Impact Stories from Empowering Women and Girls Policy Area
Fellow selected as World Bank Youth Summit 2022 Finalist
Fellow(s): Arielle Kitio
Country: Cameroon
Cohort: 2016
Policy Area(s): Economic Impact, Education Diplomacy/Mentoring, Empowering Women and Girls, Entrepreneurship, Professional Growth, Youth Engagement
The World Bank selected 2016 fellow Arielle Kitio as a finalist for its 2022 Youth Summit Competition, representing her organization TechWoman Factory, part of the Cameroon Youth School Tech Incubator (CAYSTI). Arielle was one of six finalists selected from a competitive pool of 1,031 applications representing 107 countries. The 2022 summit theme was “Unlocking the Power of Inclusion for Equitable Growth,” and all finalists were selected for projects that effectively and impactfully spoke to elements of social, environmental and economic inclusion.
TechWoman Factory’s inaugural cohort consists of 179 Cameroonian youth (including 134 women), who receive professional training in one of three fields (data science, web development and digital art) for six months in Yaoundé, followed by a three-month professional mentorship with a partner organization. Additionally, all participants receive a core education in entrepreneurship, financial education, cybersecurity and soft skills such as negotiation, leadership, effective communication and creativity.
Report Date...: 5/31/2022
Kazakh fellows premier film to combat domestic abuse
Fellow(s): Kymbat Yeltayeva, Moldir Kussainova, Ainur Kuanyshbayeva and Raushan Nurdillayeva
Country: Kazakhstan
Cohort: 2020-2021
Policy Area(s): Empowering Women and Girls, Professional Growth
The 2020-2021 Kazakh action plan team composed of Kymbat Yeltayeva, Moldir Kussainova, Ainur Kuanyshbayeva and Raushan Nurdillayeva has recently released a short animated film entitled “”Signs of Abusive Relationships or A Modern Fairy Tale about Bayan-sulu and Kozy-korpesh”” as a key part of their TechWomen seed grant-funded initiative to battle domestic violence against women in their country.
The project re-imagines the nationally-beloved fable of two lovers, highlighting the warning signs of domestic violence embedded in the fabric of the tale. Team Kazakhstan’s analysis of the story challenges the glorification of husband Kozy-korpesh’s overprotective behaviors towards his wife Bayan-sulu and discusses the dangers of relationships based on control, isolation and psychological manipulation. The team hopes this film empowers people to “reconsider the stereotypes created in society regarding women and romantic relationships,” Kymbat shared in a recent post.
Report Date...: 7/18/2022
Fellow featured as keynote at Pakistan Girls in ICT Summit 2022
Fellow(s): Ameni Channoufi
Country: Tunisia
Cohort: 2014
Policy Area(s): Education Diplomacy/Mentoring, Empowering Women and Girls, Youth Engagement
A keynote address delivered by 2014 fellow from Tunisia Ameni Channoufi kicked off the Girls in ICT Summit 2022, organized by Ananke, CodeGirls Pakistan and WomenInTechPK in observance of International Girls in ICT Day. The summit’s theme was “Breaking Barriers to Access,” and provided speakers, workshops, panel discussions and mentoring sessions for young women in high school and college who are working towards or interested in careers in technology.
In her keynote, “Global and Local Perspectives of Girls in ICT,“ Ameni spoke on the global nature of the digital gender divide and experience of women in tech and provided strategies for inspiring girls to enter STEM fields and supporting them along the way. “It’s important that girls know early that the door is open to them too, not only to boys,” Ameni said as she explained the importance of introducing STEM education at an early age, organizing events for girls in tech, providing mentorship and job shadowing and sharing success stories of women in tech.
Report Date...: 5/23/2022
Mentor(s): Paria Rajai
Company: ModelExpand
Mentor Type: Impact
Policy Area(s): Empowering Women and Girls, Entrepreneurship, Professional Growth
Mentor Paria Rajai served as a keynote at the Virgin Pulse Thrive Summit and served on a panel, “The Wellbeing Case for DEI” alongside executives from Virgin Pulse, Headspace and Moody’s. The group discussed diversity, equity and inclusion in the workplace and strategies for their achievement with an audience drawn from leaders and executives in the human resources and benefits industries.
Paria, founder and CEO of ModelExpand, shared her experience as a changemaker in the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion industry with hundreds of live and virtual attendees and highlighted actionable ways in which companies can not only recruit top talent from diverse backgrounds, but also boost retention and advancement for all employees.
