Impact Stories from Professional Growth Policy Area
Mentor(s): Samantha Raniere (mentor)
Company: Raniere Consulting
Mentor Type: Impact
Policy Area(s): Education Diplomacy/Mentoring, Professional Growth
This month, TechWomen Impact Coach Samantha Raniere was invited by the Society of Petroleum Engineers International to speak about discovering, enhancing and harnessing strengths for success. Samantha is the president of Raniere Consulting, working with organizations and leaders on strength-building, team effectiveness and change management.
In her keynote session, Samantha spoke to the society’s Young Professionals, explaining that a comprehensive understanding of your strengths allows you to be more adaptive, more collaborative and more successful in an interview setting. Sam, a Gallup Certified Strengths Coach, has contributed to TechWomen’s Leadership Workshop during the U.S. program, helping Emerging Leaders better understand their strengths in order to maximize individual and group success.
Report Date...: 11/9/20
Mentor(s): Jeannice Samani (mentor)
Company: Nextogen
Mentor Type: Professional
Policy Area(s): Education Diplomacy/Mentoring, Empowering Women and Girls, Entrepreneurship, Professional Growth
TechWomen mentor Jeannice Samani helped kick-off the TechWomen virtual fall program by serving as a Facilitator for a Professional Interest Group, taking a group of Emerging Leaders through five weeks of modules that explored women in leadership, impact models for change, design thinking and more. In addition to working as senior director of information technology and systems engineering at Nextogen, Jeannice founded Global Tea Party, an online global gathering featuring leaders who share their journeys and expertise.
As the Professional Interest Groups reached their conclusion, Jeannice invited her Emerging Leaders to join a Global Tea Party event to share their experiences as international women leaders. Emerging Leaders Amanda Calitz of South Africa, Imane Berchane of Morocco, Flora Asibe of Nigeria and Manizha Khailobekova from Tajikistan were featured at the online gathering, together discussing global diversity, equity and inclusion. Amanda spoke about how growing up in South Africa helped her to become a bridge-builder, saying “We need to understand each other’s background and give everyone a chance to be the best they can be.” Flora discussed how leaders are made and not born, stressing that successful leadership demands hard work, patience and empathy. “We worked, laughed, and share together,” says Jeannice. “I am looking forward to our friendship and mentorship growing. It is an honor.”
Report Date...: 11/10/20
Fellow featured as founder of Girls Fly Programme Africa
Fellow(s): Refilwe Ledwaba
Country: South Africa
Cohort: 2019
Policy Area(s): Economic Impact, Education Diplomacy/Mentoring, Empowering Women and Girls, Entrepreneurship, Professional Growth
2019 fellow Refilwe Ledwaba was highlighted in Nsesa Foundation’s STEM Wow series, featured for her work as a social entrepreneur, founder and South Africa’s first black female helicopter pilot.
As founder of Girls Fly Programme Africa, Refilwe works to educate girls about aviation and aerospace. Their programs include a yearly aviation and space camp as well as a mentorship and scholarship program. In her Stem Wow feature, Refilwe speaks about growing up surrounded by strong female role models and learning the importance of women supporting other women. Although she originally hoped to become a doctor, Refilwe went on to break barriers in aviation, receive the Amelia Earhart Memorial scholarship and most recently was chosen as an Obama Foundation leader. Refilwe also spoke about the challenges and stereotypes she faced on her journey to achieving her goals, emphasizing the importance of perseverance: “I always say fight with your books and let your work speak for you,” she says.
Report Date...: 11/2/20
Emerging Leaders share challenges and triumphs in guest posts
Fellow(s): Zeinab El Sayed & Isha Sesay
Country: Egypt, Sierra Leone
Cohort: 2020-2021
Policy Area(s): Education Diplomacy/Mentoring, Empowering Women and Girls, Entrepreneurship, Professional Growth
As the guest blog post series Emerging Leader Voices continues, two TechWomen 2020-2021 Emerging Leaders have authored guest posts, sharing their struggles, achievements and journeys to TechWomen. In her blog post, Zeinab El Sayed of Egypt writes about her family’s support that laid the foundation for her achievements in her field. “STEM fields are always inviting women to excel,” she writes. “Whatever the challenge is; the above and more can be achieved by passion and hard work.”
