Impact Stories from Education Diplomacy/Mentoring Policy Area

Mentor(s): Daniela Ushuzima and Irina Silva

Policy Area(s): Education Diplomacy/Mentoring, Youth Engagement

Two TechWomen mentors, Daniela Ushizima and Irina Silva, have recently been honored with Berkeley Lab Director’s Awards. Daniela received the Director’s Award for Exceptional Achievement in outreach from the Lawrence Berkeley National Lab for her “selfless and tireless efforts as an exemplary ambassador of science and goodwill, engaging new and emerging scientists around the globe,” including the TechWomen fellows. Irina received the Joint BioEnergy Institute Berkeley Lab Director’s Award for Exceptional Achievement in Diversity for her work connecting Berkeley Lab with local youths “to help train a future scientific workforce that truly represents the diversity of the Bay Area.

The Director’s Awards program recognizes significant achievements of Lab employees for accomplishments, leadership, collaboration, multi-disciplinary science, cross-divisional projects and commitment to excellence.

Report Date...: 12/4/2017

United States Educational Foundation in Pakistan Career Day

Fellow(s): Mehak Jamal

Country: Pakistan

Cohort: 2017

Policy Area(s): Education Diplomacy/Mentoring, Youth Engagement

Mehak Jamal, 2017 fellow of Pakistan, was featured as a panelist at the United States Educational Foundation in Pakistan’s (USEFP) Career Day. Mehak spoke to students and young professionals, encouraging them to pursue careers in tech given the sector’s potential for exponential growth in Pakistan.

Mehak spoke about her experience with TechWomen as well as her work with the Punjab Information Technology Board, which not only provides tech services and infrastructure to both the private and public sector, but also increases the digital literacy of Pakistani citizens.

Report Date...: 11/27/2017

HapaKenya Interview

Fellow(s): Chao Mbogo

Country: Kenya

Cohort: 2017

Policy Area(s): Education Diplomacy/Mentoring, Entrepreneurship, Youth Engagement

Dr. Chao Mbogo, 2017 fellow of Kenya, was highlighted in an in-depth interview on the Kenyan news platform HapaKenya. Chao details her personal and professional journey to become a computer scientist, researcher, teacher, mentor, and recently, the Head of the Computer Science Department at Kenya Methodist University. Chao also provides updates on KamiLimu, a mentorship program she launched in 2016 for university level computer science students, and Project Digniti, the seed grant-winning action plan project she developed with the other 2017 fellows of Kenya. Chao has also received grant awards from Anita B.org and Google for her work with KamiLimu.

Report Date...: 11/20/2017

TechCamp Ramallah

Fellow(s): Ruba Awayes, Rasha Hammo, Razan Qraini

Country: Palestinian Territories

Cohort: 2017

Policy Area(s): Education Diplomacy/Mentoring, Youth Engagement

From November 18-19, Ruba Awayes, Rasha Hammo and Razan Qraini, 2017 fellows of the Palestinian Territories, participated in TechCamp Ramallah: Business Success through Academic Excellence, which was hosted by the U.S. Consulate General Jerusalem. Ruba and Razan were trainers at the camp, with Ruba leading sessions on tools for self-learning and Razan leading sessions on mobile app design. TechCamp Ramallah was designed to strengthen linkages between students and Palestinian businesses by focusing on the power of technology to solve real-world problems and drive economic growth. The program also emphasized a skills-based curriculum that addressed private sector needs.

TechCamps are public diplomacy programs managed by the Bureau of International Information Programs (IIP) at the U.S. Department of State.

Report Date...: 11/20/2017

KasiMaths in HuffPost South Africa

Fellow(s): Danai Nhando

Country: South Africa

Cohort: 2017

Policy Area(s): Education Diplomacy/Mentoring, Youth Engagement

2017 fellow Danai Nhando has written a blog post for HuffPost South Africa about the South African team’s seed grant win and their plans to carry out their action plan, KasiMaths, a low-cost, scalable, after-school math enrichment hub in low-income communities. In their Pitch Day presentation, the team identified the KasiMaths program as a way to take a “holistic approach to teaching maths that demystifies all aspects of maths and shows how it relates to the everyday world.” They are already hard at work on making their idea a reality, with a plan to set up the first KasiMaths Hub in Alexandria Township in Johannesburg and take on their first cohort of 30 students in early 2018.

