Impact Stories from Youth Engagement Policy Area

STEM Women

Fellow(s): Kumba Musa

Country: Sierra Leone

Cohort: 2015

Policy Area(s): Education Diplomacy/Mentoring, Empowering Women and Girls, Youth Engagement

Kumba Musa founded STEM Women in her native country upon returning home from the TechWomen program. During the program, she was able to witness and experience the supportive network women have cultivated in Silicon Valley to help and inspire others in STEM. Kumba’s participation in TechWomen inspired her to develop female leaders in Sierra Leone to serve as role models for young girls and create change at a national level, thus leading to the creation of STEM Women.

Report Date...: 5/30

Technovation Challenge finalists

Fellow(s): Cameroon: Dorothee Danedjo Foubaa. Kazakhstan: Diana Tsoy. Kenya: Josephine Kamanthe, Kendi Ntwiga and Alice Mbui

Country: Cameroon, Kazakhstan, Kenya

Cohort: 2013-2015

Policy Area(s): Education Diplomacy/Mentoring, Empowering Women and Girls, Youth Engagement

TechWomen fellows in Cameroon, Kazakhstan and Kenya have advanced to the final round of the Technovation Challenge, an annual competition for girls around the world to build a mobile app that will address a community problem. Dorothee Danedjo Foubaa, of Cameroon, served as a mentor to Team Angels Tech of Africa and their app, “Nature Gift,” which promotes the agricultural resources Cameroon has to offer. Diana Tsoy, a fellow of Kazakhstan, supported Team ComPote and their app “Active Citizen,” which aims to connect government figures with citizens. Josephine Kamanthe, fellow of Kenya, along with fellows Kendi Ntwiga and Alice Mbui, supported Team Sniper and their app “M-Safiri,” which provides a platform for people to book travel that is safe and secure.

Report Date...: 5/16/2016

Hello World Kids

Fellow(s): Hanan Khader of Jordan, Aida Nassr-Eddine of Lebanon and Nisreen Deeb of Lebanon

Country: Jordan, Lebanon

Cohort: 2013

Policy Area(s): Education Diplomacy/Mentoring, Youth Engagement

The 2013 fellows collaborated to develop a project to teach students in public and private schools in Lebanon how to code with the Hello World Kids (HWK) curriculum. Hanan Khader of Jordan founded HWK after the 2013 TechWomen program. Her mission was to develop the skills of youth through programming and inspire them to create ideas, startups, entrepreneurs, employment opportunities and more investments, to increase the number of future innovators.

Report Date...: 5/2/2016

TechWomen Ambassador to TechGirls

Fellow(s): Shatha Jayyousi

Country: Jordan

Cohort: 2013

Policy Area(s): Youth Engagement

TechWomen fellows teamed up with TechGirls and the U.S embassy to host Jordan’s first NASA Space Apps Challenge. The three-day hackathon defines challenges relevant to Earth and space, and participants – developers, engineers, technologists, designers and anyone with a passion to impact the world. TechGirls Ambassador Shatha Jayyousi, a 2013 fellow of Jordan, worked with TechGirls to filter applications and recruit other TechWomen to mentor at Jordan’s first NASA Space Apps Challenge.

Report Date...: 4/25/2016

Refugee Girls Need You (AEIF initiative)

Fellow(s): Placidie Benamahirwe, Enatha Mukantwari, Marie Claire Murekatete, Emmanuella Nzahabonimana, Lydie Umubyeyi and Sylvie Umutesi

Country: Rwanda

Cohort: 2014

Policy Area(s): Education Diplomacy/Mentoring, Empowering Women and Girls, Youth Engagement

2014 fellows of Rwanda have extended their mentorship activities to refugee girls in Rwanda. The initiative, Refugee Girls Need You, supports undeserved and vulnerable populations, aiming to enhance personal development, exposure of hands-on skills and use of technology among young refugee girls via mobile computer labs. The initiative is working with three camps in Rwanda that are housing refugees from the Democratic Republic of Congo. Fellows Placidie Benamahirwe, Enatha Mukantwari, Marie Claire Murekatete, Emmanuella Nzahabonimana, Lydie Umubyeyi and Sylvie Umutesi have partnered with the Rwanda Development Board, which provides mobile computer labs to reach rural areas. The fellows hope to encourage more girls to take on professional careers within in the fields of science, technology, and math.