In “The secret of getting ahead is getting started,” Emerging Leader Isha Sesay of Sierra Leone writes about her inspiration to enter the public health field. After seeing community members dying from vaccine-preventable diseases, Isha became determined to combat preventable diseases in Sierra Leone and beyond. Through her work in the Field Epidemiology Training Program, Isha has trained three cohorts of frontline epidemiologists, and personally mentored 15 individuals.
Report Date...: 11/2/20
Fellow brings equal access to education for Kyrgyz students
Fellow(s): Gulzire Minbaeva
Country: Kyrgyzstan
Cohort: 2018
Policy Area(s): Economic Impact, Education Diplomacy/Mentoring, Empowering Women and Girls, Professional Growth, Youth Engagement
During TechWomen 2018, Gulzire Minbaeva, a teacher in applied math and informatics, had the opportunity to visit Khan Academy headquarters in Mountain View. The site visit was facilitated by her TechWomen Professional Mentor Nancy Hang, who organized a meeting with Khan Academy’s international communication officer. There, Gulzire expressed interest in becoming an official language advocate for Khan Academy Kyrgyzstan. Language advocates are international volunteers who translate and localize the academy’s educational content, working with schools and community partners to further their mission of providing accessible and free education to anyone.
Gulzire maintained her connection to the academy when she returned home, and in 2019 was officially selected as a language advocate for Khan Academy Kyrgyzstan. Today, Gulzire and her team of project managers, proofreaders, methodologists and over 200 volunteers are working to empower students to reach their full potential by providing them with effective learning opportunities. Gulzire has translated and recreated 13 video lessons, organized education fundraising events and recruited regional teacher ambassadors from all regions of Kyrgyzstan. Her work and advocacy has gained attention from the media, leading to a recent interview that features her impact. “We believe that all knowledge-seeking youth of Kyrgyzstan should have access to quality and free education,” says Gulzire. “As a proud alumna of TechWomen, I can surely say that the program enhanced my understanding of how little actions can help to make a big difference in society.”
Report Date...: 10/26/20
With Prosper App fellow facilitates global mentorship
Fellow(s): Topyster Muga
Country: Kenya
Cohort: 2017
Policy Area(s): Economic Impact, Education Diplomacy/Mentoring, Entrepreneurship, Professional Growth
2017 fellow Topyster Muga has launched a new mobile app that connects professionals seeking one-on-one mentorship to a network of mentors around the world.
“Having been a beneficiary of mentorship in my 15 year career in technology, including the TechWomen program, I thought It will be great make it easy for mentees to find mentors,” says Topy. Her solution is Prosper, a mobile app that connects individuals seeking guidance for professional growth to experienced and accomplished professionals. Once mentors and mentees are matched based on their interests and goals, they can book interactive and on-demand in-app video calls on Prosper. Anyone can sign up to mentor and be mentored, and the platform already has 89 mentors and over 500 mentees. This week, Topy learned that Prosper has been shortlisted for the 2020 CIO100 East Africa Awards, an annual summit that recognizes 100 organizations that leverage technology to create change and innovation.
Report Date...: 10/26/20
Fellow shares her story as a Muslim woman in tech
Fellow(s): Fatima Zohra Benhamida
Country: Algeria
Cohort: 2017
Policy Area(s): Economic Impact, Education Diplomacy/Mentoring, Empowering Women and Girls, Professional Growth
This week, 2017 fellow Fatima Zohra Benhamida was interviewed for Tech Sisters, an online community and platform that challenges the perception of Muslim women and amplifies women in technology fields. Fatima is an assistant professor at the National School of Computer Science in Algiers, as well as a TechWomen/TechGirls Club board member, Technovation judge and Microsoft Humans of IT community ambassador. In the feature, Fatima speaks about her passion for STEM fields, the power of mentorship and how tech can become more welcoming to women and girls.
