Impact Stories from Economic Impact Policy Area

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

Fellow announces founding of STEM training and university preparation platform Stemio

Fellow(s): Natalya Yusupova Klimenko

Country: Uzbekistan

Cohort: 2017

Policy Area(s): Economic Impact, Education Diplomacy/Mentoring, Entrepreneurship, Professional Development, Youth Engagement

Fellow Natalya Yusupova Klimenko (Uzbekistan, 2017) has recently announced the founding of Stemio, an innovative online learning platform designed to help students prepare for STEM courses and gain greater access to universities and the admissions process. Subscribers to the platform will receive access to worldwide courses, 24/7 online support, unlimited practice and knowledge testing opportunities, and guaranteed university admission.

“By my calculations, every year more than 2 million school students in Central Asia and neighboring countries take exams in mathematics, physics, chemistry or biology when applying to STEM universities.” Natalya explained in a recent announcement. “80% of them fail due to the low level of education in schools. It is an incredible 2 billion dollar opportunity in this region alone.”

Natalya has a professional background in digital marketing management and most recently served as the Head of Sales at Billz, a retail business management software company. She launched Stemio to help students shore up teacher and resource shortages, combat institutional corruption, alleviate personal study pressures and develop a clear and desirable career path.

Report Date...: 11/27/2023

Mentor(s): Lori Kahn and Claudia Galvan

Company: Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Oracle

Mentor Type: Professional and Cultural

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

The Society of Women Engineers (SWE) recently announced mentors Lori Kahn of Lockheed Martin Space Systems and Claudia Galvan of Oracle among its five 2023 recipients of the Advocating Women in Engineering Award. This is one of the highest distinctions awarded by SWE is bestowed on members of the engineering field who have demonstrated a track record of professional excellence and advocacy for women in engineering.
They will be honored during the annual WE23 conference held this year in Los Angeles from October 26 to 28, alongside other global players making significant contributions to the advancement of women in STEM.
“There’s more advocating to do to get more girls into STEM careers and keep them there,” Lori expressed in a recent post announcing the honor.

Report Date...: 09/25/2023

Fellow-led Technovation Girls Uzbekistan team makes record-setting win at World Summit 2023 in California

Fellow(s): Elena Selezneva and Saida Yusupova (Uzbekistan, 2016)

Country: Uzbekistan

Cohort: 2016

Policy Area(s): Economic Impact, Empowering Women and Girls, Entrepreneurship, Youth Engagement

Technovation Girls Uzbekistan, introduced and spearheaded in 2016 by fellows Elena Selezneva and Saida Yusupova (Uzbekistan, 2016), recently made history when Team Tecnas won the Social Impact Award (Senior Division) at the Technovation Girls 2023 World Summit in California. This victory marks the first world summit win for an Uzbek team in the seven-year history of the competition, hosted this year by Synopsys.

Comprising five girls and a mentor, Team Tecnas developed a virtual reality (VR) application, Sinov, which provides an immersive science lab experience for students who lack access to conventional STEM laboratory facilities. “We are incredibly proud of Team Tecnas’ achievement and hope that their success will inspire other girls in Uzbekistan to pursue their passion for technology and become role models in the field,” Elena shared in a recent message.

Elena and Saida are the co-founders of Tech4Impact, a women-focused NGO that supports innovation, IT entrepreneurship and the green technology sector. The NGO grew from a TechWomen seed-grant winning impact project and has been supported by both the local alumnae community and U.S. mentors including Erin Keeley, Rekha Pai and Eileen Brewer.

Technovation Girls has a long history of support from the TechWomen community, with long-time mentor and Strategic Partnerships Advisor Anar Simpson serving as the Global Ambassador for the program.

Report Date...: 11/20/2023

Fellow leads 4-day Tech Business Mission to Malaysia

Fellow(s): Ayesha Hammad Zaman (Pakistan, 2022)

Country: Pakistan

Cohort: 2022

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

Fellow Ayesha Hammad Zaman (Pakistan, 2022), recently led the four-day Tech Business Mission to Malaysia under the banner of the Pakistan Tech Forum, a platform she co-founded to enhance Pakistan’s IT exports. The mission, organized in concert with GMB Malaysia, facilitated meaningful business partnerships between Pakistani organizations and the IT ecosystems of Malaysia and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) region. A total of 20 organizations, including enterprises, small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), and startups participated in the initiative alongside Malaysian government institutions, investors, local IT companies and other stakeholders. The event showcased the diversity of Pakistan’s tech ecosystem, underscoring the nation’s aspirations for entrepreneurship and economic growth in the tech sector. “The real work starts post delegation as we work closely with the stake holders in the Malaysian tech ecosystem to promote bilateral trade,” Ayesha shared in a recent post. “[I] can’t emphasize enough how much confidence we have gained after the support expressed by the Pakistan High Commission in Malaysia.” Ayesha is the founder and CEO of Skills Todo, an IT workforce training platform. This spring she also successfully hosted Skills Gala & Talent Hunt 2023, an original concept IT mega expo, in Lahore, Pakistan.

Report Date...: 11/13/2023

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