Impact Stories from Education Diplomacy/Mentoring Policy Area
Fellow represents Kazakhstan at Global Game Jam
Fellow(s): Aliya Mukhametzhanova
Country: Kazakhstan
Cohort: 2017
Policy Area(s): Education Diplomacy/Mentoring, Professional Growth, Youth Engagement
Last week, 2017 fellow Aliya Mukhametzhanova led a team of developers representing Kazakhstan at Global Game Jam, the world’s largest game creation event. The event, now in its 11th year, brings together participants from around the world to create a game within a 48-hour period. This year, 147,00 people from 113 countries participated, creating 9,000 new games.
Bringing Kazakhstan to the games for the first time, Aliya created two “jam” sites – one in Almaty and one in Astana – and organized teams of developers and gamers to participate. In the two-day period, Aliya’s teams created 13 games ranging from survival simulations to games where players are tasked with stopping environmental pollution. Both Game Jam teams hope to continue working together to further develop their games.
Moving forward, Aliya hopes to recruit more young people and create academies where students can learn about software development, design, animation and more: “I want to be a bridge and help others to find new friends in other countries and to show the gaming world to people in Kazakhstan,” Aliya says.
Report Date...: 2/4/19
Fellow named to international STEM alliance board
Fellow(s): Sylvia Mukasa
Country: Kenya
Cohort: 2014
Policy Area(s): Education Diplomacy/Mentoring, Professional Growth, Youth Engagement
2014 fellow of Kenya Sylvia Mukasa was recently named a global advisory board member of the India STEM Alliance, a think tank that conducts STEM research and supports design, development and promotion of learning frameworks and solutions. Sylvia, the founder and CEO of GlobalX Investments, was selected as a subject matter expert on STEM education. Her latest venture, GlobalX Innovation Labs, provides creative spaces for children to ignite their curiosity in STEM fields.
Sylvia will advise the group on STEM education from the African perspective, ensuring best practices alongside board members from other parts of the world. “Working with the advisory team will ensure that learners are getting the right skills and that the STEM ecosystem evolves concurrently with the fast-paced world of technology,” Sylvia says.
Report Date...: 1/28/19
Fellow launches virtual community for women in MENA
Fellow(s): Haneen Abu Farha
Country: Palestinian Territories
Cohort: 2015
Policy Area(s): Education Diplomacy/Mentoring, Empowering Women and Girls, Entrepreneurship, Professional Growth
2015 fellow Haneen Abu Farha of the Palestinian Territories recently co-launched Elevated, a virtual community for women in the MENA region. The group, currently on Facebook, connects women to global and regional opportunities, including jobs, fellowships, exchange programs and professional development opportunities. Additionally, Elevated offers resume, cover letter and consulting services to job-seekers as well as candidate matching for job providers.
“The idea came from us three co-founders who have been working together on helping connect women to opportunities in the U.S.,” says Haneen. “We thought we needed to create a community that connects women to opportunities all over the world in an engaging way.” The group recently published a live video featuring the program She Entrepreneurs and soon will launch their “Star of the Month” series, where female professionals share their personal and professional journeys with the community. In the coming year, Elevated hopes to share and amplify TechWomen fellows’ experiences and recruit women throughout the MENA region to apply for TechWomen 2020.
Report Date...: 1/21/19
Fellow plans digital empowerment center in Cameroon
Fellow(s): Sophie Ngassa
Country: Cameroon
Cohort: 2014
Policy Area(s): Economic Impact, Education Diplomacy/Mentoring, Empowering Women and Girls, Entrepreneurship, Professional Growth, Youth Engagement
2014 fellow of Cameroon Sophie Ngassa has broken ground in Douala to launch her new inititiave, a digital empowerment center for women and girls. The initiative, currently called #GiftFromMum, began after Sophie’s mother gifted her land to pursue her passion project. The center will serve as a space where women and girls can acquire digital skills training, participate in STEM-based workshops and learn skills to generate income.
Construction for the digital empowerment center is in progress and will eventually house a workshop, kitchen and offices. Speaking about her vision, Sophie says, “Two years ago it was a conversation, last year it became a plan and this year it is work in progress. We make little steps every day.”
Sophie, a digital rights activist and high school teacher, founded a youth vocational technical training organization, Center for Youth Education and Economic Development, in 2010. She has also served as a mentor for Technovation Cameroon since 2014.
Report Date...: 1/14/19
Fellow to launch tech curriculum in South African schools
Fellow(s): Lindiwe Matlali
Country: South Africa
Cohort: 2017
Policy Area(s): Economic Impact, Education Diplomacy/Mentoring, Empowering Women and Girls, Professional Growth, Youth Engagement
2017 fellow of South Africa Lindiwe Matlali, founder of Africa Teen Geeks, has announced a partnership with the South African Department of Basic Education to develop and implement a digital skills curriculum in South African schools. Lindiwe, a recipient of numerous accolades for her work, will develop a robotics and coding framework that will scale throughout the country over the next five years.
Lindiwe is partnering with City University of New York to develop a curriculum that is not dependent on computer and internet infrastructure, allowing it to be implemented in a greater number of schools across the country. She will also be supported by the network she built during TechWomen, including a connection from Autodesk’s Impact Design Workshop who will focus on developing a curriculum based on innovation.