When Fatima was a computer science student, 10% of students at the university were women. “Now, I’m delighted to say that half of the students in my class are women. In the same university, we went from 10% to 50%,” she says. Fatima also shares advice for Muslim women — and all women — who are struggling to find the self-confidence to take risks: “When you believe in something hard enough, you can stick with it. You’ll fight, and fail, and rise again until you get there. You have to fight for your dreams, and I know you can do it!”
Report Date...: 10/26/20
Fellows collaborate for Google Developer Group’s DevFest
Fellow(s): Hanan Atallah, Ola Nada
Country: Egypt, Palestinian Territories
Cohort: 2018
Policy Area(s): Economic Impact, Professional Growth
2018 fellows Hanan Atallah of the Palestinian Territories and Ola Nada of Egypt were featured speakers at GDG Ramallah DevFest 2020, a two-day virtual event that invited experts to give sessions on engineering, branding and more. DevFests are community-led developer events hosted by Google Developer Groups (GDGs) that are focused on community building and learning about new technologies.
Hanan, a DevFest organizer and Google Women Techmakers ambassador, and Ola, a researcher at University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, have remained close friends since TechWomen 2018. When the COVID-19 pandemic shut down much of the world, Hanan and her fellow GDG Ramallah members decided to put on an event that would bring people together and spark inspiration. In addition to serving as a DevFest moderator, Hanan led a session on an introduction to microservices architecture. Ola led a session on self branding, sharing best practices and ideas on finding new opportunities during the COVID-19 crisis. At the end of Ola’s session, she and Hanan held a Q&A to take audience questions, including some from TechWomen fellows from the Palestinian Territories and Algeria. “Other TechWomen 2018 fellows joined, and it was like unscheduled reunion,” said Hanan.
Report Date...: 10/19/20
Mentor(s): Cecile Thirion (mentor)
Company: Thirion Advisors LLC
Mentor Type: Impact, Professional
Policy Area(s): Education Diplomacy/Mentoring, Entrepreneurship, Professional Growth
Longtime TechWomen mentor Cecile Thirion was recently interviewed in a YouTube video for Leadtail, a social media agency centered on marketing strategy and best practices. Cecile is the founder of Thirion Advisors, LLC, as well as an advisor for Qwasar, a learning platform that facilitates digital skills training programs.
In the interview, Cecile shared her expertise on global marketing, speaking about when and why companies should expand globally to increase revenue. She also spoke about mentorship, emphasizing that there are opportunities now more than ever to become a mentor. She reflected on becoming a TechWomen mentor in 2012, and how it changed her perspective on life and work: “I became a better person and a better leader in terms of developing empathy, understanding differences and bringing that back into my company. It shaped my leadership style,” she said. “Giving leads you to uncharted territories and new opportunities you wouldn’t have thought possible. And that’s the power of mentorship.”
Report Date...: 10/19/20
2020-2021 Emerging Leader of Tajikistan authors guest blog
Fellow(s): Manizha Khailobekova
Country: Tajikistan
Cohort: 2020-2021
Policy Area(s): Education Diplomacy/Mentoring, Empowering Women and Girls, Professional Growth, Youth Engagement
TechWomen Emerging Leader Manizha Khailobekova of Tajikistan is the latest guest author on the TechWomen blog, sharing her background, passions and journey in STEM. Manizha’s post is part of the TechWomen Emerging Leader Voices series, which invites TechWomen Emerging Leaders to share their voice, perspective and experiences with the TechWomen community.
At Central Asia Institute Tajikistan, Manizha works to bring equal education access to communities throughout Central Asia. In her post, “Educate a girl and change the world,” she recounts the struggle of being a mother while remaining ambitious in pursuing her educational goals. Manizha also writes about her motivation to pursue an international exchange experience, reflecting on the opportunity to challenge her existing beliefs and exchange ideas with women around the world. “People usually avoid changes, and prefer to stay in their comfort zones,” she writes. “But I am true believer that once you get the courage and take the first step to change, your life will become much better.”
Report Date...: 10/19/20