Report Date...: 4/11/2016

Project STEM Rocks

Fellow(s): Joy Agene (2014), Mercy Sosanya (2015), Abiola Ilupeju (2015

Country: Nigeria

Cohort: 2014, 2015

Policy Area(s): Education Diplomacy/Mentoring, Youth Engagement

In collaboration with the U.S. embassy in Nigeria and American Corner Bauchi, TechWomen fellows of Nigeria including Joy Agene, Mercy Sosanya, and Abiola IIupeju, hosted Project STEM Rocks – a day-long event for students and teachers representing four secondary schools in Bauchi, Nigeria. The event began with a  presentation about female scientists and inventors in space-related fields and different careers in STEM. Mercy introduced the Technovation Challenge, and some of the teams Mercy is mentoring also presented the mobile apps that they are building.  The girls hope to organize more events in Nigeria to educate girls.

Report Date...: 3/28/2016

Mentor(s): Katy Dickinson, Myra Nawabi, Manali Rane of Ericsson;

Company: Mentoring Standard, Lockheed Martin, Ericsson

Mentor Type: Professional and Cultural

Policy Area(s): Professional Growth, Youth Engagement

The TechWomen Alumnae Council partnered with Ericsson in Silicon Valley to host, “Best Practices in Mentoring Panel” on March 10. The panel consisted of mentors Katy Dickinson of Mentoring Standard; Myra Nawabi of Lockheed Martin; Manali Rane of Ericsson; Judy Little, VP of strategic alliances at Ericsson; and Robert Loftis, coach at Lee Hecht Harrison. They discussed different forms of mentoring, best practices and how to prepare for a mentorship.

Report Date...: 3/7/2016

STEMIE

Fellow(s): 2015 Kenya cohort

Country: Kenya

Cohort: 2015

Policy Area(s): Youth Engagement

2015 fellows Amy Aruya, Nancy Cheseto, Alice Mbui, Sarah Mwangi, Kendi Ntwiga and Elizabeth Ochola launched their action plan. The group has raised funds to provide sanitary pads, transportation and refreshments for schools. STEMIE, a girls club targeting 10-17 year olds, aims to increase the number of girls who complete schools in rural areas and encourage them to pursue STEM-related courses.

Report Date...: 2/29/2016

Mentor(s): Eileen Brewer, Katy Dickinson, Aliya Janjua and Erin Wilkinson

Company: Symantec, Mentoring Standard, Advent Software and HGST

Mentor Type: Professional and Cultural

Policy Area(s): Professional Growth, Youth Engagement

In February 2016, four TechWomen Mentors- Eileen Brewer of Symantec, Katy Dickinson of Mentoring Standard, Aliya Janjua of Advent Software and Erin Wilkinson of HGST- attended a workshop at the Palestine Polytechnic University in Hebron. Here, the mentors led workshops on design thinking, mentoring, investments and crowdfunding. Mentors and fellows visited local schools at the Qattan Center for Children in Gaza, where they led a hands-on activity on motherboards.

Report Date...: 2/15/2016

“The Next Generation of Women in STEM” camp

Fellow(s): Emma Marie Ndoringoma (2013), Marie Claire Murekatete (2014) and Solange Tuyisenge (2015)

Country: Rwanda

Cohort: 2013-2015

Policy Area(s): Youth Engagement

The program brought 120 Rwandan high school girls from numerous districts to the Gashora Girls Academy of Science & Technology. The week-long camp’s objective was to introduce the girls to the STEM fields and inspire them to become future scientists, leaders and tech creators.

Report Date...: 1/18/2016