Impact Stories from Professional Growth Policy Area
Mentor(s): Zanoon Nissar, Paria Rajai and Pamela O’Leary
Policy Area(s): Empowering Women and Girls, Entrepreneurship, Professional Growth
Mentors Zanoon Nissar, Paria Rajai and Pamela O’Leary and TechWomen Lead Jillian Scott participated as panelists and moderators in the inaugural Women of MENA in Tech conference. The conference was organized by Persian Women in Tech and hosted by Oath.
Zanoon, founder of Women4Good, and Jillian spoke on a panel about community builders empowering women, which was moderated Paria, former director of marketing at Hackbright Academy. Pamela, a diversity and inclusion expert, shared insight about how organizations can transform workforce cultures.
The mission of the conference was to bring together powerful catalysts of change to intentionally create a new paradigm centered around equity, inclusion and diversity.
Read More »Report Date...: 2/12/2018
Fellow Named One of Top Ten Women in Tech
Fellow(s): Ala’a Agha Karss
Country: Jordan
Cohort: 2017
Policy Area(s): Entrepreneurship, Professional Growth
Ala’a Agha Karss, 2017 fellow of Jordan, was named one of the ten leading women in tech from the Middle East and Africa by OPENLETR. Ala’a has a degree in software engineering from the Jordanian Hashemite University and founded Superiors ICT Solutions, an IT support and training organization. Ala’a and fellow Jordanian alums are also launching Ozwah, their action plan project developed as part of the 2017 TechWomen program. Their pitch was one of the winning seed grant proposals and offers a digital platform to help orphans overcome psychological and financial obstacles to higher education by providing social skills workshops and mentorship programs to increase long-term university enrollment rates.
PENLETR is a digital platform founded by a woman with the mission to explore the boundaries of creativity.
Read More »Report Date...: 2/5/2018
Fellow Interviewed as Rising Star in STEM
Fellow(s): Nomso Faith Kana
Country: South Africa
Cohort: 2013
Policy Area(s): Empowering Women and Girls, Entrepreneurship, Professional Growth
2013 fellow of South Africa, Nomso Faith Kana, was interviewed by Levers in Heels, a digital platform featuring rising African women in STEM. The piece highlights Nomso’s training as a nuclear scientist and role as founder and managing director of Sun ‘n Shield Technologies, a group that provides solutions for smart cities, most recently by producing locally-made fiber optic cables to improve internet connectivity.
In the interview, Nomso talks about her mission to inspire young women in her capacity as co-founder of Taungana STEM, an initiative to empower rural African high school girls to access and explore futures in STEM fields.
Read More »Report Date...: 1/29/2018
Fellow Receives #Shabab2030 Award
Fellow(s): Layal Jebran
Country: Lebanon
Cohort: 2017
Policy Area(s): Entrepreneurship, Professional Growth
2017 fellow of Lebanon, Layal Jebran, received the #Shabab2030 award from Middle East Broadcasting Center (MBC Group) on behalf of her company. Layal is the CEO of Moubarmij, an initiative that helps to connect experienced programming instructors with young learners by providing a video sharing platform.
As a recipient of the award, Layal will receive advanced leadership training as well as mentoring, advocacy, networking opportunities and funding for her project. MBC Group is the largest private media company in the MENA region and is responsible for establishing MBC Hope, a program that empowers Arab youth to engage in social action, education and entrepreneurship. MBC Hope provides the funding for #Shabab2030.
Read More »Report Date...: 1/29/2018
Morocco's First Google Business Group
Fellow(s): Maha Ech-chefaa
Country: Morocco
Cohort: 2016
Policy Area(s): Entrepreneurship, Professional Growth
Maha Ech-chefaa, 2016 fellow of Morocco, is the co-founder of the first Google Business Group in Morocco as well as the co-organizer of her country’s Google Developer Group (GDG) in Rabat. Maha is also featured as a Women Techmakers Lead for driving diversity and inclusion through her participation with the Rabat GDG.
Maha’s passion for community empowerment led her to launch Leeha, a program providing disadvantaged women in Morocco with business opportunities. Since completing the TechWomen program, she also co-founded Moroccan CISE (Center for Innovation and Social Entrepreneurship), a not-for-profit dedicated to finding ground-breaking solutions for social challenges.
