“You can change the lives of women in STEM throughout the world.”
“Seeing my job through the Emerging Leaders’ eyes made me realize how fortunate I am.”
“The multiplier effect of the TechWomen program is truly great.”
These were some of the words that jump started a night of engaging conversation at the headquarters of BrightRoll, Inc. in San Francisco, where last week, five TechWomen Mentors participated in a panel to share their experiences with mentoring women in STEM from Africa and the Middle East. As part of BrightWomen Week at BrightRoll, the TechWomen Mentors discussed the importance of mentorship as a means of fostering the global network of women in technology.
Organized by TechWomen Mentor Beth Steinberg, the event began with an invigorating networking session. The energy in the room was upbeat, and positivity radiated throughout the space, with many attendees eager to learn more about the TechWomen program. Moderated by Trish Tierney, Executive Director of the Institute of International Education San Francisco, the panel delved into broader issues concerning women in the workplace, as well as more specific topics such as the mentor matching process and the logistics of the mentorship at the Emerging Leader’s host company.
The panelists also reflected on the 2014 Delegation Trips to Rwanda and Morocco. Bringing the program full-circle, these trips give mentors the opportunity to reconnect with Emerging Leaders, learn about the STEM ecosystem of a program country and encourage women and girls to pursue technology. Last year, the TechWomen program expanded to include seven countries from Sub-Saharan Africa; the weeklong visit to Rwanda in February was the first time in the program’s history that TechWomen traveled to this region on a delegation trip. In all, Mentors were impressed and energized by the variety of initiatives, programs, and start-ups they interacted with these countries.
The evening ended with a Q&A session during which Mentors exchanged insight and ideas about the program with audience members. Check out some of our favorite tweets from the event below.
Welcome our panelists @tinashakour@ajbouskos@jzalder@sfassil@bliederer#TW2014#BrightWomenpic.twitter.com/0spVlAo07a
— BrightRoll Eng (@BrightRollEng) April 30, 2014
Thanks to @BrightRollEng & @bsteinbe for hosting @TechWomen session today. Looking forward to the next inspiring class of #TW2014 mentors!
— Evan Ryan (@ECA_AS) April 30, 2014
.@ECA_AS building the tech women community one interaction at a time @BrightRollEng@bsteinbe@TechWomen
— Erin Wilson (@techmatchmaker) April 30, 2014
@TechWomen catch-up and meet-up! @BrightRoll#tw2014#BrightWomenpic.twitter.com/fPkgzoIQOr
— Evelyn Teo (@eeteeee) April 30, 2014
If you become a @TechWomen mentor you ultimately end up becoming an ambassador of the country your mentee represents #BrightWomen#TW2014
— BrightRoll (@BrightRoll) April 30, 2014
The Professional Mentor application opens on June 10. The Cultural Mentor application opens on July 10. To be notified when the Mentor applications for the 2014 TechWomen program open, please sign up for our mailing list.
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