Impact Stories from Professional Growth Policy Area
Travel grant for scientific research awarded to fellow
Fellow(s): Petra Nnamani
Country: Nigeria
Cohort: 2017
Policy Area(s): Professional Growth
Dr. Petra Nnamani, 2017 fellow of Nigeria, was recently awarded a Georg Foster Research Award to travel to Germany and continue her scientific research. The award is administered by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, which brings scholars and researchers from abroad to work with a host and collaborative partner in Germany. Nominees for the award must be recognized academics and researchers living in a developing country, and the award encourages the nomination of female researchers.
Petra, a lecturer in the Department of Pharmaceutics at the University of Nigeria, will be traveling to Germany to continue her research investigating the anti-ulcer property of a tropical plant that has shown to cure ulcers in over 500 people in Nigeria.
Report Date...: 9/24/18
Two fellows named to Kenya’s 40 under 40 list
Fellow(s): Topy Muga, Lucy Wanjiku-Mutinda
Country: Kenya
Cohort: 2016, 2017
Policy Area(s): Entrepreneurship, Environmental Sustainability, Professional Growth
Two TechWomen fellows were named Top 40 Under 40 in Kenya by Business Daily. Topy Muga (2017) and Lucy Mutinda (2016) are among entrepreneurs, academics, researchers, philanthropists and leaders in tech, all selected for the honor based on their influence and leadership in their respective fields.
Topy, the senior director of financial inclusion for Sub-Saharan Africa at Visa, was formerly the head of Airtel Money at Airtel Kenya. She is a mentor at Zawadi Africa Education Fund, and her team’s TechWomen action plan project, Project Digniti, was selected as a seed grant winner during TechWomen 2017. Lucy is the CEO and founder of Ecocycle, a company that provides zero-waste products and services. A product engineer by trade, Lucy turns sewage into clean water, installing water recycling machines in homes and hotels throughout Kenya and promoting water re-use and environmental conservation. Lucy’s action plan team was also awarded a seed grant for their impact project, One Desk One Child, during TechWomen 2016.
While in the TechWomen program, Topy was hosted at Big Commerce and Lucy was hosted at San Francisco Department of the Environment.
Report Date...: 9/24/18
Mentor(s): Emerging Leaders 2018
Policy Area(s): Empowering Women and Girls, Professional Growth
On Sunday, IIE welcomed the arrival of the 2018 cohort of 100 Emerging Leaders from 20 countries. This year’s Emerging Leaders will join TechWomen’s network of nearly 300 Professional Mentors, Cultural Mentors and Impact Coaches – and an alumnae community of 518 fellows and 700 mentors – as they embark on five weeks of mentorship and professional exchange.
This year’s 34 host companies include Twitter, Salesforce and the Chan Zuckerberg Biohub; the program is also welcoming eight new host companies, including 23andMe, Shell, PlanGrid and Twitch.
TechWomen’s first week of programming includes the Cultural Kickoff, where Emerging Leaders will showcase the rich culture of their home countries, as well as Action Plan Workshop 1, where country teams will establish the foundation of their action plans alongside their Impact Coaches. Follow along as we provide updates on Twitter, Instagram, and the TechWomen blog.
Report Date...: 9/17/2018
Emerging Leader shares journey to TechWomen in new blog
Fellow(s): Safaa Boubia
Country: Morocco
Cohort: 2018
Policy Area(s): Professional Growth
2018 Emerging Leader of Morocco Safaa Boubia shares her perspective in the second blog post of our Emerging Leader Voices series. Safaa, a web strategist, also co-founded Houna, a collaborative platform that seeks to change society through design and culture. At Houna, Safaa encourages collaboration between social impact initiatives and tech, exemplified by a recent workshop at WeAreMuseums. There, she showcased the work of IT startups who offer solutions that help improve the museum visitor experience by combining art with interactive technologies.
“The TechWomen experience could not happen in a better moment for my professional career and personal goals,” she writes. “I want to gain deep insight into machine learning and AI technology so I can impact people’s lives and create cultural projects that go beyond physical limitations or borders.” Safaa will be hosted by PayPal for her TechWomen professional mentorship.
Report Date...: 9/17/18
Emerging Leader featured in Women in Tech Week
Fellow(s): Salome Gathoni
Country: Kenya
Cohort: 2018
Policy Area(s): Empowering Women and Girls, Professional Growth
2018 Emerging Leader Salome Gathoni of Kenya was a featured guest at Women in Tech Week 2018, a week-long festival bringing together women leaders and innovators in technology. The event was supported by Women in Tech Africa, a network of women and girls who amplify the voices of women in tech and inspire young women to enter the technology fields.
Salome, a Digital Workplace IT Senior Manager at GE, hosted a Twitter chat titled “Digital Africa,” answering questions about Africa’s tech landscape and offering her perspective on how the country can develop through innovative technologies. “Digitization is not just a business model; digitization is a growth driver,” Salome said in response to a user question. “The opportunities on the African continent are significant, but so are the challenges.” Salome will be hosted by Unity Technologies during her TechWomen professional mentorship.
