Category Archives: News & Reviews

March 25, 2025 · 1:50 pm

Support TechWomen: Hundreds of Beautiful Daughters

Jessica Dickinson Goodman and Katy Dickinson, US Capitol, 16 March 2025

When I started working in 2010 as a Process Architect with the US State Department – Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, and the Institute of International Education (IIE) to design the TechWomen mentoring program, I gained hundreds of beautiful daughters. I knew the program would include brilliant and productive leaders in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) but not that it would eventually include thousands of inspiring women in dozens of countries in the Middle East, Africa, and Central Asia. I have grown to know and love hundreds of them as daughters and colleagues in making the world a better place for us all.

Ten days ago our community experienced a deeply troubling surprise. Numerous factors, including Executive Orders, program suspensions, and changes in the payments and processes of the U.S. Department of State impacted IIE’s operations. In response, they took difficult and necessary steps, including reductions in workforce. For TechWomen, this meant that most of the team went on furlough. Since that sad and scary news came out, hundreds of us mentors and Fellows have been working daily to inform elected officials, news services, and powerful people who may help us get TechWomen reinstated in time for 100+ emerging leaders to arrive in October 2025. Over 6,000 STEM women applied to join TechWomen in 2025. Last week, I was on one of the selection committees that met with the last active TechWomen staff member to get ratings recorded in the hope that the new cohort can join us in the Silicon Valley and Chicago.

TechWomen and citizen diplomacy make our world safer. If we want America to be safe, productive, and effective in STEM and related businesses, we need programs like this. Together with mentors and Fellows, I am working to get funding restored for TechWomen and other programs, including those supported by the Alliance for International Exchange and the Fulbright Association. Exchange programs such as TechWomen are a relatively low-cost way for American businesses to benefit from new ideas, innovation, entrepreuneurship, and worldwide partners. I meet monthly with three different country teams I have coached through TechWomen; it is a vital and deeply rewarding part of my life. TechWomen mentors, Fellows, and community allies who want to join our efforts to reinstate TechWomen program funding, please contact me.

27 March 2025: Today, our community was relieved at the good news that TechWomen funding has been restored and furloughed staff will be reinstated. More on Jessica Dickinson Goodman’s article: https://hackernoon.com/techwomen-is-back-online In these unsettled political times, we will continue to be vigilant to support our beloved program to empower global STEM leadership and innovation.

TechWomen Team Tunisia in San Jose, CA 2022-10-1 — TechWomen Team Lebanon 2024

TechWomen Emerging Leaders from Africa and the Middle East, 2015 by Jessica Dickinson Goodman, Susan Roger, Katy Dickinson — 2015 Poster: TechWomen Emerging Leaders from Africa and the Middle East, by Jessica Dickinson Goodman, Susan Roger, and Katy Dickinson

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Filed under Home & Family, Mentoring & Other Business, News & Reviews

Tagged as Africa, Central Asia, Mentoring, Middle East, technical women, TechWomen

February 26, 2025 · 7:00 pm

Hope in Spiritual Care

I am honored to be one of the panelists for tomorrow’s “Hope in Spiritual Care” virtual event hosted by the Berkeley School of Theology. You can still register if you are interested!

To prepare for the panel, I asked my fellow chaplains in the Correctional Institutions Chaplaincy staff meeting today how they gave hope in a complex world to the county jail inmates while offering pastoral care, during worship, or scripture study. Here is some of what the chaplains said:

Encourage writing and reflection
Give feedback to let them know they are heard
Listen to their requests and offer choices when possible (what music to play during worship? what color paper?)
Encourage immediately if possible to identify growth and progress
Support them in speaking about gratitude and what is good in the present moment
Encourage trust in the divine message today to build future hope
When opportune, give messages of God’s love: each of us is noticed and important to God
Encourage art and creative expression
Help inmates to manage realistic expectations of the justice process
Even when things go badly, say God is with them and the chaplains will be there to listen
Be in the role of offering service rather than advice on how to fix things

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Almost a Doctor!

Yesterday, I submitted my completed Doctor of Ministry dissertation (142 pages) to the Dean of the Berkeley School of Theology Thanks to my husband, John Plocher, for a final late-night review and edit!

Since 2021, I have been a BST Doctor of Ministry student (as well as a jail chaplain, TechWomen mentor, and Founder of Mentoring Standard). The DMin degree is based on a project that comes out of the student’s regular work. My project was to rewrite The Transforming Literature of the Bible (TLB) class I present weekly in Santa Clara County jail. My successful oral dissertation defense was on 5 December 2024 with my DMin Academic Committee, the Rev. Dr. LeAnn Snow Flesher (BST Vice President of Academics & Dean of the Faculty, Professor of Biblical Interpretation), the Rev. Dr. Aidsand F. Wright-Riggins (BST Professor of Public Theology, and Mayor, Collegeville, Pennsylvania), and the Rev. Liz Milner (Correctional Institutions Chaplaincy Executive Director & Facility Chaplain, Correctional Center for Women). The dissertation I just sent in includes the three minor revisions requested by the committee during my oral defense. Next, the Rev. Dr. Sangyil Sam Park (BST Professor of Preaching & Director of Doctor of Ministry Program) will coordinate the process of final review and preparation for submission to the Graduate Theological Union Library.

Here is the Conclusion – Next Steps section of my Doctor of Ministry dissertation:

“The Transforming Literature of the Bible project is going strong after over forty years in use, and I am honored to guide the transformation of the Rev. Canon William Barnwell’s work into the twenty-first century. My vision is to continue tailoring the program materials to meet the diverse needs of inmate populations, publish the TLB materials for general use in jail and prisons, and train additional mentors in their use.

