Impact Stories from Professional Growth Policy Area
Fellow brings robotics initiative to New Jersey school
Fellow(s): Rana El Chemaitelly
Country: Lebanon
Cohort: 2017
Policy Area(s): Entrepreneurship, Professional Growth, Youth Engagement
2017 fellow of Lebanon Rana El Chemaitelly recently partnered with a New Jersey charter school to bring a STEM curriculum to the student body. Rana is the CEO and founder of The Little Engineer, an initiative that educates students of all ages in robotics, coding, AI, 3D modeling and more through hands-on activities.
In 1994, Rana was in New Jersey for a training with Colex, a photofinishing equipment company. Nearly 25 years later, Rana received an email from the company’s founder, who was interested in implementing The Little Engineer programming at College Achieve Paterson Charter School. Rana went to work creating a customized training program, shipping equipment to New Jersey that covered an entire academic year of STEM learning. Rana hopes to continue working with the school and is grateful for the connection she made many years ago. “Wherever I go, I try to plant seeds,” she says. “And I’ve concluded that I will always harvest their fruits – if not at the moment, then in the future.”
Report Date...: 3/4/19
Fellow organizes digital festival for International Women’s Day
Fellow(s): Horore Bebga
Country: Cameroon
Cohort: 2018
Policy Area(s): Education Diplomacy/Mentoring, Empowering Women and Girls, Entrepreneurship, Professional Growth
This week, in honor of International Women’s Day, 2018 fellow of Cameroon Horore Bebga hosted a Digital Women’s Festival in Douala. Horore, the founder of African Women in Tech Startups (AFRICANWITS), organized the festival with the mission to reduce the digital gender divide in Cameroon and empower women in the digital domain.
With support from Cameroon’s Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications, the event hosted 200 women and girls for three days of free digital technology trainings and practical workshops led by tech experts. By the end of the festival, the women gained skills in digital marketing using Google Digital Garage, took courses on Facebook Blueprint and learned how to create visuals for the web. At the end of the week, five young women were awarded support from AFRICANWITS for their visual projects.
Report Date...: 3/4/19
Delegates visit fellow-led initiative at local secondary school
Fellow(s): TechWomen delegation trip to Sierra Leone
Country: Sierra Leone
Cohort: 2013 - 2018
Policy Area(s): Economic Impact, Education Diplomacy/Mentoring, Empowering Women and Girls, Entrepreneurship, Environmental Sustainability, Professional Growth, Special Report, Youth Engagement
On day two of the delegation trip, following an initial day of visiting cultural landmarks, delegates traveled to The Services Secondary School in Freetown. The school has partnered with Catch Them Young (CATHY), an initiative started by 2017 fellows Chrisla Koroma, Haja Sovula, Umu Kamara, Victoria Kamara and Jestina Johnson. CATHY aims to provide a platform for young minds to engage in STEM activities, providing peer mentoring and supporting the students in finding their passions and career pathways.
Throughout the morning, mentors and fellows rotated between four classrooms, sharing their career experiences and learning about challenges and opportunities that students face in Sierra Leone. The mentors and fellows encouraged the students to be tenacious, remain curious and start thinking about their futures. Mentor Pamela O’Leary spoke about the diversity of careers within the tech field, saying, “With technology, you can create a job for yourself that doesn’t even exist yet.”
The delegates also had the opportunity to visit the school’s science lab, where fellows from CATHY are working with school leadership to update the lab and provide materials and equipment to better engage students in science activities. Before leaving for the day, 2018 fellow of Sierra Leone Sebay Momoh shared an encouraging message with a classroom: “We are often the only women in the room,” she said. “There is so much you can do if you enter the sciences. Please keep working hard, be consistent and do your best. We are here for you.”
Report Date...: 2/25/19
Mentors share their expertise at Women in Leadership Forum
Fellow(s): TechWomen delegation trip to Sierra Leone
Country: Sierra Leone
Cohort: 2013 - 2018
Policy Area(s): Economic Impact, Education Diplomacy/Mentoring, Empowering Women and Girls, Entrepreneurship, Environmental Sustainability, Professional Growth, Special Report, Youth Engagement
At Wednesday’s Women in Leadership Forum, nearly 100 mentors, fellows and Sierra Leonean women leaders came together to discuss challenges and opportunities for women to step up as leaders and develop in their careers in science, technology and business fields. The morning’s program aimed to generate momentum to inspire, encourage and nurture the future generation of women leaders.
