Impact Stories from Professional Development Policy Area
Fellow’s healthtech startup earns spot at VIVATECH
Fellow(s): Ghofrane Ayari
Country: Tunisia
Cohort: 2022
Policy Area(s): Economic Impact, Entrepreneurship, Professional Development
Healthtech startup GEWINNER, co-founded by fellow Ghofrane Ayari (2022), was recently selected for the Tunisian delegation to VIVATECH, an annual conference on technology and innovation that took place in Paris, France this summer. GEWINNER was founded five years ago “to change the lives of disabled people using advanced technologies and innovation.”
GEWINNER is known for their award winning premiere product, MOOVOBRAIN, which is “an ‘all-in-one’ wheelchair driving solution developed for people with physical disabilities, specifically paralysis. It functions with a mobile application and a small electronic board plugged into the wheelchair’s joystick.” GEWINNER was selected to join the delegation in part after having won a national competition for MOOVOBRAIN in 2019.
Report Date...: 8/29/2022
"Fellow speaks at agripreneurs workshop "
Fellow(s): Evangelista Chekera
Country: Zimbabwe
Policy Area(s): Economic Impact, Entrepreneurship, Professional Development
Fellow Evangelista Chekera (Zimbabwe, 2022) recently served as a guest speaker at the SACCAU Young Poultry Agripreneurs Workshop held August 28 in Johannesburg, South Africa. Evangelista has been making big waves in the agricultural industry of her region with her groundbreaking Passion Poultry enterprise, which simplifies and accelerates the chicken slaughter process for small farmers.
“When I started Passion Poultry in 2016, I attended the Zimbabwe Farmers Union young farmers summit and became a member, “Evangelista recounts. “At first I felt out of place because all my colleagues were farmers while I was more inclined to designing, building and distributing agri innovations. I am excited to be representing Zimbabwe Farmers Union at the #SACAU young Poultry agriprenuers workshop as an innovator within the poultry industry.”
Report Date...: 8/29/2022
Fellow empowers 120 girls with Green Tech Girls Summer Bootcamp
Fellow(s): Damilola Asaleye
Country: Nigeria
Cohort: 2020-2021
Policy Area(s): Economic Impact, Education Diplomacy/Mentoring, Empowering Women and Girls, Entrepreneurship, Environmental Sustainability, Professional Development, Professional Growth, Youth Engagement
Fellow Damilola Asaleye of Nigeria (2020-2021) recently helped produce the Green Tech Girls Summer Bootcamp, a five-day program for high school girls organized by the Girls and Women Technological Empowerment Organization (GWTEO).
The summer camp takes a holistic approach to activities relevant to girls and women that will enhance their self confidence and abilities to become sustainable technology leaders and change makers. Damilola, Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer of Ashdam Solar Company, helped in the production of learning sessions on the topics of basic solar installation, upcycling, sustainable agriculture, financial literacy, information and communication technologies, leadership skills, teamwork, healthy living and visioning. The Green Tech Girls Summer Bootcamp is not the only stop on Damilola’s summer of women and girls’ empowerment. She is also taking part in the BEMORE Summer Bootcamp in Akure, Nigeria with close to 400 girls over the following weeks.
“My summer of impacting girls started yesterday Monday 15th August with the Green Tech Girls Summer Bootcamp,” Damilola recently shared, “and I’ve got my hyper attitude on with adrenaline pumping.”
Report Date...: 8/22/2022
Mentor(s): Jill Finlayson
Policy Area(s): Economic Impact, Professional Development
Longtime mentor Jill Finlayson was recently interviewed for her insights on diversity in tech by Malaysian news network Astro AWANI. As Director of the Expanding Diversity and Gender Equity in Tech (EDGE) Initiative at the University of California, Jill was equipped to discuss the lack of diversity in tech workforces as well as the reasoning and steps needed to promote equitable participation of women and other under-represented identities in the industry. “What [companies] need to understand is that by making diversity, equity and inclusion a priority, they actually return better revenues, they make better decisions, they have less risk, and [they produce] better products,” she explained, “because you’ve got people who understand different markets, different countries, different cultures, [and] different experiences. “It’s not only a good thing morally and ethically. It’s a good thing financially.”
Read More »Report Date...: 8/15/2022
Fellow initiative co-hosts nation’s first all-women hackathon
Fellow(s): Merjen Saparmyradova
Country: Turkmenistan
Cohort: 2019
Policy Area(s): Economic Impact, Education Diplomacy/Mentoring, Empowering Women and Girls, Professional Development, Youth Engagement
Fellow Merjen Saparmyradova continues to expand the footprint of her Launch Life Coding Bootcamp, recently co-hosting Turkmenistan’s first-ever women’s hackathon. “DigiWomen Strive”, held in concert with The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) , was a two-day event dedicated to driving women’s empowerment in Turkmenistan through web and mobile app development.
The hackathon led nine all-female teams through the development of tech-driven projects focused on increasing employment, education, networking and mentorship opportunities of women and girls in Turkmenistan. Attendees had spent the preceding six months taking part Merjen’s Launch Life Coding Bootcamp to learn skills for careers in tech.
“Digital transformation is changing our world and shaping our future.” explained Mary Risaeva, UNDP Officer-in-Charge in Turkmenistan. “UNDP promotes gender equality and women’s empowerment and works on eliminating gender stereotypes so that women and men can equally benefit from the opportunities provided by a new digital reality.”
To close out the hackathon, teams pitched their innovations to a panel of judges and all winning teams were awarded prizes and certificates of appreciation. Exceptional participants from each team also earned internships with local IT companies.
