This week, TechWomen fellows from multiple cohorts came together to organize the first TechWomen conference in Ramallah. Gina Kadri, Dalia Shurrab, Zeina Sadeddin, Hanan Atallah, Waad Jabbarin and Nuha Shawahna (2018) were joined by Razan Qraini, Ruba Awayes, Rasha Abu Dayyeh and Rana Nofal (2017), as well as Yamama Shaka’a (2016) and Ayah Soufan (2015) for the one-day event. The conference, sponsored by U.S. Embassy Jerusalem and attended by 80 students from throughout the region, aimed to strengthen the TechWomen and TechGirls networks and feature women leaders in STEM.
The day’s programming included TED-style talks and practical workshops focused on leadership development, personal branding and design thinking. TechWomen Impact Coach Jessica Dickinson Goodman, who mentored action plan teams from the West Bank and Gaza in 2017 and 2018, joined the conference from the Bay Area via Skype, leading a session on creating a five-year career plan. “It was a great event, and a great chance to network and meet leading Palestinian women,” said Gina.