills and attitude, they demonstrate an ability that prepares them for the future.”
Report Date...: 2/20/2017
Arabnet Beirut Conference
Fellow(s): Rayan Al Zahab
Country: Lebanon
Cohort: 2016
Policy Area(s): Professional Growth
On February 20, Rayan Al Zahab, 2016 fellow of Lebanon, presented at the 2017 Arabnet Beirut Conference, which took place at the Hilton Beirut Habtoor Grand Hotel from February 20-22. Considered one of the leading conferences on digital business in the Middle East, the conference brought together more than 1,300 attendees, including business executives, leaders in marketing, entrepreneurs and investors. Speakers discussed the latest trends in the digital sector, as well as opportunities available for companies working in the field.
Report Date...: 2/20/2017
