On the morning of Tuesday, February 28, the delegation set off for Casablanca, the largest city in Morocco. To start the day off, our TechWomen Delegation visited Ecole Nationale de Commerce et e Gestion Casablanca (The National School of Commerce and Management Casablanca – ENCG) to give lightning talks, hear product pitches and swap powerful insights with small enterprise and startup owners from the Moroccan Center for Innovation and Social Entrepreneurship (MCISE), a nonprofit organization dedicated to creating a foundation for the emergence and development of social enterprises in Morocco and around the world.
From there they took a tour of the famous Hassan II Mosque, Africa’s largest mosque in-use and the seventh largest functioning mosque in the world. After exploring the beautiful outer grounds, the delegation took a hushed and awe-inspiring interior tour of the vast and intricate architectural wonder. There, they learned about the vision for the mosque, built in the 1990s, which was designed so that the mosque would feel inclusive and welcoming to people and cultures from all over the world.
To finish off the afternoon, the delegation walked to nearby jazz-era themed Le Gatsby restaurant, for a lunch of French-Moroccan fare.
After concluding lunch, the delegation set off for their final and much-anticipated event of the day – the ten-year anniversary celebration of TechWomen in Morocco. Together with representatives from STEM companies, the U.S. Embassy, Moroccan fellows and other supporters, the delegation arrived at Technopark Casablanca to commemorate and highlight the accomplishments and impact of TechWomen on Moroccan alumnae and the nation’s tech ecosystem.
Guest speakers throughout the event included Puneet Talwar, U.S. Ambassador to the Kingdom of Morocco, Angela Woods of the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, Lamiae Benmakhlouf, TechWomen alumna and CEO of Technopark and Erin Keeley, Global Director of Engineering at Hitachi GST, Fulbright Specialist for the U.S. State Department and a long-standing TechWomen mentor.
The event also included recognition awards for the fall 2022 TechWomen team from Morocco who was the recipient of a seed grant funded by the U.S. Department of State. Attendees also enjoyed a panel discussion, interactive tables featuring Moroccan impact projects inspired by and/or related to TechWomen and a highlight video of memorable program experiences.
To cap off the evening, invitees enjoyed a cake cutting ceremony followed by light refreshments and live music.
Speak Your Mind