Impact Stories from Economic Impact Policy Area

Mentor(s): Reshma Singh

Company: Berkeley Lab

Mentor Type: Impact, Professional

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

Mentor joins steering committee for FEED conference

Mentor Reshma Singh has recently joined the steering committee of the 2024 Forum on Energy Efficiency and Decarbonization (FEED), which will be hosted in New Delhi, India this February 28 and 29.

Presented by the Alliance for an Energy Efficient Economy, FEED allows stakeholders in India’s energy ecosystem to come together in alignment with the agenda of the G20 New Delhi Leaders’ Declaration and COP28.

Reshma is a leader and innovator in the clean technology sector with over 12 years of experience. She holds two clean technology patents, is a published author, and works as a Senior Advisor for the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Building Technologies Office. As a program lead at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, she heads several tech-focused entrepreneurship initiatives including IMPEL, Cradle to Commerce, and the Climate Smart Women Energy Leaders program (CS-WEL).

Report Date...: 01/22/2024

Fellow delivers keynote speech at youth conference

Fellow(s): Ayesha Hammad Zaman

Country: Pakistan

Cohort: 2022

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

Fellow delivers keynote speech at youth conference

Fellow Ayesha Hammad Zaman (Pakistan, 2022) recently appeared as a keynote speaker at the Pakistan National Youth (PNY) Conference, which took place on January 13 in Lahore. The PNY Conference serves as a platform to encourage innovation, creativity and future-oriented career development for youths through job fairs, live podcasts, emerging technologies, workshops and other related activities.

“As a visionary leader, she illuminated the ever-evolving landscape of technology, offering invaluable perspectives on maximizing performance in the dynamic tech field of the future,” PNY Conference published in a recent post.

Ayesha is a pioneer in the tech skills-building sector. She is the founder of SkillsTodo, a tech training and placement platform, and co-founder of Pakistan Tech Forum, which works to amplify Pakistan’s IT exports.

Report Date...: 01/22/2024

Fellow(s): Aderonke Sakpere, Shlomit Shyeter and Corinthe Bailey

Country: Nigeria

Cohort: 2023

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

Fellow launches 10-day HCI workshop with sponsorship from Google Research and support from mentors

Fellow Aderonke Sakpere (Nigeria, 2023) has co-launched a two-week capacity building workshop in Human Computer Interaction (HCI) with sponsorship from Google Research and support from mentors Shlomit Shyeter and Corinthe Bailey.

Addressing the issue of HCI underrepresentation in Nigeria, this initiative was borne out of Aderonke’s professional mentorship project from her TechWomen 2023 program. The mentorship-driven workshop will take part in two 5-day phases, the first of which will offer participants a comprehensive overview of HCI while also leading them through the initial stages of design thinking and prototyping for a capstone project. The second 5-day phase will allow participants to fully develop their projects, providing access to and practice with large language models, qualitative and quantitative analysis, artificial intelligence platforms and much more. At the close, participants will present their capstone projects and learn about graduate school admissions.

AfriCHI Community and Afrisnet, where Aderonke serves as a member of the board of directors, served as partners of the workshop. Google’s Explore CSR awards aid higher education efforts to support students from historically marginalized groups to pursue graduate studies and research careers in computing.

Report Date...: 01/15/2024

Fellow(s): Aiymzhan Baitureyeva, Kyzzhibek Ryszhanova, Uldanay Moldagaliyeva and Zhibek Akasheva

Country: Kazakhstan

Cohort: 2023

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

Team Kazakhstan profiled in article on seed-grant victory

Team Kazakhstan 2023, composed of Aiymzhan Baitureyeva, Kyzzhibek Ryszhanova, Uldanay Moldagaliyeva and Zhibek Akasheva, was profiled in DigitalBusiness.kz for their recent $3,000 seed grant win, which will be used to develop Irrigate Smart, a mobile AI application to assist farmers and the state in efficiently and fairly allocating water resources to agriculturalists across the country.

In addition to highlighting the TechWomen program, the article delves into their efforts gaining community and government buy-in, and how they plan to utilize their diverse career skills and expertise towards business development, AI implementation, scientific documentation, information systems development and data protection.

“As soon as we succeed at home, the project can be scaled,” Uldanay explained. “There are water problems not only in Kazakhstan. Almost every country in the world has the same questions.”

Report Date...: 01/15/2024

SP ‘22 Team Lebanon brings light to Lebanon with TAQA

Fellow(s): Dana Abdel Khalek, Diala Al Samarani, Ghiwa Haddad, Miriana Itani, Saria Cheaib and Zeina Farah

Country: Lebanon

Cohort: 2022

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

Spring ‘22 Team Lebanon is bringing light to Lebanon with TAQA

Fellows Dana Abdel Khalek, Diala Al Samarani, Ghiwa Haddad, Miriana Itani, Saria Cheaib and Zeina Farah of Team Lebanon Spring 2022 have officially launched the first application cycle for TAQA, their seed grant-funded impact initiative that is working to provide renewable energy solution to family-owned businesses impacted by 2020 Port of Beirut explosion.

Benefactors of TAQA, funded by angel investors on a greatest-needs basis, will gain access to renewable energy from sources such as wind turbines and solar panels. This will allow them to continue running their businesses throughout the ongoing recovery of the national economy and power grid, which were devastated by the catastrophe that caused over 200 deaths, 7,000 injuries, 300,000 cases of homelessness and 15 billion dollars in property damage.

