Impact Stories from Empowering Women and Girls Policy Area
Fellow pilots STEM program for girls
Fellow(s): Gunesh Bakgalova
Country: Turkmenistan
Cohort: 2019
Policy Area(s): Education Diplomacy/Mentoring, Empowering Women and Girls, Youth Engagement
After TechWomen, 2019 fellow Gunesh Bakgalova returned to Turkmenistan determined to pay it forward to girls in her community. “I set a target for myself to help at least three girls to help them pursue some STEM career,” she says. After finding sponsorship through her own company as well as other local organizations, Gunesh created a pilot program for teenage girls who are motivated by STEM but lack the resources to pursue their educational interests.
Gunesh partnered with the director of a local education center that offers IT education, working together to find girls from marginalized communities who were interested in mathematics and coding courses. Although the COVID-19 pandemic interrupted selection and planning, Gunesh was able to select a high school girl who was then provided a comprehensive beginners coding course. “Her performance is really good,” says Gunesh. “I am going to help her with continuation of her education in the IT field.” Gunesh hopes to continue the program in order to connect more girls to educational resources and encourage them to pursue STEM fields.
Report Date...: 8/31/20
Mentor(s): Rekha Pai-Kamath (mentor)
Company: SV2
Mentor Type: Impact
Policy Area(s): Economic Impact, Empowering Women and Girls, Professional Growth
Impact Coach Rekha Pai-Kamath recently moderated a panel for swissnex San Francisco, an initiative of Switzerland’s State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation that facilitates discussion and connection between Switzerland and the San Francisco Bay Area. Rekha is a partner and impact investor at SV2, whose model focuses on grants and impact investing, learning programs, capacity building and family engagement.
In “Beyond Silicon Valley: Why Inclusion is Important Right Now,” Rekha and experts in diversity and inclusion from the Bay Area and Europe spoke about ways to build more inclusive economies, more egalitarian systems and a greater sense of belonging in the workplace. However, when prompted to speak about success stories, George McCalman of MCCALMAN.CO cautioned the audience about the work ahead: “The hope is that you will be inspired and apply it to your own life, but no one should be applauding,” he said. “This is an ongoing problem. Racism is virulent, it’s a cancer, it’s everywhere.”
Report Date...: 8/24/20
Fellow shares expertise at the Virtual Nutrition Conference
Fellow(s): Mercy Sosanya
Country: Nigeria
Cohort: 2015
Policy Area(s): Empowering Women and Girls, Professional Growth
2015 fellow Mercy Sosanya was a featured speaker at this week’s Virtual Nutrition Conference, an event organized by the Aisha Buhari Foundation, the NGO founded by the First Lady of Nigeria. Mercy is a nutritionist and Ph.D. student at the University of Texas at Austin, focusing on the nutrition of young Nigerian mothers and their infants.
During her presentation, Mercy shared her research and provided strategies to combat malnutrition in Nigeria. “I expounded the pivotal role of adequate nutrition in health, and how it contributes to securing future generations from poverty and disease,” said Mercy. “Over 1,000,000 children die every year in Nigeria, and half of these deaths are due to undernutrition.” Mercy presented the “ABCDE’s” of how Nigeria can curb malnutrition: Acknowledge progress, look Beyond numbers, Coordinate and commit, employ Data-driven actions and properly Evaluate the efficacy of solutions.
Report Date...: 8/24/20
Fellows launch Central Asia mentoring platform
Fellow(s): Elena Selezneva, Saida Yusupova
Country: Uzbekistan
Cohort: 2016
Policy Area(s): Education Diplomacy/Mentoring, Empowering Women and Girls, Entrepreneurship, Professional Growth
2016 fellows Elena Selezneva and Saida Yusupova have launched Mentoring Platform for Central Asia, an initiative that seeks to connect mentors to startups in Central Asia. The project is a part of Tech4Impact, an NGO the fellows established in 2019 to nurture IT, innovation, green tech and women’s entrepreneurship in Uzbekistan and throughout Central Asia. TECH4Impact’s programs include participation in a yearly Ideathon, startup conferences, Technovation Uzbekistan and more.
Through their new platform, the fellows will match businesses to both regional and international mentors. “We have [a] lack of local mentors, and the idea is to provide mentorship opportunities to local startups,” says Elena. They have already recruited 2016 fellow Ozoda Ismailova and longtime TechWomen mentor Erin Keeley to serve as mentors on the platform. Over the last few months, Erin has delivered three webinars for the initiative, including one on customer development.
This week, the fellows held a mock sales pitch event for startups from ClimateLaunchpad, a global green tech competition, as well as startups from a local science accelerator. Soon they plan to engage the TechWomen alumnae community and local leaders in order to strengthen the network of mentors on their platform.
Report Date...: 8/17/20
Fellow designs chatbot to support victims of GBV in Cameroon
Fellow(s): Cresence Elodie
Country: Cameroon
Cohort: 2018
Policy Area(s): Economic Impact, Empowering Women and Girls, Entrepreneurship, Professional Growth
2018 fellow Cresence Elodie, founder of WETECH, announced a new partnership that will support victims of Gender-Based Violence (GBV) in rural areas of Cameroon.
WETECH’s programs work to support African girls and women in the fields of entrepreneurship and technology. Their new partnership with the Center for Advocacy, Gender Equality and Action for Development (CAGEAD) used WETECH’s technology to design and launch “Alert GBV,” a chatbot similar to Sandra, WETECH’s COVID-19 chatbot that shares information on symptoms and local initiatives that support Cameroonians. Alert GBV, now available on the CAGEAD website, allows victims of Gender-Based Violence in the Northwest and Southwest regions of Cameroon to maintain anonymity but access support from organizations and health professionals. Visitors to the CAGEAD site receive a pop up chat from Alert GBV that connects them to a virtual assistant prepared to answer their questions and address their needs.
