Impact Stories from Economic Impact Policy Area

Fellow selected to join Forbes Technology Council

Fellow(s): Oluwatobi (Tobi) Otokiti (Nigeria, 2022)

Country: Nigeria

Cohort: 2022

Policy Area(s): Economic Impact, Entrepreneurship, Professional Development

In her role on the Forbes Technology Council, Tobi will serve as a Forbes contributing writer.

Fellow Oluwatobi (Tobi) Otokiti (Nigeria, 2022), founder of Product Dive, has recently been selected for the Forbes Technology Council, an invitation-only community for global CIOs, CTOs, and tech executives. Through a competitive committee selection process, Forbes Councils assembles accomplished leaders from various fields into a community that offers opportunities for professional growth and enables members to have a more significant influence on the business world. As a part of this role, Tobi will offer her perspective as a product management professional, serving as a contributing writer for Forbes articles such as this recent collaborative write-up on wearable technology. “I’m glad to expand my network to share, learn and give back to the global tech community as an experienced product manager,” Tobi shared in a recent post. “Technology is constantly changing with a growing trend in AI, ChatGPT, Web3, Cloud and more.”

Report Date...: 3/5/2023

Fellow recognized as trailblazer in Egyptian geology

Fellow(s): Sara Fakhry Elokda (Egypt, 2022)

Country: Egypt

Cohort: 2022

Policy Area(s): Economic Impact, Entrepreneurship, Environmental Sustainability, Professional Development

Sarah speaks on eXtra news TV about her journey to becoming one of Egypt’s earliest female well-site geologists at a rig site.

Fellow Sara Fakhry Elokda (Egypt, 2022) has recently gained media recognition on several news platforms for her distinction as one of the first female field geologists in Egypt. In recent weeks, she has been interviewed by Egypt’s eXtra news, DMC TV, Oil News and the Women of Egypt Network. Through these outlets, she has shared the inspirational story of becoming one of the first women in her country to serve as a well-site geologist and how this led her to apply and be selected as an Emerging Leader for TechWomen. She also shares her opportunity to speak in Washington D.C. on a panel discussion during a luncheon addressed by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken. Since returning to Egypt, Sarah has been active in spreading the message of her experience with TechWomen to encourage other women to apply for the program.

Report Date...: 3/5/2023

Fellow Ph.D. thesis studies EM waves for green energy

Fellow(s): Tolulope Erinosho (Nigeria, 2022)

Country: Nigeria

Cohort: 2022

Policy Area(s): Economic Impact, Environmental Sustainability, Professional Development

Fellow Ph.D. thesis studies EM waves for green energy

Fellow Tolulope Erinosho (Nigeria, 2022) has recently completed her Ph.D. thesis on the “Analysis of thin-wire-based RECTENNAs for efficient harvesting of electromagnetic waves energy” at the University of Lagos. Tolulope’s work seeks to increase the output voltage of electromagnetic harvesting systems by enhancing the power of existing designs. This research addresses the recycling of wasted radio frequency (RF) signals, which have proliferated the airspace environment as a result of the massive adoption of wireless devices resulting out of the technological revolution. “Sustainable Development Goal 7 of the United Nations is centered on clean energy solutions as an alternative to fossil fuel,” Tolulope shared in a recent post. “[This is] the motivation for harnessing free RF signals from the ambient environment and recycling [them] into usable DC voltage.” Tolupe went on to thank the TechWomen program and Professional Mentor Cynthia Leung and Collette Zaro, as well as the entire Moxion Power team, for their technical input on her research during her recent program in the U.S.

Report Date...: 2/20/2023

Mentors collaborate for women entrepreneurs

Fellow(s): Mentor Rekha Pai

Country:

Policy Area(s): Economic Impact, Empowering Women and Girls, Entrepreneurship, Professional Development

Mentors collaborate for women entrepreneurs.