Lindiwe will also build an online platform that trains South African teachers and provides interactive resources about the coursework. Moving forward, Lindiwe hopes to bring her coding and robotics curriculum to the greater African continent: “We want to inspire the next generation of Africa’s innovators and entrepreneurs,” she says. “We have to teach our children how to innovate as early as possible.”
Report Date...: 12/31/18
Mentor(s): Shakhina Pulatova (mentor)
Company: LinkedIn
Mentor Type: Professional
Policy Area(s): Education Diplomacy/Mentoring, Empowering Women and Girls, Professional Growth
TechWomen mentor Shakhina Pulatova recently returned from her travels to Uzbekistan, where she delivered lectures and presentations to university students and women in tech fields. Shakhina collaborated with TechWomen fellows who invited her to speak at various venues throughout Tashkent during her sabbatical from work at LinkedIn. At an event coordinated by Women TechMakers Tashkent, Shakhina spoke to students about entering tech fields and the importance of developing core skills in the rapidly changing job market.
Shakhina also delivered guest lectures at Westminster International University and Inha University about online identity, reputation and product management for students majoring in business information systems, computer science and computer engineering. “I was truly impressed with the enthusiasm, curiosity and eagerness of the next generation to learn and contribute,” she says. “This gives me hope for the tech future in Uzbekistan.”
Report Date...: 12/31/18
Fellow hosts Africa Science Week in Cameroon
Fellow(s): Arielle Kitio
Country: Cameroon
Cohort: 2016
Policy Area(s): Education Diplomacy/Mentoring, Empowering Women and Girls, Professional Growth, Youth Engagement
2016 fellow of Cameroon Arielle Kitio recently organized a week of lectures, panels and hands-on activities during Next Einstein Forum’s Africa Science Week Cameroon. Arielle, a Next Einstein Forum ambassador, is responsible for driving NEF’s public engagement activities in Cameroon.
Africa Science Week, a weeklong celebration of science and technology, is held in 13 countries throughout the African continent. In Yaoundé, Arielle organized a week of activities meant to inspire the next generation through coding workshops, panels on artificial intelligence, solar energy seminars, hackathons and more. She partnered with local educators, entrepreneurs and makers to deliver programming to both primary schools as well as local universities.
Report Date...: 12/31/18
Fellow named first runner up at South African Youth Awards
Fellow(s): Tozama Qwebani-Ogunleye
Country: South Africa
Cohort: 2018
Policy Area(s): Education Diplomacy/Mentoring, Professional Growth, Youth Engagement
Dr. Tozama Qwebani-Ogunleye, 2018 fellow of South Africa, was named first runner up at last week’s 2018 South African Youth Awards. Organized by the National Youth Development Agency, the awards recognize individuals aged 35 and under who are contributing to the South African community through empowering young people and encouraging the public and private sectors to contribute to youth development.
Tozama was nominated in the Academia category and was recognized for her work as Project Director at Vaal University of Technology. “Being a 2018 TechWomen fellow was an advantage for me to make it to the finalists,” she said. Before starting TechWomen program, Tozama wrote a guest blog post on her journey, challenges and path to TechWomen 2018.
Report Date...: 12/24/18
Fellow hosts digital training session for university students
Fellow(s): Afnan Saqr
Country: Jordan
Cohort: 2015
Policy Area(s): Education Diplomacy/Mentoring, Professional Growth, Youth Engagement
2015 fellow of Jordan Afnan Saqr hosted a digital marketing training for more than 100 students at Applied Science University last week in Amman. The training, called “Maharat Min Google,” is Google’s first Arabic digital skills program that was launched to help youth in the MENA region access free courses and increase their job prospects.
Afnan led the training in partnerhsip with INJAZ, a non-profit organization that offers financial education, business and entreprenurship skills training for local youth. During the session, she taught students about search engine marketing, social media, e-commerce, geo-targeting and data analytics. At the end of the course, students took an assessment on the Maharat Min Google platform and received a certification of completion to demonstrate their newly acquired capabilities.
Report Date...: 12/24/18
Fellows organize Women Tech Talks at local university
Fellow(s): Gina Kadri, Hanan Atallah, Zeina Sadeddin, Nuha Shawahna, Waad Jabbarin, Razan Qraini, Ruba Awayes,Yamama Shaka’a, Ayah Soufan
Country: Palestinian Territories
Cohort: 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018
Policy Area(s): Education Diplomacy/Mentoring, Professional Growth
This week, a group of TechWomen fellows in Ramallah came together to co-organize Women Tech Talks, an event featuring local women business leaders, founders and entrepreneurs. The day’s program was organized in partnership with Birzeit University and the Palestinian chapter of ArabWIC, an initiative that supports and encourages Arab women in computing.
2018 fellows Gina Kadri, Hanan Atallah, Zeina Sadeddin, Nuha Shawahna and Waad Jabbarin were joined by Razan Qraini and Ruba Awayes (2017) and Yamama Shaka’a (2016) and Ayah Soufan (2015). Together, they gave a presentation to students and graduates about their TechWomen experiences and also participated on a panel to answer questions about the program and speak about how it has impacted their careers in tech.
Report Date...: 12/10/18