Seinya Bakarr, 2016 fellow of Sierra Leone, opened the conference speaking about gender differences, highlighting the fact that in Sierra Leone only 12% of parliamentarians are women – a signal of a more prevalent challenge in her country.
To address the lack of women in leadership positions, mentor Shawne van Deusen-Jeffries stressed during her TED-style talk the importance of speaking out for others: “We as women have the opportunity and obligation to enable other women.”
The panels that followed were themed around creating supportive communities, sharing best practices on how to succeed in male-dominated environments and mentoring other women. In the first panel, “Lifting up the next generation of women,” panelists discussed cultural differences, exploring the idea that historically, women are taught to be seen not heard. Trudy Morgan, president of Sierra Leone Women Engineers, shared her personal experience of feeling she needed to be tougher in front of men in order to prove her value. “The power structures haven’t changed,” she said, “but we as women should not change who we are in order to be what they want us to be.”
In the last panel of the day, “Finding and owning your voice,” fellow Sebay Momoh spoke about how she saw her life as a brand and that “we inspire more people than we think.” Habiba Wurie, a consultant for the United Nations Development Programme, also gave her insight encouraging her fellow women to “find your tribe, cultivate your tribe, maintain your tribe. The networks will eventually come.”
Report Date...: 2/25/19
Fellows and mentors coach young entrepreneurs at Pitch Night
Fellow(s): TechWomen delegation trip to Sierra Leone
Country: Sierra Leone
Cohort: 2013 - 2018
Policy Area(s): Economic Impact, Education Diplomacy/Mentoring, Empowering Women and Girls, Entrepreneurship, Environmental Sustainability, Professional Growth, Special Report, Youth Engagement
Thursday’s Pitch Night and Startup Exhibition provided an opportunity for the delegation to engage with young women and adults to support them to learn the fundamentals of delivering an effective pitch. After explaining the core elements of a powerful pitch, 2018 fellow of Zimbabwe Natsai Mutezo led by example through demonstrating what a persuasive pitch looked like – a pitch that brought the audience in, made them imagine a scenario that they were directly involved in and brought them into the story.
Two groups of budding entrepreneurs were then asked to brainstorm a solution to an identified problem in their community and develop a pitch to sell their solution to the audience. In the young women’s group, one team chose to address the issue of trash disposal and its effect on both water sanitation and teenage pregnancy. With guidance from mentors and fellows, the girls identified a common thread, realizing that young women who go out late at night to fetch water are vulnerable to sexual violence and unplanned pregnancies. They discussed that if the community disposed of their waste responsibly, the water would be cleaner and the rate of teen pregnancy would decrease. Armed with their narrative, the girls pitched their proposal, which included leveraging local community leaders, educating young people and advocating for the safety of women at night. Although pitch winners were chosen at the end of the evening, the event was not about winning; it was about developing entrepreneurial skills, practicing teamwork and showing growing leaders that they have the ability to implement change in their communities.
Report Date...: 2/25/19
Fellow delivers speech at youth summit in Gaza
Fellow(s): Dalia Shurrab
Country: Palestinian Territories
Cohort: 2018
Policy Area(s): Professional Growth, Youth Engagement
Last week, 2018 fellow of Gaza Dalia Shurrab was a featured speaker at the United Nations Population Fund’s Youth Summit held in Gaza. The summit focused on youth rights, challenges and opportunities, aiming to empower attendees by showcasing successful individuals and organizations with inspiring stories.
Dalia is the social media coordinator at Gaza Sky Geeks, Gaza’s first technology education hub that also functions as a startup accelerator and co-working space. In her speech, Dalia spoke about her personal journey, the challenges she has faced and her career shift from physics teacher to social media and tech specialist. She shared how motivation and hard work led to two life-changing experiences: speaking at an entrepreneurship summit in Kenya and traveling to the U.S. for TechWomen.
