Impact Stories from Empowering Women and Girls Policy Area

Fellow Interviewed as Rising Star in STEM

Fellow(s): Nomso Faith Kana

Country: South Africa

Cohort: 2013

Policy Area(s): Empowering Women and Girls, Entrepreneurship, Professional Growth

2013 fellow of South Africa, Nomso Faith Kana, was interviewed by Levers in Heels, a digital platform featuring rising African women in STEM. The piece highlights Nomso’s training as a nuclear scientist and role as founder and managing director of Sun ‘n Shield Technologies, a group that provides solutions for smart cities, most recently by producing locally-made fiber optic cables to improve internet connectivity.

In the interview, Nomso talks about her mission to inspire young women in her capacity as co-founder of Taungana STEM, an initiative to empower rural African high school girls to access and explore futures in STEM fields.

Report Date...: 1/29/2018

Mozilla Foundation Digital Literacy Groups

Fellow(s): Solange Tuyisenge

Country: Rwanda

Cohort: 2015

Policy Area(s): Empowering Women and Girls

Solange Tuyisenge, 2015 fellow of Rwanda, has partnered with the Mozilla Foundation and Dot Rwanda to implement more than one hundred digital literacy clubs in five districts in Rwanda. In the past two months, the initiative has reached more than 3,000 individuals, focusing on women and youth in rural and underserved communities.

The groups are led by Digital Ambassadors, community members who have advanced technological experience, and meet regularly to learn, teach and exchange computer, mobile and internet skills. Many group members are accessing the internet for the first time and are using the opportunity to pay their taxes, stay up to date on the news, develop small businesses or open community savings accounts.

Report Date...: 1/29/2018

The Jordan Times Interview

Fellow(s): Diana Nassar, Dhelal Al Shorman, Hiba Shabrouq, Nour Al Toubasi, Alaa Agha Karss, Afnan Saqr, Shatha Jayyousi, and Rania Bader

Country: Jordan

Cohort: 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017

Policy Area(s): Empowering Women and Girls

Eight fellows of Jordan from three cohorts – Hiba Shabrouq, Dhelal Al Shorman, Nour Al Toubasi and Ala’a Agha Karss (2017), Diana Nassar and Rania Bader (2016), Afnan Saqr (2015) and Shatha Jayyousi (2013) – were featured in an article by The Jordan Times that highlighted their experiences with TechWomen.

The piece outlined the fellows’ numerous personal and professional successes since completing TechWomen and highlighted an informational event the fellows organized for other female entrepreneurs and businesswomen from Jordan who were interested in learning more about the program.

Report Date...: 1/15/2018

STEM Training

Fellow(s): Saltanat Alieva

Country: Kyrgyzstan

Cohort: 2016

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

Saltanat Alieva, 2016 fellow of Kyrgyzstan, recently joined with the American Corners and Centers in her country to launch the project “Girls in Science.” She led a workshop focused on teaching 25 high school girls how to use 3D modeling software from Autodesk, her TechWomen host company.

Earlier this month, Saltanat also received two prestigious designations from the Kyrgyz Economic University: the award for Best Senior Lecturer and the medal for Contributions to the Development of the University.

Additionally, she was one of six winners chosen from participants in a social entrepreneurship training program at the University of Central Asia School of Professional and Continuing Education. As a result, Saltanat received a $3,000 grant to implement an innovative community development project in Kyrgyzstan.

Report Date...: 1/15/2018

Mentor(s): Marily Nika

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

In a guest blog post, mentor Marily Nika writes about her experience working with Lindiwe Matlali, 2017 fellow of South Africa. Marily was particularly impressed by Lindiwe’s background as founder and CEO of the program Africa Teen Geeks. In her post, Marily affirms the positive impact that mentoring had on her, as she was was able to reinforce her own skills and knowledge while working alongside someone with such infectious enthusiam and unconditional passion as Lindiwe.

Marily is an Engineering Manager at Google and an AI EdTech startup founder. She completed her Ph.D. in Predictive Analytics and has received the Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) Influence Award and Google’s North America Diversity Award.