On Feb 8, mentor Rekha Pai led a pre-summit workshop for the ECA’s Academy for Women Entrepreneurs (AWE) in 11 countries in East Asia and the Pacific, with the support of seven other TechWomen mentors — Julia Lovin, Jill Finlayson, Shachi Patel, Sandra Chen, Mohna Dhomse, Sarasija Parthasarthy and Meg Gordon. Together these mentors facilitated two breakout sessions designed to help attendees clarify target markets and customer segments, and craft unique value proposition statements and competitive positioning. Participants expressed deep appreciation for how these activities helped them develop key decisions about their business models. The event and workshop were supported by the U.S. Embassy in Kuala Lumpur and included participants from Brunei, Fiji, Malaysia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, Timor Leste and Vietnam. Rekha is the founder of a non-profit women’s accelerator, Launch-HER, which gives women entrepreneurs from emerging markets access to free curriculum, resources, community and funding networks made of impact investors and impact VC funds.

Report Date...: 2/20/2023

Fellow invited to join WEF Network of Global Future Councils

Fellow(s): Lindiwe Matlali (2017)

Country: South Africa

Cohort: 2017

Policy Area(s): Economic Impact, Empowering Women and Girls, Entrepreneurship, Professional Development

Fellow invited to join WEF Network of Global Future Councils

Fellow Lindiwe Matlali (South Africa, 2017), founder of Africa Teen Geeks (ATG), has recently accepted an opportunity to join the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Network of Global Future Councils, a multistakeholder insight network that mobilizes experts from various fields and regions to generate deep understanding of frontier topics, such as AI and sustainable development, and explore their effects on other global, regional and industry-specific challenges. Lindiwe will serve on the Global Future Council on the Future of Cyber Security for the 2023-2024 term. Lindiwe has been involved with the WEF since 2020, when she won the Social Innovator Award from the Schwab Foundation. Following that, Lindiwe became a contributing writer, speaker and partner with the WEF. Most recently, at this January’s WEF Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland, Lindiwe made notable appearances at the stakeholder dialogue “Inspiring Innovation: How to Create the Next Generation of Entrepreneurs” and the press conference “Trailblazing Entrepreneurs Attacking the World’s Biggest Problems.” Present on both panels was John Dutton, Head of UpLink, an innovation division of the WEF, which has recently partnered with Lindiwe’s ATG to launch an innovation and networking accelerator designed to bring African youths into the WEF ecosystem. “Talent alone is not enough,” Lindiwe posited at the press conference. “Most of us are here because we had talent and social capital. We were in front of people who saw [our] talent and were able to support [us].” Her contributions to the event garnered a mention in the WEF’s Outcomes from the 2023 Annual Meeting report (p. 22).

Report Date...: 2/13/2023

STEM4ALL interviews Fellow

Fellow(s): Dinara Moldosheva (2022)

Country: Kyrgyzstan

Cohort: 2022

Policy Area(s): Economic Impact, Entrepreneurship, Professional Development

STEM4ALL Interviews Fellow

Fellow Dinara Moldosheva (Kyrgyzstan, 2022) was recently interviewed by STEM4ALL for her contributions as founder of Innovation Lab. STEM4ALL is a joint platform launched by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) with the aim of promoting gender equality and increasing the representation of women and girls in STEM fields in Europe and Central Asia. Innovation Lab is an ecosystem involved in intellectual property, innovation infrastructures, startups, STEAM and gender development. In the interview, Dinara acknowledges that “the whole world is trending towards globalization, digitalization, exact sciences, engineering [and] mathematics.” She highlights that although hers is a landlocked and developing nation, they are rich with human resources. “Our potential is our people. This is an innovation. This is a creative solution. This is a creative economy. This is STEM,” she explains. “Because we have had STEM, one might say, in our families since ancient times.”

Report Date...: 2/13/2023

Fellow hosts NASA spacecraft operations engineer

Fellow(s): Faten Khalfallah (2015)

Country: Tunisia

Cohort: 2015

Policy Area(s): Economic Impact, Professional Development

Fellow Hosts NASA Spacecraft Operations Engineer

Fellow Faten Khalfallah’s (Tunisia, 2015) First Skills Club, in partnership with the Tunisian Space Association and the U.S. embassy in Tunisia, recently hosted NASA spacecraft operations engineer Nagin Cox for their Space Day with NASA event. The guest speaker spoke on her professional experiences at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Sunnyvale, CA and gave an inspirational presentation entitled, “Dare Mighty Things: Mars Rovers Paving the Way.” Faten co-founded the First Skills Club with her husband, Rabah Hammouda, to provide educational programming for kids to develop their English communication skills through STEM education.

