TechWomen 2022 begins!

Editor’s note: After a social media pause, TechWomen is sharing weekly highlights from the Spring 2022 TechWomen program that began on February 23 and concluded on March 31, 2022.

IIE welcomed 108 Emerging Leaders as they arrived in the U.S. for TechWomen 2022, ready to embark on five weeks of professional development, mentorship and exchange.

In the spring 2022 hybrid program, Emerging Leaders from 20 countries will be guided and supported by nearly 300 Professional Mentors, Cultural Mentors and Impact Coaches. Through Professional Interest Groups and interactive virtual professional development workshops, Emerging Leaders will expand their networks, fulfill their learning objectives and create action plans that solve issues in their communities. After a virtual TechWomen 2020-2021, 2022’s Arrival Day was full of energy and excitement as Emerging Leaders made their journey to the U.S.

Cultural Kickoff and World Cafe

After Arrival Day, Emerging Leaders gathered online as a cohort for the first time at the Welcome Orientation, where they learned about essential program information, additional details on their mentorship and other important logistics about the spring program. At Friday’s Cultural Kickoff, Emerging Leaders had the opportunity to share their country’s cultures, engaging in cross-cultural dialogue and exchange with their fellow Emerging Leaders and the TechWomen mentor community. The event was presented in an online world café format, where each country group shared about their country and cultures in interactive, creative ways during four breakout room sessions. IIE’s Kelty Davis opened the session, speaking about the challenges that many faced during the pandemic: “After so many of our plans — including travel plans — were interrupted, we are so excited to facilitate an international trip to each of the 20 countries that enrich the TechWomen 2022 program,” she said. “Today is all about curiosity, exchange and sharing. Here at IIE we believe that cultural exchange is a cornerstone of peace-building and creating a better world together. We believe that when education transcends borders, it opens minds, enabling people to go beyond building connections to solving problems.”

In the first breakout room sessions, Emerging Leaders from Uzbekistan gave attendees a tour of their country, traveling from Bukhara to Khiva and sharing about their history, architecture and people. Emerging Leaders from the Palestinian Territories brought attendees through a day in their lives, describing their work and family duties as well as showcasing traditions of special occasions, like the Dabke, a traditional wedding dance.

After the first breakout room sessions, the group came together for five presentations: a language lesson from Cameroon, a traditional dance lesson from Kyrgyzstan, a cooking lesson from Lebanon, a sing-along from Morocco and a lesson in tribe totems from Zimbabwe. After sharing that Cameroon is home to over 250 languages, the Emerging Leaders gave brief language lessons for their respective dialects, prompting the group to unmute themselves and practice together.

Team Lebanon gave a live cooking demo, sharing step-by-step how to make hummus and tabbouleh, two popular dishes in their country.

In the breakout rooms that followed, attendees learned about the history and culture of Libya and what regions have influenced their culture, including Italy, Niger, Chad and Sudan. Team Zimbabwe shared that their country boasts the highest adult literacy rate in Africa, and shared about their two major tribes, the Ndebele and the Shona. Tunisia spoke about their geographic diversity, sharing photos of the Sahara, their coastal cities and their mountainous regions. Rwanda spoke to their fellow Emerging Leaders and mentors about the country’s eco-friendly mission, explaining how they are leading the change by banning plastic bags. “We hope that each of you walk away knowing more about each other’s lives, each other’s backgrounds, each others values and each other’s traditions,” said Kelty. “We hope that you find commonalities that we share, and celebrate our differences.”

Impact Design Workshop

After spending their first weekend in the Bay Area, Emerging Leaders were hosted on Monday by Autodesk for their virtual Impact Design Workshop. After a warm welcome from mentor and Autodesk senior manager Sheryl Walton, Emerging Leaders were brought through an introduction to design thinking by Autodesk’s JoAnna Cook: “As you’re innovating, you can always correct,” JoAnna reminded the group. “We don’t get it right the first time in all cases. What you can do is not lose your passion to follow up and to listen.” Autodesk’s design thinking practice lead Caitlin Silverstein continued the session, reviewing the cornerstones of the design thinking process: spending intentional time on what the problem is, starting with the end user, iterating on ideas and putting thoughts and conversations in a visual format for collaboration and alignment. She then took Emerging Leaders through a stakeholder mapping exercise, prompting them to draw out all stakeholders at their workplaces or businesses.

Senior product designer Amanda Cilek then brought the group through abstraction laddering, leading them in reframing a problem at different levels through identifying, going broad, going narrow and refining. In breakout rooms led by Autodesk facilitators using their LUMA approach, Emerging Leaders applied abstraction laddering to the underrepresentation of women in STEM, discussing together how to reframe problems in order to create solutions. At the conclusion of the event, Emerging Leader Fatima of Kyrgyzstan wrote, “This workshop really helps me. Now I know how I can visualize what I wanted for so long, and why.”

Leadership Workshop

Week one concluded with the Leadership Workshop, bringing Emerging Leaders together for two sessions that focused on advancing as women leaders and better understanding individual and team strengths. Shannon Bayer of leadership development firm Linkage led the morning session, presenting on Advancing Women in Leadership. “Now more than ever, women are a part of the solution,” she said. “We need to look at how we can influence the change that considers us in the structure moving forward.” Shannon also spoke to Emerging Leaders about mastering their inner critic through four practices: becoming aware, pushing pause, practicing compassion and getting curious. “Raise others up,” Shannon reminded Emerging Leaders at the end of the session. “Look up for help, and look down to offer help.”

Samantha Raniere, TechWomen Impact Coach and principal at Raniere Consulting, led the afternoon session on finding and leveraging both individual and team strengths through the CliftonStrengths assessment. “We can acquire any skill. Nothing holds us back from doing that,” she explained. “The very best leaders in this world — and I qualify all of us as leaders — know where they are strong, and that is how they operate. Just as importantly, they know where they are not strong and manage around it.” Sam then spoke about strengths-based development, outlining key contributors to strong teams: trust, psychological safety, equal voice and embracing diversity. In breakout rooms grouped by country teams, Emerging Leaders spoke about their individual strengths, team strengths and how they can work as a cohesive unit to maximize communication and impact during the action planning portion of TechWomen. At the end of the session, Samantha prompted Emerging Leaders to share a word or phrase that represents what they will contribute to their team over the next month. In the chat, Emerging Leaders typed their commitments: “Energy.” “Devotion.” “Commitment and respect.” “Trust.” “Resilience.” “Love and positivity.”

Next up: Professional Mentorships begin, and Emerging Leaders will officially start developing their social impact projects at Action Plan Workshop 1!

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