Report Date...: 1/8/2018

Empowerment Workshop

Fellow(s): Dina Shaikhislam and Anara Molkenova

Country: Kazakhstan

Cohort: 2017

Policy Area(s): Empowering Women and Girls, Professional Growth

Dina Shaikhislam and Anara Molkenova, 2017 fellows of Kazakhstan, completed a Women Empowerment: Entrepreneurial Skills course organized by the U.S. Embassy in Astana. The program was held at the American Corner and Maker Space in honor of International Entrepreneurship Week and focused on women’s contributions to global development, networking, team-building and identifying business opportunities for women.

On her chance to participate in the workshop, Dina writes, “[I] cannot thank enough the U.S. Embassy for offering so many opportunities to realize our full potential and understand that time is really up on waiting, on silence, on discrimination, on unequal representation of women in leadership and inequality in the workplace”.

Report Date...: 1/8/2018

Nigerian Fellow's organization selected by High Commission

Fellow(s): Carolyn Seaman

Country: Nigeria

Cohort: 2017

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

Carolyn Seaman, 2017 fellow of Nigeria, has been incredibly busy since returning from the United States. Her organization, Girls Voices, has successfully implemented their Tech Girls Advocacy Program (TGAP), which taught 50 public school girls advanced digital literacy skills. The girls focused on three issues that they ultimately developed into their own advocacy website: Ending child marriage, ending gender-based violence and promoting girls’ education.

Additionally, the High Commission of Canada in Nigeria selected Girls Voices for their SheCanLead campaign. As part of the project, the High Commissioner partnered with one of the young leaders of Girls Voices for a week of learning initiatives.

Report Date...: 1/1/2018

TEDx Talk

Fellow(s): Diana Tsoy

Country: Kazakhstan

Cohort: 2015

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

Diana Tsoy, 2015 fellow of Kazakhstan, presented at Tedx Almaty on the potential of Kazakh schoolgirls and her own journey as a mentor in STEM. Diana’s TechWomen experience inspired her to become a regional ambassador (RA) of Technovation Kazakhstan. With the help of RA Gulshnar Salpykova, 2016 fellow of Kazakhstan, not only has the Kazakh Technovation program grown from just 11 teams to more than 50 teams from across the country, but in 2017, a Kazakh team also took home the Technovation grand prize.

Diana is actively involved in research in renewable energy and is working towards an advanced degree in technical sciences at ITMO University in St. Petersburg. She was also recently invited to speak at the first “Be A Pro” conference, organized by the Astana International Finance Center, where she spoke about the importance of mentorship.

Report Date...: 1/1/2018

Ideathon

Fellow(s): Elena Selezneva, Saida Yusupova, Shodiyabegim Bakhtiyorzoda, Sevara Siradjeva, Ozoda Ismailova, Natalya Yusupova

Country: Uzbekistan

Cohort: 2015, 2016, 2017

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

Six fellows from three cohorts came together this month to organize Uzbekistan’s first Ideathon. Elena Selezneva and Saida Yusupova, both 2016 fellows and Technovation Uzbekistan Ambassadors, led 100 girls aged 10 to 18 with the help of 40 mentors. Several other fellows of Uzbekistan, Shodiyabegim Bakhtiyorzoda (2015), Sevara Siradjeva (2016), Ozoda Ismailova (2016) and Natalya Yusupova (2017), also helped with the Ideathon by delivering presentations and offering their guidance to participants.

The Ideathon was a two-day, intensive, workshop-like experience for prospective Technovation students to address challenges of defining a social problem in their community. Participants work in teams with mentors and use design, critical thinking and innovative learning practices to collaborate and create potential solutions.

Report Date...: 12/18/2017 & 12/25/17

Pro-Fellow interview

Fellow(s): Amanda Gicharu-Kemoli

Country: Kenya

Cohort: 2016

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

Amanda Gicharu-Kemoli, 2016 fellow of Kenya, was featured in an interview by ProFellow about her experience with TechWomen. In the interview, Amanda emphasized her service-based vision and the profound impact of TechWomen’s professional and cultural mentors.

Amanda co-founded Tech Republic Africa, a social enterprise that creates technology-driven education tools for youth in STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics) and has received several fellowships and honors for her work in the field, including an Anita Borg Change Agent Award.

Report Date...: 12/11/2017

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