Report Date...: 9/17/18
Fellow becomes first female faculty member to receive tenure
Fellow(s): Dr. Saima Shabbir
Country: Pakistan
Cohort: 2017
Policy Area(s): Professional Growth
Dr. Saima Shabbir, 2017 fellow of Pakistan, was promoted to Associate Professor and
awarded permanent tenure at the Institute of Space Technology in Islamabad. Saima is
the first female faculty member of the Materials Science and Engineering Department –
as well as the first female faculty member of her university – to achieve tenure.
“I submitted the tenure and promotion application right after the completion of my
TechWomen journey. The valuable skills developed during the TechWomen program
really helped me in preparing an effective application dossier. I’m really grateful to the
TechWomen program for changing lives and shaping futures.”
Dr. Shabbir is currently a Fulbright Scholar and postdoctoral research fellow at
Pennsylvania State University.
Report Date...: 9/10/2018
Fellow awarded international PhD fellowship
Fellow(s): Mercy Sosanya
Country: Nigeria
Cohort: 2015
Policy Area(s): Professional Growth
2015 fellow of Nigeria Mercy Sosanya was awarded an International Fellowship by
the American Association of University Women. AAUW, established in 1881, is
one of the world’s leading supporters of graduate women’s education, funding
more than 13,000 women from more than 145 countries since its inception. The
AAUW International Fellowship, awarded to women pursuing graduate or
postdoctoral studies in the U.S., focuses on female students who are committed
to the advancement of other women and girls.
Mercy is currently a doctoral student at the University of Texas at Austin’s
Department of Nutritional Sciences, where her research focuses on the
nutritional status of vulnerable populations in northeastern Nigeria. Her
fellowship is supporting her project of creating and evaluating the effectiveness
of a novel digital behavior change tool on the nutritional and health status of
teenage mothers and their young children.
Report Date...: 9/10/2018
Fellows participate in The Global Summit in Amman
Fellow(s): Majd Hemiemat, Afnan Saqr, Hiba Shabrouq, Nour Altobasi
Country: Jordan
Cohort: 2014, 2015, 2017
Policy Area(s): Professional Growth
Four TechWomen fellows of Jordan were invited to participate in The Global Summit VI held in Amman, Jordan this week. The Global Summit, a world-touring social innovation forum, brings together leaders in technology, business and culture, providing them an opportunity to communicate their vision and share their impact. Majd Hemiemat (2014 fellow), Afnan Saqr (2015), Hiba Shabrouq (2017) and Nour Altobasi (2017) participated in panel discussions and gave speeches centered around female leadership and overcoming challenges as women in tech.
Nour moderated multiple panels, including “Intrinsic values of women leaders,” a discussion that included Hiba as a panelist. The panel focused on the challenges women face as leaders, offering tools and best practices for women in the workplace. “Many of these lessons are things we learned from TechWomen,” says Hiba.
Majd and Nour participated in a panel discussion titled “Feminomics: build a team around your ideal future,” and Afnan gave an address on “The power of networking: small business growth.” Nour also led the femenomics stream of the summit. The event was attended by students, professionals, business owners and educators. “Wherever they are from, whatever their background, gender or profession is, they are all dedicated to empowering women to be part of the community, whether in the economy, the household or society as a whole,” said Nour to the Jordan Times.
Report Date...: 9/10/2018
Fellow invited to present at annual Mozilla festival
Fellow(s): Dr. Chao Mbogho
Country: Kenya
Cohort: 2017
Policy Area(s): Professional Growth
2017 fellow of Kenya Dr. Chao Mbogo was selected to share her research at the 2018 Mozilla Festival in London. The annual festival brings together 2,500 coders, journalists and educators from 50 countries for seven days of workshops, sessions and events. This year’s theme centers around Mozilla’s Internet Health Report, a comprehensive compilation of research that explores internet security, privacy, accessibility and inclusion.
During her TechWomen experience, Chao was hosted at Mozilla. With the support of Professional Mentors Amira Dhalla and Karl Thiessen, Chao began the research that led to the paper she will present at the festival, “Individual perception on the health of the Internet in Kenya.”
Currently, Chao is the head of the computer science department at Kenya Methodist University and lead and co-founder of KamiLimu, a mentorship program for computer science students at Kenyan universitites. During TechWomen, she was part of the seed grant-winning team behind Project Digniti.
Report Date...: 9/3/2018
Team Pakistan shares action plan updates in guest blog post
Fellow(s): Saima Shabbir, Zainab Saleem
Country: Pakistan
Cohort: 2017
Policy Area(s): Empowering Women and Girls, Professional Growth, Youth Engagement
In a new guest post published on the TechWomen blog, 2017 fellows of Pakistan Saima Shabbir and Zainab Saleem provide updates on their seed grant-winning action plan project, She For Tech. Addressing Pakistan’s gender disparity in science and technology, She For Tech aims to inspire the next generation of women to become engaged and involved in STEM through critical thinking, problem solving and technology comprehension for young women, as well as a mentorship and support network.
This month, they held a one-day program at a local public school in Islamabad, bringing together women mentors in STEM careers who educated students on opportunities in STEM fields. By using the “Three Cs”—career counseling, camps and competitions—and engaging a community of mentors, She For Tech hopes to educate girls on STEM careers, provide free online resources and exciting challenges, and encourage young women to eradicate stereotypes in their country.
Report Date...: 9/3/2018