Report Date...: 01/15/2024

speakers and moderators for Wspark Women in Tech forum with USAID

Fellow(s): Elnura Kassymov, Aknur Karabay, Asem Tazhieva, Ayimzhan Baytureeva, Azhar Mambetova, Elena Chigibaeva, Ksenia Tsyganova, Munira Begmuratova,Natalya Klimenko

Country: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan

Cohort: 2016, 2018, 2019, 2022, 2023

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

Central Asian fellows collaborate as leaders, speakers and moderators for Wspark Women in Tech forum with USAID

Fellow Elnura Kassymova (Kazakhstan, 2016), founder and CEO of Wspark Women in Tech, enlisted a multitude of fellows to collaborate as talent in a recent forum for Central Asian women in IT.

Fellows Aknur Karabay (Kazakhstan, 2022), Asem Tazhieva (Kazakhstan, 2019), Ayimzhan Baytureeva (Kazakhstan, 2023), Azhar Mambetova (Kyrgyzstan, 2019), Elena Chigibaeva (Kyrgyzstan, 2018), Ksenia Tsyganova (Kyrgyzstan, 2022), Munira Begmuratova (Uzbekistan, 2016) and Natalya Klimenko (Uzbekistan, 2018), served as speakers and moderators for the Wspark Women in Tech Forum, which took place on December 13. 2023 with support from the USAID Entrepreneurship and Business Environment Development Project event.

The successful completion of the forum advances WSpark’s educational programming mission to promote regional gender parity and expand the economic rights of women in the Information and Computer Technology (ICT) sector. It provided a platform for leaders to share inspiring success stories, offer expert career advice, promote useful learning programs and network with potential mentors, mentees and partners. In total, over 35 panelists, speakers, moderators and trainers took part in the event, which included an opening greeting from Michelle Yerkin, U.S. Consul General in Almaty, Kazakhstan.

Report Date...: 1/1/2024

Fellow wins Best Young Manager Award 2023 from CJD

Fellow(s): Amani Mansouri

Country: Tunisia

Cohort: 2018

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

Fellow wins Best Young Manager Award 2023 from CJD

Fellow Amani Mansouri (Tunisia, 2018), CEO of the startup Dabchy, recently won the Best Young Manager Award 2023 at the Center for Young Managers (CJD) Business Awards ceremony. The event was hosted by CJD Tunisia, in collaboration with the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, to spotlight entrepreneurs, managers and young leaders across various sectors who have demonstrated leadership, innovation and creativity in business development.

Dabchy is a user-to-user online fashion sales platform that merges community with social networks to empower its members, known as “Dabchouchas,” to utilize multimedia and interaction to buy, sell, and exchange new and bespoke garments and accessories online.

Report Date...: 1/1/2024

Mentor(s): Page Crahan

Company: Tapestry

Mentor Type: Impact

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

Mentor attends COP28 in Dubai to showcase gains with Tapestry’s electric grid virtualization technology

Mentor Page Crahan recently attended COP28 this December in Dubai to showcase Tapestry, the electric grid division of Google’s X the moonshot factory. As the General Manager and leader of Tapestry, her visit focused on their progress with Chile’s national grid operator, Coordinador Electrico Nacional (CEN), which is the first national system operator to employ Tapestry’s grid virtualization technology as the country moves towards its 2030 goal for a clean energy transition. Tapestry’s tools allow CEN grid planners to run 30 times more scenarios than they can with their current platform, vital to a country with the second longest national electric grid in the world. Key COP28 highlights for Page also included speaking on a panel, “Unlocking Innovation to Lead in the Energy Transition: COP 28 Energy Day” and being invited by Chilean Minister of Energy Diego Pardo to join one of his COP sessions, where he unveiled a new video showcasing the progress of their partnership with Tapestry since 2021.

“It was the first time global leaders took stock of the progress we’ve made since 2015’s landmark Paris Agreement and the report card is discouraging,” Page wrote in a recent blog. “Still… I’m confident that with the right policy initiatives, visionary organizations, and people dedicated to tackling the climate crisis—and their collective willingness to take bets on new technologies and partnerships—we’ll get on track towards living in a clean, vibrant world powered by renewables.”

Report Date...: 12/11/2023

Fellow visits Tbilisi for networking with WE-Champs

Fellow(s): Darika Aldasheva

Country: Kyrgyzstan

Cohort: 2022

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

Fellow Darika Aldasheva (Kyrgyzstan, 2022) shared her experience with the TechWomen program during a panel discussion in Tbilisi, Georgia this December for Strengthening the Entrepreneurial Ecosystem by Networking Regional Women’s Chambers of Commerce and Business Associations (WE-Champs), for which she was recently selected as a beneficiary. WE-Champs, funded by the U.S. State Department Office of Global Women’s Issues (S/GWI) and facilitated by the Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE), aims to promote women’s economic security and gender-responsive institutions in Europe and Eurasia.
The event brought together women entrepreneurs and leaders of women’s associations and chambers of commerce from 15 countries across the region to share best practices and discuss the findings from the Regional Gender Analysis.

Report Date...: 12/11/2023

Fellow selected as eTradeforWomen Community Leader

Fellow(s): Tadhim Uwizeye

Country: Rwanda

Cohort: 2023

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

Fellow Tadhim Uwizeye (Rwanda, 2023) has recently been selected to serve as an Anglophone African countries’ Community Leader for eTradeforWomen, an initiative of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). UNCTAD is an intergovernmental organization within the United Nations Secretariat that amplifies the interests of developing countries in world trade. ETradeforWomen promotes women’s economic empowerment and gender equality by providing a platform for women entrepreneurs to elevate their knowledge, skills and resources in digital innovation, e-commerce & entrepreneurship. Community Leaders must be female CEOs or founders of digital businesses that have been in operation for at least two years.
Tadhim is the founder and CEO of Olado, an e-commerce platform offering business-to-consumer product sales for Rwandan enterprises and organizations.

Report Date...: 12/04/2023

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