Report Date...: 11/13/2017

Tunisia mentoring council

Fellow(s): Ameni Channoufi

Country: Tunisia

Cohort: 2014

Policy Area(s): Education Diplomacy/Mentoring, Entrepreneurship

Ameni Channoufi, 2014 fellow of Tunisia, launched the Tunisia Mentoring Council in April 2017 as part of Women Leaders in Technology (WoLTech), an organization founded by 12 Tunisian TechWomen fellows in order to empower Tunisian women working in STEM fields and help them achieve their goals. The Tunisia Mentoring Council, a six-month program, supported ten women to turn their business ideas into reality and establish their own companies, including by pairing each woman with a specialized mentor who helped them achieve their entrepreneurship goals. The program also comprised coaching and trainings designed to develop participants’ professional and social skills and boost their self confidence in order to overcome challenges and become successful entrepreneurs. The closing ceremony, held on November 4, highlighted the hard work of mentors and mentees and celebrated the first cohort of graduates from the program. WoLTech is now planning for the second round of the Tunisia Mentoring Council to launch in 2018.

Report Date...: 11/6/2017

Support Girls into STEM Careers through Technovation

Fellow(s): Darya Alontseva, Diana Tsoy

Country: Kazakhstan

Cohort: 2015

Policy Area(s): Education Diplomacy/Mentoring, Empowering Women and Girls, Youth Engagement

Darya Alontseva and Diana Tsoy, 2015 fellows of Kazakhstan, have received an alumni grant from the U.S. Embassy in Kazakhstan to implement a project called “Support Girls into STEM Careers through Technovation.” Project activities commenced in early October with an introductory seminar about the Technovation program, which attracted 77 students and teachers from 15 schools from the city of Ust-Kamenogorsk and its suburbs. In the style of a TED talk, Darya shared her motivation for organizing these seminars and spoke about the importance of encouraging girls from Kazakhstan to pursue careers in technology. Diana shared about her experiences starting and coordinating Kazakhstan’s Technovation program and the success of the Kazakh teams in the 2017 competition, where two teams made it to the finals in Silicon Valley and one team took home the grand prize. Girls from one of those teams also joined the seminar to share about their experience with the competition and answer questions from the audience.

The introductory seminar was designed to bring together students and teachers who could form teams for the 2018 Technovation competition; the next seminar, which will be held in February 2018, will prepare these teams for the competition.

Report Date...: 10/30/2017

Grace Hopper Celebration

Fellow(s): Marie Claire Murekatete, Chao Mbogo

Country: Kenya, Rwanda

Cohort: 2014, 2017

Policy Area(s): Education Diplomacy/Mentoring, Empowering Women and Girls, Entrepreneurship, Professional Growth, Youth Engagement

TechWomen was well represented by mentors and past and present fellows at the Grace Hopper Celebration, which was held in Orlando, FL by AnitaB.org. Marie Claire Murekatete, 2014 fellow of Rwanda, was honored with the Change Agent ABIE Award and TechWomen mentor, Mercedes Soria, was honored with the Leadership ABIE Award. Anar Simpson, also a TechWomen mentor, moderated a panel that featured both Marie Claire and Mercedes. 2017 Emerging Leader from Kenya, Chao Mbogo, was also honored at the event as a winner of a Systers Pass It On award, which honors Anita Borg’s desire to create a network of women technologists helping one another. Chao presented about a mentorship program she created to encourage more female students to join and stay in the field of computer science.

Report Date...: 10/2/2017

CAYSTI

Fellow(s): Arielle Kitio

Country: Cameroon

Cohort: 2016

Policy Area(s): Education Diplomacy/Mentoring, Empowering Women and Girls, Entrepreneurship, Youth Engagement

“Arielle Kitio, 2016 fellow of Cameroon, has been hard at work developing CAYSTI, an organization she founded shortly after returning home from her TechWomen experience. CAYSTI is a school tech incubator with a mission to empower students to design and start viable long-term professional projects while training them to obtain competitive technical skills. CAYSTI also seeks to reduce the gender gap and inequalities in the tech industry. So far, CAYSTI has already reached 4,000 youths from rural areas through motivational talks and workshops. A project started by a student at the organization recently received the second place prize in a social entrepreneur competition run by telecommunications giant Orange. CAYSTI has also been nominated as Best Initiative in Learning and Education of Cameroon for the World Summit Awards. Winners will be announced in November 2017.

Arielle decided to launch CAYSTI with the encouragement of her TechWomen mentor, Saura Naim, Senior Director, Head of Juniper Development and Innovation Operations at Juniper Networks.”

Report Date...: 9/25/2017

sharing advice for young girls

Fellow(s): Marie Claire Murekatete

Country: Rwanda

Cohort: 2014

Policy Area(s): Education Diplomacy/Mentoring, Empowering Women and Girls

Marie Claire was interviewed by Career Girls, a video-based career tool for girls that emphasizes science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) careers. Marie Claire shared about her work researching and finding software solutions to meet people’s needs and provided career advice to young girls based on her own personal experiences. In one of the videos, she spoke about how her experience with TechWomen inspired her to create Refugee Girls Need You, a social initiative to give back to the community by teaching refugee girls technology skills. Marie Claire encourages girls to work hard and have confidence. She says that confidence is the “prize” for girls who become coders and create website applications that help people.

Report Date...: 9/4/2017

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