Report Date...: 8/15/2022
"Fellow helps youths develop peace-building mobile apps "
Fellow(s): Joan Nabusoba Simiyu
Country: Kenya
Cohort: 2020-2021
Policy Area(s): Education Diplomacy/Mentoring, Professional Development, Youth Engagement
Fellow Joan Nabusoba Simiyu (2020-2021) was “thrilled” to have recently served as a team guide for the MobiPeace Hackathon for Social Justice and Peace in Kenya. The MobiPeace Hackathon is an EU-funded project by UNESCO’s YouthMobile which engages youth in the development of mobile applications that advance peace and combat misinformation with social media technologies, civic education, and more. Utilizing Google’s open-source Flutter framework, Joan lead youngsters in a session to build-out of the user interface of their peace-building projects, one of several components in the multi-day event designed to coach participants through full application development from conception to publication.
Joan is a software developer and a program lead at Pwani Teknowgalz, a woman-led nonprofit created to bridge the gender gap in STEM.
Report Date...: 8/15/2022
Fellow delivers keynote speech at African youth summit
Fellow(s): Sabina Nforba
Country: Cameroon
Cohort: 2020-2021
Policy Area(s): Economic Impact, Education Diplomacy/Mentoring, Professional Development, Youth Engagement
Fellow Sabina Nforba (Cameroon, 2020-2021) delivered the keynote address at the opening ceremony of “Democracy and Political Transitions in Africa: Harnessing Youth Voices for Change,” a two-day youth summit held in Accra, Ghana this summer. Acting as a representative of the Office of the Youth Envoy of the African Union Commission, Sabina addressed an audience of participants aged 15-35 from among the Economic Community of West African States’ (ECOWAS) 15 member nations on the importance of youths taking ownership over the democratic and developmental goals of the continent.
Sabina encouraged attendees to get involved in the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals and the African Union Agenda 2063, which works to strengthen Africa’s position on the global stage by driving inclusive socio-economic development, comprehensive integration, peace and security and democratic governance. “The youth should actively and meaningfully participate in politics, become entrepreneurs, and fully exploit the African Continental Free Trade Area agreement,” Sabina urged, adding that they should “champion good governance, starting from local communities to regional communities and the continent at large.”
The Youth Summit is a collaboration of ECOWAS, the West Africa Network for Peacebuilding (WANEP) and the African Governance Architecture (AGA).
Report Date...: 8/8/2022
Mentor(s): Tina Shakour
Policy Area(s): Professional Development
Mentor Tina Shakour served as a senior judge in a global search party for missing persons recently held at Def Con 30’s “Hacker Homecoming” conference in Las Vegas, Nevada. Trace Labs Search Party Capture the Flag (CTF) gamifies contestant crowdsourcing to conduct open source intelligence (OSINT) operations to locate missing persons. Their mission is to improve the chances of family reunification by providing “a modern, cost effective and transparent solution.” Teams race to find individual flags that can help map a description of a missing person’s location. As a senior judge, Tina assisted by vetting submissions to ensure they provided high value information useful to formal investigative efforts. Upon conclusion, Trace labs submits the found intelligence to relevant law enforcement agencies. Tina shares that the weekend was “amazing” and she was “honored to be a senior judge” in the tough but effective event.
Report Date...: 8/8/2022
Fellow gives lecture on earning a master’s degree abroad
Fellow(s): Yasmin Redjil
Country: Algeria
Cohort: 2022
Policy Area(s): Education Diplomacy/Mentoring, Professional Development
Fellow Yasmin Redjil (2022), an engineer at the Ministry of Public Works and Transit in Algeria, was recently invited to give a guest lecture at the Al-lyha Islamic University of Kuningan, Indonesia entitled “All About the Master’s Degree: The Life, The Thesis, the Future.” Yasmin’s talk focused on preparing undergraduates for earning a master’s degree abroad, establishing a defense-ready thesis and developing a bright vision for the future. She discussed her own experiences undertaking graduate study in Beijing, China, provided motivation on assuming ownership of one’s academic field and shared her experiences as a TechWomen emerging leader in Silicon Valley. “I wanted to [help them] achieve their dreams by eliminating the word ‘impossible’,” she says, “and show them that they are amazing people who deserve the best!”
Report Date...: 8/8/2022
"Fellow announces partnership to co-host mega IT conference "
Fellow(s): Ayesha Zaman Hammad
Country: Pakistan
Cohort: 2022
Policy Area(s): Economic Impact, Professional Development
SkillsTodo, an e-learning platform co-founded by fellow & CEO Ayesha Zaman Hammad (Pakistan, 2022), recently announced that it will serve as an execution partner for the 7th annual Connected Pakistan conference, a two-day mega event that brings together up to 20,000 participants in the IT and freelancing sectors for 50+ workshops featuring over 300 speakers and government officials.
SkillsTodo provides 90-minute in-demand skills courses taught by field experts at an affordable rate. The startup has quickly gained influence and popularity, rising to the number one spot on the Startany.com “trending startups to follow” list, just four months after its launch in February of 2021.
Ayesha notes that she has boosted her professional engagement due to the influence of TechWomen. “I give a lot of credit for this confidence,” Ayesha said, “to my professional mentor Aliya Janjua,” from SS&C Advent. In addition to running SkillsTodo, Ayesha conducts marketing bootcamps for Microsoft Business to business clients, recently helped raise funds for a co-working space in Lahore, and just joined on as an advisor for Techtitans Pakistan, a peer-to-peer exchange network for tech and HR professionals.
Report Date...: 8/1/2022
