Impact Stories from Empowering Women and Girls Policy Area
Give Them Hope
Fellow(s): Estelle Ndedi Nguedassong, Nadia Habsatou, Gisele Beatrice Sonfack, Arielle Kitio, Aurel Tayou
Country: Cameroon
Cohort: 2016
Policy Area(s): Empowering Women and Girls, Youth Engagement
On December 28, 2016, Team Cameroon, one of the 2016 TechWomen seed grant winners, traveled to Maroua in Cameroon’s Far North region to begin work on their action plan, Give Them Hope. The initiative will provide resources, trainings and support to teenagers, whose lives have been disrupted due to Boko Haram. Currently, 90% of schools in that area are closed due to fear of a terrorist attack, according to the team. By December 2017, TechWomen fellows Estelle Ndedi Nguedassong, Nadia Habsatou, Gisele Beatrice Sonfack, Arielle Kitio and Aurel Tayou plan to support a quarter of those students who are out of school. Their action plan will help reintegrate the teenagers back into the academic and professional worlds. During their trip, the fellows conducted field surveys and created awareness surrounding the initiative in the local communities.
Report Date...: 1/9/2017
STEM Rocks Workshop
Fellow(s): Busayo Durojaiye, Abiola Ilupeju, Azizat Gbadegesin, Oluremi Hamid
Country: Nigeria
Cohort: 2014-2016
Policy Area(s): Empowering Women and Girls, Youth Engagement
Busayo Durojaiye, 2014 fellow; Abiola Ilupeju, 2015 fellow; Azizat Gbadegesin, 2016 fellow; and Oluremi Hamid, 2016 fellow – developed and facilitated a two-day STEM workshop in Lagos on November 29-30. The workshop, STEM Rocks, focused on increasing secondary school girls’ interest in the STEM fields. A total of 25 girls attended the event, which took place at the Barack Obama American Corner.The fellows led career talks on ICT, electrical engineering and architecture.
Report Date...: 12/5/2016
Mentor(s): Anar Simpson
Company: Mozilla
Mentor Type: Impact
Policy Area(s): Empowering Women and Girls, Entrepreneurship
Anar Simpson, six-year TechWomen mentor, attended the 2016 Women’s Forum Global Meeting from November 30 – December 2 in Deauville, France. At the event, she participated in a panel on how influencers can better promote women’s entrepreneurship in new sectors. She also discussed what others can do to help female entrepreneurs, as venture capitalists adopting blind pitch reviews, companies like Google actively encouraging women’s entrepreneurship with programs like #40Forward, and governments creating funds for female entrepreneurs
Report Date...: 11/28/2016
Meeting with Cameroonian Minister
Fellow(s): Beatrice Sonfack
Country: Cameroon
Cohort: 2016
Policy Area(s): Empowering Women and Girls
Beatrice met with Zacharie Perevet, Cameroonian Minster of Employment and Vocational Training, on November 17. During the meeting, she shared her experience from the TechWomen program, and the two discussed how Beatrice could utilize her learnings to reach Cameroonian youth. As a result of their discussions, Beatrice is preparing a three-day workshop and conference introducing programming (Arduino, Raspberry/Java and C++) and training 100 young girls in digital skills. The Ministry of Employment and Vocational Training will partner with her to bring the training to fruition.
Report Date...: 11/28/2016
Pink iT Women Empowerment Program
Fellow(s): Abiola Ilupeju
Country: Nigeria
Cohort: 2015
Policy Area(s): Empowering Women and Girls, Professional Growth
Abiola Iluipeju, 2015 fellow of Nigeria, launched the Pink IT Women Empowerment Program in October for women in Lagos. The initiative, which is sponsored by US Consulate, provides a free 16-week training on software development and entrepreneurship, followed by a six-week internship at a software development company. . “It is our desire to bring about the next big thing in Nigerian Software industry by empowering our women to be the Game Changers,” the project’s website states.
Read More »Report Date...: 11/21/2016
Lean In Circle
Fellow(s): Nazira Sheraly
Country: Kyrgyzstan
Cohort: 2016
Policy Area(s): Empowering Women and Girls
Nazira created a Lean In Circle in Bishkek this month to establish a support group for women and a safe place for them to discuss problems. Nazira successfully recruited 37 members and organized two group meetings to discuss the first two chapters of Sheryl Sandberg’s book, “Lean In.”
Report Date...: 11/21/2016
Mentor(s): Terri Khonsari
Company: Families without Borders
Mentor Type: Impact
Policy Area(s): Empowering Women and Girls, Youth Engagement
Terri Khonsari, 2016 Impact Advisor to Morocco, led a four-day training for youth she mentors through her organization Families Without Borders from November 10-13. Terri founded Families Without Borders in 2011, which educates children and empowers families, building sustainable models for development worldwide. Terri focused her teaching on leadership skills, action plans and sexual education during the training. On the final day, attendees were divided into six teams, and each pitched a community project to the group. Terri plans to award a 500,000 SLL (approximately $89 USD) grant to each group to implement their projects by February 2017.
Read More »Report Date...: 11/14/2016
Mentor(s): Eileen Brewer
Company: Symantec
Mentor Type: Professional
Policy Area(s): Education Diplomacy/Mentoring, Empowering Women and Girls, Youth Engagement
Eileen Brewer visited Cameroon to support initiatives of fellows. She assisted Janet Fofang, 2013 fellow of Cameroon, who organized and led a three-week summer tech boot camp for 40 kids. Ran Gidor, the Israeli Ambassador to Cameroon, also participated in the demonstration sessions, and they discussed Israel’s idea to incorporate vocational skills training into the Cameroonian high school curriculum. Eileen’s trip included meetings with the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences; Mounouna Foutsou, the Minister of Youth Affairs and Civic Education; staff and students from the University of Yaounde’s computer science department; and Tassah Academy’s math and science teachers.
Report Date...: 8/1/2016
Mentor(s): Anar Simpson
Company: Mozilla
Mentor Type: Cultural
Policy Area(s): Empowering Women and Girls
TechWomen mentor Anar Simpson is tenacious in her pursuit to break the glass ceiling. In July, she attended a meeting for the United Nations Secretary-General’s High Level Panel on Women’s Economic Empowerment in Costa Rica hosted by President Luis Guillermo Solis, one of the panel’s co-chairs. The panel aims to close the gender pay gap, increase job opportunities for women and break down barriers women face. Anar acts as a special advisor to the Office of the Chair on the topic of women, girls, and technology at Mozilla, in which she connects Mozilla values, products and programs related to women.
Report Date...: 7/25/2016
2016 Regional Ambassador Award
Fellow(s): Amel Ghouila
Country: Tunisia
Cohort: 2014
Policy Area(s): Empowering Women and Girls, Youth Engagement
TechWomen Director Arezoo Riahi presented the 2016 Regional Ambassador Award to Amel Ghouila, 2014 fellow of Tunisia, for her dedication and work with the Technovation Challenge. After the 2014 TechWomen program, she returned to Tunisia and helped enroll 54 girls into the Technovation Challenge and has doubled participation year over year.
Report Date...: 7/11/2016