Report Date...: 8/17/20
Mentor(s): Tanu Chellam (Mentor)
Company: Autodesk
Mentor Type: Professional
Policy Area(s): Education Diplomacy/Mentoring, Empowering Women and Girls, Entrepreneurship, Professional Growth
TechWomen Professional Mentor Tanu Chellam was named a recipient of the YWCA Silicon Valley’s Tribute to Women Awards, an annual event that honors women executive leaders and emerging leaders throughout Silicon Valley. The awards’ sponsor, YWCA, is a local organization that works to eliminate racism and empower women in Silicon Valley through advocacy and programming. One of their initiatives, Curated Pathways to Innovation, supports women and underrepresented minorities in pursuing a career in STEM.
Each year the awards ceremony honors up to 50 women leaders and attracts over 800 attendees. Tanu, who worked as a product management lead at Autodesk, was selected for her achievements in her field and for expanding professional opportunities for other women. She has since relocated to London to serve as co-founder and head of product at a startup.
Report Date...: 8/10/20
Fellow featured in campaign celebrating women in STEM fields
Fellow(s): Houda Chihi
Country: Tunisia
Cohort: 2019
Policy Area(s): Empowering Women and Girls, Professional Growth
2019 fellow Houda Chihi was recently featured in the Nsesa Foundation’s ongoing STEM Wow series, where she shared her career highlights, her greatest achievements and the challenges she has faced as a woman in her field. Houda is a chief engineer at Tunisie Telecom and a senior researcher at Innov’COM Laboratory.
When asked about her greatest achievement, Houda spoke about her TechWomen experience, her mentorship at Qualcomm and her exposure to leading companies in the Bay Area’s tech ecosystem: “I knew that with all my achievements, the TechWomen program was my key to build new contacts over the world and to get the opportunity to visit and get training in leadership and soft skills from great companies such as Linkedin, Facebook, Salesforce, Twitter, and Symantec,” she said. Houda also shared advice for other women and girls who are curious about entering STEM careers: “My advice for women is to join the STEM field, as they will always feel excited and curious about new technologies. It is also a great opportunity to build strong networks,” she said.
Report Date...: 8/10/20
Fellow completes Obama Foundation African Leaders program
Fellow(s): Refilwe Ledwaba
Country: South Africa
Cohort: 2019
Policy Area(s): Empowering Women and Girls, Professional Growth, Youth Engagement
Recently, 2019 fellow of South Africa Refilwe Ledwaba completed the Obama Foundation African Leaders program. The program seeks to build a growing network of innovative and ethical changemakers who will drive positive change in their communities and beyond. During the year-long program, 200 emerging African leaders attend seminars focused on values-based leadership development, skill-building for social change, hands-on service learning and technical trainings.
Refilwe, South Africa’s first black female helicopter pilot, is the founder of the Girl Fly Programme in Africa (GFPA) Foundation, a non-profit organization empowering young women to go into STEM. Through the GFPA Foundation, she is addressing the challenges she faced when she entered the aviation industry by creating more access to opportunities for women, having learned ways to multiply her impact through the programs she has participated in. Refilwe says her biggest lesson learned from getting to know emerging leaders from all over the world through the TechWomen and Obama Foundation Leaders programs is to “continually challenge yourself and get out of that comfort zone.”
Report Date...: 8/3/2020
Fellow advocates for diversity and inclusion in magazine feature
Fellow(s): Lilian Motongori
Country: Kenya
Cohort: 2019
Policy Area(s): Empowering Women and Girls, Professional Growth
2019 fellow of Kenya Lilian Motongori was featured in the lifestyle magazine, Vuuqa. For the Women’s Month Special issue, Vuuqa highlighted the work of women leaders in Africa who are making strides in their respective industries.
In her feature, Lilian talks about how staying persistent and believing in herself pushed her to study engineering when she was younger, allowing her to become the mechanical engineer and renewable energy expert she is today. She is also the co-founder of Women in Energy Africa, a platform that empowers women and girls in the green tech fields. Lilian highlights the need for more inclusive representation in STEM: “For far too long [women were] sidelined in decision making tables yet we matter, too” she says. “There is beauty and importance in diversity as it brings in new ideas and understanding to all parties involved.”
Report Date...: 8/3/20
Fellows host webinar on intersection of motherhood and STEM
Fellow(s): Houda Chakiri, Unity Chipunza
Country: Morocco, Zimbabwe
Cohort: 2012, 2013
Policy Area(s): Empowering Women and Girls, Professional Growth
Recently, 2012 fellow of Morocco Houda Chakiri facilitated the webinar “The voices of Moms in Tech during COVID-19,” in partnership with AfChix, a network for supporting African women in technology. The online panel included 2013 fellow of Zimbabwe Unity Chipunza and other women who shared their experiences of being working mothers in the STEM field, especially in light of the pandemic. The webinar is part of a series that was originally part of the cancelled TechWomen Summit meant to be held in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo earlier this year. As the summit’s theme was “A Spectrum of Opportunities,” the topic of this panel and upcoming panels focus on cultivating inclusion.
During the webinar, Unity, an educational technologist at the Bindura University of Science Education, talked about overcoming the stigma of thinking e-learning as only for distance learners during the pandemic and how e-learning methods could be adapated towards any sort of curriculum, highlighting that children will be drawn to learning if given the right resources. Houda, a specialist in e-Government solutions, concluded the panel by encouraging attendees to instill hope in the children they are raising through the pandemic: “Moms are coping with the problems we have everyday and trying to solve them,” she says. “But the new generation can give us the solution by seeing this situation from the outside.”
Report Date...: 7/27/20