Dalia hopes that her story serves as motivation for the young people in the room to implement change in their lives and their communities. “I feel that I hold so much hope, and I really want to share it with my people,” says Dalia. “I wanted to show them how to take the initiative to upgrade your level of expertise and make the world hear your voice.”
Report Date...: 2/18/19
Fellow featured in newspaper for achievements in science
Fellow(s): Bathabile Mpofu
Country: South Africa
Cohort: 2018
Policy Area(s): Education Diplomacy/Mentoring, Professional Growth
2018 fellow of South Africa Bathabile Mpofu was featured in an article in Rising Sun Overport, a local newspaper serving the suburbs of South Africa. Bathabile is the co-founder and managing director at Nkazimulo Applied Sciences, an initiative that aims to make science fun and interesting for kids through ChemStart, a series of portable, customizable science kits for various age groups.
The article shares Bathabile’s vision and approach to teaching science, outlining the journey that brought her to her current role. Through her work, Bathabile hopes to enrich science education in South Africa, increasing educational and job prospects for young people. Recently, she was one of 16 people chosen to participate in the Red Bull Amaphiko Academy, a program that selects innovative and inspiring people throughout South Africa for an 18-month program to develop their skills and connect them to mentors, thought leaders and innovators throughout the country.
Report Date...: 2/18/19
Fellow shares perspectives at women’s empowerment conference
Fellow(s): Saleha Raza
Country: Pakistan
Cohort: 2018
Policy Area(s): Empowering Women and Girls, Professional Growth
Recently, 2018 fellow of Pakistan Saleha Raza participated in the 5th International Conference on Women Empowerment in Karachi. Sponsored by Microsoft and the Association for Computing Machinery’s Council on Women in Computing, the conference was themed around women in science and technology who are working towards accelerating women’s social, economic and political rights.
Saleha, an assistant professor of computer science at Habib University, presented a session titled “Computational Thinking: Impossible or Attainable?” and participated on a panel discussing women in STEM and computing.
In addition to participating in TechWomen, Saleha was a Endeavour Resarch Fellow at University of Technology Sydney and a faculty scholar at the 2016 Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing.
Report Date...: 2/18/19
Fellow awarded international scholarship for women leaders
Fellow(s): Ainura Sagyn
Country: Kyrgyzstan
Cohort: 2017
Policy Area(s): Entrepreneurship, Environmental Sustainability, Professional Growth
2017 fellow of Kyrgyzstan Ainura Sagyn was recently awarded the Toptal Scholarship for Women, a $10,000 prize to accelerate the careers and initiatives of female CEOs and founders. Ainura’s startup, WasteToWealth, aims to reduce litter and encourage re-use through an online platform where Bishkek citizens can sell recyclable waste. Alongside a Toptal mentor and machine learning expert, Ainura hopes to create an online feature that will help recognize specific plastics for more efficient recycling.
Ainura will use a portion of her Toptal funding to buy laptops for Technovation Coding Caravan, her project that will visit villages in rural Kyrgyzstan to put on four-day coding seminars for girls. She will also use the money to enroll in programming and machine learning courses from Udacity’s School of AI. With any remaining funding, Ainura hopes to travel to the 2019 Grace Hopper Celebration, which she has dreamed about attending for many years.
Report Date...: 2/11/19
Fellow presents at urban design forum in Kigali
Fellow(s): Noella Nibakuze
Country: Rwanda
Cohort: 2018
Policy Area(s): Environmental Sustainability, Professional Growth
2018 fellow of Rwanda Noella Nibakuze was a featured speaker at the 3rd National Urban Forum held this week in Kigali. Organized by Global Green Growth Institute, the conference focused on urban resilience, green cities and environmental sustainability. Noella, a design associate at MASS Design Group, spoke about how MASS balances social, economic and environmental aspects in their projects by using local and sustainable materials and promoting the economy of the areas where they work.
Noella outlined the need for more inclusive building processes that hire and train locally, allowing laborers to gain new skills and play an integral role in a city’s changing landscapes. As the only woman architect on the panel, Noella also advocated for increased visibility of women architects in urban design and urban planning spaces throughout Rwanda.
Report Date...: 2/11/19