Report Date...: 5/16/2022
Fellow initiatives named BOOST Women Innovators by UNDP
Fellow(s): Elena Chigibaeva, Elena Selezneva and Saida Yusupova
Country: Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan
Cohort: 2016, 2018
Policy Area(s): Economic Impact, Empowering Women and Girls, Professional Growth
Social impact accelerator and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) initiative BOOST recently announced its list of champions selected for participation in the Women Innovators program. Among those selected are two initiatives led by TechWomen fellows: Weincrypto DAO, co-founded by Kyrgyz fellow Elena Chigibaeva (2018), and Tech4Impact, founded by 2016 Uzbek fellows Elena Selezneva and Saida Yusupova. BOOST: Women Innovators will support Tech4Impact and Weincrypto DAO in their work to bridge the gender digital divide alongside 42 other women-led organizations in Europe and Central Asia that work in the realms of data, digital access, digital economy & STEM and tech innovation among women and girls.
Weincrypto is a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) founded in 2022. It is dedicated to fostering a crypto community for women, NFT collections, online training modules and support for Web 3.0 startups, stating their mission is “to help women as newbies in crypto to explore and unleash the potential of cryptocurrency and blockchain technologies for financial growth and freedom.” Tech4Impact is an NGO founded in 2019 “to join efforts and carry on the activities in the field of development of innovations, information technologies, startups, human capital, green technologies, youth and women’s entrepreneurship in Uzbekistan and the Central Asian region.”
Read More »Report Date...: 5/16/2022
Fellow co‐organizes diversity dinner at blockchain conference
Fellow(s): Eman Herawy
Country: Egypt
Cohort: 2022
Policy Area(s): Economic Impact, Empowering Women and Girls, Professional Growth
2022 fellow Eman Herawy, the founder of Arabs in Blockchain, co‐organized a diversity dinner for women and BIPOC Web3 Builders, NFT artists, investors, supporters and allies at last month’s Bitcoin 2022 conference in Miami. A self‐described “blockchain geek,” Eman founded Arabs in Blockchain to strengthen
the Arab blockchain community by connecting international experts, increasing Arabic content and supporting entrepreneurs who are building blockchain solutions. She is also a Devcon Scholar alumni at the Ethereum Foundation, and co‐founded Arab Blockchain Week, a community event meant to educate
individuals and businesses passionate about blockchain technology. The event was hosted by BLK@, an initiative that addresses equity in Web3. The dinner featured partner presentations, elevator pitching and networking opportunities. “The best moment was when people start asking me about the Arab community in blockchain,” said Eman. “We started to form potential opportunities that the Arab community can leverage, like how they can support the second version of Arab Blockchain Week.”
Report Date...: 5/9/2022
Mentor(s): Teresa Williams
Company: Office of Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky
Mentor Type: Professional
Policy Area(s): Education Diplomacy/Mentoring, Empowering Women and Girls, Youth Engagement
Mentor Dr. Teresa Williams was recently invited to speak on a panel at Google’s 2022 She’s So STEM virtual event, sharing her experience as a woman in STEM with San Francisco Bay Area high school students. She’s So STEM, now in its sixth year, hosts high school girls at the San Francisco Bay Area to Google’s headquarters in Mountain View to learn about the diverse opportunities in STEM careers. This year’s event featured a coding session, a game design workshop and an opportunity for students to use Google’s virtual reality system. Teresa, a scientific researcher, shared about her career path and the role models who guided and mentored her along the way. She also spoke about the challenges she has faced as a woman in her field, having often been mistaken for an intern or an executive assistant at work. “We need to redefine what a scientist looks like,” she said. The panelists also answered student questions, giving advice on impostor syndrome and encouraging them to avoid comparison: “I told them that we are all on our own individual paths,” Teresa said. “Rather than comparing ourselves to each other, we should really be celebrating each other.”