Read More »Report Date...: 1/15/2018
Global Entrepreneurship Summit
Fellow(s): Mai Temraz
Country: Palestinian Territories
Cohort: 2014
Policy Area(s): Professional Growth
Mai Temraz, 2014 fellow of Gaza and current Fulbright student, wrote an article detailing her experience traveling to Hyderabad, India for the 2017 Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES). Mai was nominated by TechWomen to participate in GES, where she joined 1,500 entrepreneurs from 150 countries united around the theme “Women First, Prosperity for All.”
Mai is currently pursuing her MBA as a Fulbright foreign student at California State University, San Bernardino and recently took second place in the Gardner Holt Student Fast Pitch Competition.
Read More »Report Date...: 1/8/2018
Empowerment Workshop
Fellow(s): Dina Shaikhislam and Anara Molkenova
Country: Kazakhstan
Cohort: 2017
Policy Area(s): Empowering Women and Girls, Professional Growth
Dina Shaikhislam and Anara Molkenova, 2017 fellows of Kazakhstan, completed a Women Empowerment: Entrepreneurial Skills course organized by the U.S. Embassy in Astana. The program was held at the American Corner and Maker Space in honor of International Entrepreneurship Week and focused on women’s contributions to global development, networking, team-building and identifying business opportunities for women.
On her chance to participate in the workshop, Dina writes, “[I] cannot thank enough the U.S. Embassy for offering so many opportunities to realize our full potential and understand that time is really up on waiting, on silence, on discrimination, on unequal representation of women in leadership and inequality in the workplace”.
Read More »Report Date...: 1/8/2018
Tunisian fellow shares TechWomen adventure
Fellow(s): Imen Ammar
Country: Tunisia
Cohort: 2017
Policy Area(s): Professional Growth
Imen Ammar, 2017 fellow of Tunisia, wrote an article highlighting her experience as a TechWomen fellow. Imen reflects on her time before, during and after the program, providing a personal glimpse into the challenges she faced and knowledge she gained.
Based on her career goals, Imen was matched at Twitter, where she applied machine learning with mentors Dorothy Ordogh and Uma Srinivasan. Imen further writes about the “beauty of diversity” she witnessed while participating in TechWomen cultural events, as well as numerous professional tools she looks forward to implementing back home at work with Satoripop.
Read More »Report Date...: 1/1/2018
Next Einstein Forum Ambassadors
Fellow(s): Meriem Benmeradi, Arielle Kitio Tsamo, Salwa Campbell
Country: Algeria, Cameroon, Sierra Leone
Cohort: 2016
Policy Area(s): Professional Growth
Three 2016 fellows, Meriem Benmeradi of Algeria, Arielle Kitio Tsamo of Cameroon and Salwa Campbell of Sierra Leone, have been named Next Einstein Forum (NEF) Ambassadors for the 2017-2019 class.
Meriem is a Senior Digital Project Manager at TBWA Worldwide and CEO of BETELA Recruiting. Arielle is pursuing her Ph.D. in software engineering and is the founder of CAYSTI, a school tech incubator that has been recognized for its innovative approach to increasing access to technology in Cameroon. Salwa has a degree in biological sciences and was part of the action plan team that received a TechWomen seed grant for Reduce, Reuse, Recycle – Kids can do it better, a project the 2016 cohort of fellows has implemented with partner schools in Sierra Leone.
NEF Ambassadors are young science and technology champions who are selected to lead public engagement activities and partner with established mentors and researchers to advance their own careers in STEM.
Read More »Report Date...: 12/18/2017 & 12/25/17
Google Developer Expert
Fellow(s): Rayan Al Zahab
Country: Lebanon
Cohort: 2016
Policy Area(s): Professional Growth
Rayan Al Zahab, 2016 fellow of Lebanon, is the first woman to become a Google Developer Expert in the MENA region, specifically for her work in product design. She has been recognized by Google Developers as “a passionate programmer, trainer, public speaker and an advocate for gender diversity in the Tech industry.”
Rayan is the founder of BambooGeeks, a startup aimed to empower youth to pursue careers in programming through coding boot camps. She is also the founder of the Lebanon chapter of WomenTechmakers, a program supporting and providing resources for women in tech, and leads the Lebanon Google Developers Group.
Read More »Report Date...: 12/11/2017