Report Date...: 2/13/2023

Fellow startup launches WellShift biofeedback app

Fellow(s): Abeer Albashiti (2022)

Country: Jordan

Cohort: 2022

Policy Area(s): Economic Impact, Entrepreneurship, Professional Development

Fellow Startup Launches WellShift Biofeedback App

Larimar technology, a wellness, performance and productivity startup funded by fellow Abeer Albashiti (Jordan, 2022) recently announced the launch of its first technological tool, the WellShift app, available in Arabic and English. Larimar offers self-regulation tools designed to monitor and transform emotions, wellness, performance and resilience for both individuals and enterprises. The technology can be used in a standalone capacity or be integrated with existing smart wearables. Abeer credits her participation in TechWomen as a major contribution to Larimar’s social capital growth. “While in California,” she explains, “I visited HeartMath, the research center on which 60% of Larimar’s scientific research depends. [There, we] discussed the psychological backbone of my innovation and initiated a partnership.” Abeer is a wellbeing advocate and emotion AI builder who founded Larimar to help people utilize emotions and life experiences “as enabling data for actionable insights like boosting wellbeing, improving customer experience, gaming and security threat detection.”

Report Date...: 2/6/2023

Fellow(s): Pamela Azanfouet (2022)

Country: Cameroon

Cohort: 2022

Policy Area(s): Economic Impact, Entrepreneurship, Professional Development

Pamela founded NGO Nkwangtech Foundation to facilitate mentorship in STEM and encourage the pursuit of STEM careers and entrepreneurial applications.

Fellow Pamela Azanfouet (Cameroon, 2022) recently expressed gratitude to TechWomen partner organization Juniper Networks for having donated 20 computers to Nkwangtech Foundation, an NGO that she established in 2021 to connect students and job seekers with mentors, while inspiring them to pursue careers and creative entrepreneurial opportunities in STEM. Pamela has explained that the youths in the city of Bafoussam, capital of the West Region of Cameroon, face many roadblocks accessing employment and education, which can inhibit their ability to fully realize their potential and contribute to their community. Through Nkwangtech Foundation, they gain beneficial exposure to new skills, professional networks and opportunities to quickly advance their careers and professional goals. “By this donation,” Pamela shares, “Juniper networks gave us the strength to believe and to continue working hard to help the youths of the western region be part of the digital transformation effect and become opportunity creators.” Pamela credits the advocacy of Professional Mentor Rebecca Biswas with driving the donation from Juniper Networks. She also expresses gratitude to the TechWomen program, which “changed my life [and] perception of myself and gave me an opportunity to learn how to communicate and interact with others.”

Report Date...: 1/30/2023

Fellow(s): Darika Aldasheva (2022)

Country: Kyrgyzstan

Cohort: 2022

Policy Area(s): Economic Impact, Entrepreneurship, Professional Development

Fellow featured in KRJC’s 33 mini MBA success stories

Fellow Darika Aldasheva (Kyrgyzstan, 2022) was recently interviewed in a magazine feature by the Kyrgyz Republic Japan Center for Human Development (KRJC) of 33 success stories of mini MBA graduates from their program. Darika is both the CEO of Jeti Media, a social media marketing agency, and the Managing Director of Noosphere, a public relations agency. Speaking on her leadership style, she says “I don’t educate, but I talk with the team and I get feedback. This is necessary,” she emphasizes, “to keep employees who want to develop, establish collaboration between specialists and take responsibility.” She also shares that trying to choose between business and personal life “is a false dichotomy. You cannot devote yourself to one thing,” she explains. “Those who devote themselves [solely] to family begin to hate the family and the same goes for work. Work-life balance is necessary and it is quite possible.” The KRJC was established 20 years ago to support Asian countries with transition market economies and to promote cultural exchange with Japan.

Report Date...: 1/30/2022

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