Report Date...: 5/9/2022
Fellow launches Girls in STEM Mentorship with alumnae support
Fellow(s): Ines Umuhoza, Emma Marie Ndoringoma, Solange Tuyisenge, Marie Claire Murekatete, Christa Uwamahoro, Nadine Uwizeyimana and Felicie Nyinawabali
Country: Rwanda
Cohort: 2014, 2015, 2018, 2022
Policy Area(s): Economic Impact, Education Diplomacy/Mentoring, Empowering Women and Girls, Professional Growth, Youth Engagement
Fellow launches Girls in STEM Mentorship with alumnae support
Before the start of TechWomen 2022, fellow Ines Umuhoza set a goal to leverage her TechWomen mentorship to inspire and mentor young girls in Rwanda. During the program, Ines collaborated with her mentor, Tawish Naqvi of Microsoft, to build out Girls in STEM Mentorship, a project she created of before TechWomen. Shortly after she returned from the U.S., Ines held her first session for 120 girls from Maranyundo Girls School, hosting them for an introductory session about mentorship and how they can benefit from the six‐month Girls in STEM Mentorship project. Ines is the director of programs for Girls in ICT Rwanda/Rwanda Women in Tech, an initiative whose mission is to inspire women and girls to pursue STEM careers. Rwandan fellows Emma Marie Ndoringoma (2013), Solange Tuyisenge (2015), Marie Claire Murekatete (2014),Christa Uwamahoro(2018), Nadine Uwizeyimana (2022) and Felicie Nyinawabali (2022) have joined the mentorship program, serving as advisors and co‐organizers; the program will also receive support from Girls in ICT Rwanda. Solange and Ines are collaborating to create career fair sessions, invite guest speakers and deliver training on soft skills and career guidance. At the Maranyundo Girls School introductory session, the girls were encouraged to ask questions about STEM careers and learn about their choices within STEM fields. “We designed this program to create awareness of different STEM careers by conducting STEM Career Fair days with different women in STEM professions to inspire the girls,” said Ines. “Not only are we inspiring more girls to be part of the women in STEM movement, but we are also going to be providing career guidance, self‐confidence and other soft skills needed to succeed in their future.”
Report Date...: 5/9/2022
Fellows debut STEM empowerment project Heya Caravan
Fellow(s): Salma Bekkouche, Amel Djenidi, Fatima Zohra Benhamida, Amina Salesse
Country: Algeria
Cohort: 2017, 2018, 2020-2021
Policy Area(s): Economic Impact, Education Diplomacy/Mentoring, Empowering Women and Girls, Entrepreneurship, Professional Growth
After TechWomen 2018, fellows Salma Bekkouche and Amel Djenidi began working with 2017 fellow Fatima Zohra Benhamida to create Heya Caravan, a project that empowers girls and women through STEM education. After securing a grant from the U.S. Embassy Algiers’ Alumni Small Grant Competition in 2019 – and after delays caused by the pandemic – the fellows, with 2020-2021 fellow Amina Salesse as a new team member, launched Heya Caravan in Hassi Messaoud last month, bringing a day of workshops, talks and networking opportunities to women in the region. Heya (Arabic for “She”) Caravan collaborated with local STEM leaders, inviting them to share their career paths in STEM, host Q&A’s and deliver workshops meant to educate and empower the professionals and students in attendance. In Fatima’s session, “Which hat would you like to wear?” she spoke about her journey in higher education as an assistant professor at the National School of Computer Science, her diverse work experience and her mission to combat stereotypes of women in technical fields. In a leadership workshop, participants learned about different leadership styles and their respective strengths and weaknesses. The day concluded with Q&A session themed on mental health challenges and work-life balance during the pandemic. “From preparation to the event itself to the post-event parts…every single task we made with love, and enjoyed it to the extreme,” said Amina. The Heya Caravan team hopes to replicate the programming in other Algerian cities as well as create online content for community members. “I’m proud to see the project become a reality after almost three years full of challenges,” said Salma.
Report Date...: 5/2/2022
Fellow brings STEM training to girls in Ethiopia and Tanzania
Fellow(s): Amanda Obidike
Country: Nigeria
Cohort: 2022
Policy Area(s): Education Diplomacy/Mentoring, Empowering Women and Girls, Entrepreneurship, Professional Growth, Youth Engagement
2022 fellow Amanda Obidike recently launched STEMNovation, a STEM initiative that trains girls in mobile app development, 3D modeling, 3D printing and basic computer skills. Amanda is a data scientist, general manager for the Sir Emeka Okwuosa Foundation and founder of STEMi Makers Africa, an organization that trains young Africans with 21st century skills. She was recently named to the Most Distinguished African Women Changemakers list by Humanitarian Awards Global. Last month, STEMi Makers launched STEMNovation’s first bootcamp in Tanzania and Ethiopia, bringing young female students through training courses that will prepare them for STEM careers. At the Ethiopia bootcamp, supported by Addis Ababa University and Abugida Robotics Technology Center, girls ages 10-16 learned about computer software, coding and 3D modeling. At the bootcamp’s conclusion, trainees demonstrated their work for other students, parents and community supporters. In Tanzania, STEMi Makers partnered with the Timizandoto Initiative and dLab to support 40 girls in Dar es Salaam with training on AI, drone technologies and data analytics. “We understand that the increasing demand for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics are vital to the development and economic growth of a nation,” said STEMi Makers. “As such, women and girls should not be left behind.”
Read More »Report Date...: 5/2/2022