Work yet to be done includes seeking permission to publish TLB literary selections that are still under copyright, continuing to work toward the TLB class materials getting published and distributed as a spiritual education program, and scaling its use within and beyond Santa Clara County.

Possible future work includes creating a TLB version for much lower-level readers, and another for women prisoners. I have detailed some of the requirements and challenges of these two potential program extensions in the Scope of the Project section. Jail policies require two chaplain / mentors per class, so additional volunteers will be needed to extend the program.

It has been inspiring to update the TLB to support the most marginalized among the jail inmates and I am thankful to God, my family and community, the jail inmates and my work colleagues, and the Berkeley School of Theology for its support during this process.”

BST graduation will be in May 2025.

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Filed under Chaplain, Church, Home & Family, Mentoring & Other Business, Mentoring Standard, News & Reviews

Tagged as Berkeley, Berkeley School of Theology, Correctional Institutions Chaplaincy - CIC, Jail, John, teaching

October 5, 2024 · 10:55 am

Coaching TechWomen Team Lebanon

This year, I have the honor to work with sister mentor Caitlin Doyle as Impact Coaches for TechWomen Team Lebanon. TechWomen is an initiative of the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. I helped design this mentoring program in 2010-2011, and it is very dear to me. This is my second time mentoring a cohort from Lebanon, a country I enjoyed visiting in 2013 hosted by my beloved TechWomen mentees, Adla Chatila, Sukaina Al-Nasrawi and Maysoun Ibrahim.

Caitlin and I are working with the six Lebanese STEM professionals to develop a technical project that will help find housing and resources for people recently displaced by the conflict in Lebanon. The team is developing this project to use their experience and skills to help their homeland during this difficult time. The team also has a group of professional and cultural TechWomen mentors supporting them. Some of our team is housed in San Francisco and some in the South Bay, so we have been meeting every few days on Zoom, plus a working dinner at my house. This weekend we are finishing up our pitch presentation for Monday’s TechWomen pitch day. We are very proud of them – wish us luck!

More about TechWomen from the Institute of International Education, “TechWomen empowers, connects and supports the next generation of women leaders in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) from Africa, Central and South Asia, and the Middle East by providing them the access and opportunity needed to advance their careers, pursue their dreams, and inspire women and girls in their communities. Through mentorship and exchange, TechWomen strengthens participants’ professional capacity, increases mutual understanding between key networks of professionals, and expands girls’ interest in STEM careers by exposing them to female role models.”

8 October 2024: Here is a link to the inspiring 3 minute pitch that Team Lebanon gave yesterday about their “Hadak Lebnen” project to create a platform to support over a million recently displaced people in Lebanon.

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Susan Broaddus Memorial Scholarship Fund

The Susan Broaddus Memorial Scholarship Fund was established in 2023 for women students at the Université Anglicane du Congo (Anglican University of Congo) in Bunia, Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is an initiative of the Episcopal and Anglican Churches and their international Congo Network, for which I have had the honor of being the Secretary since 2015. The Rev. Dr. Daniel Karanja (Africa Partnership Officer, Episcopal Church) chairs the Congo Network. Episcopal Bishop Susan B. Haynes of the Diocese of Southern Virginia sponsors the Susan Broaddus Memorial Scholarship in the USA. The Rev. Dr. Kahwa Njojo, Dean of the Faculty of Theology at the Anglican University in Bunia, and recently elected elected Bishop of the Anglican Diocese of Kalemi, sponsors the Broaddus Fund in the DRC.

In the 2024-2025 term, the Broaddus Fund will support two students studying Theology at the Anglican University in Bunia. The Broaddus Fund committee is honored to support these capable and inspiring women of the church as inaugural Broaddus Scholars. The Broaddus Scholars are committed to following the model of Susan Broaddus, a faithful member of the Congo Network who died in 2021 after a lifetime of faithful activism and lay leadership, including twelve years as an Episcopalian missionary in the Congo. Susan’s outstanding and inspiring contributions developed the role of women leaders and educational programs, especially at the Université Anglicane du Congo.

Since the death of Susan Broaddus, the Congo Network has worked to honor her legacy of education and advocacy. The Broaddus Fund committee has developed a governance plan and process, established a partnership with Episcopal Bishop Susan B. Haynes of the Diocese of Southern Virginia, collected funds for the first two Broaddus Scholars, announced the scholarship, collected and reviewed applications, and approved the inaugural honorees.

If you would like to support women in church leadership in the Congo, consider a donation to the Susan Broaddus Memorial Fund.

For those who speak French, here is the information in that language, thanks to FRÉDÉRIC (FRED) SPITZ, Congo Network member, and Episcopal Church Global Relations and Networking Officer,

Le fonds de la bourse d’études à la mémoire de Susan Broaddus

Le fonds de la bourse d’études à la mémoire de Susan Broaddus a été créé en 2023 pour des étudiantes de l’Université Anglicane du Congo à Bunia, en République démocratique du Congo. Il s’agit d’une initiative menée par des Églises épiscopales et anglicanes et de leur réseau international pour le Congo, dont j’ai l’honneur d’être la secrétaire générale depuis 2015. Le Révérend Dr Daniel Karanja (responsable du partenariat avec l’Afrique pour l’Église épiscopale) préside le réseau Congo. L’évêque épiscopale Susan B. Haynes du diocèse de Virginie du Sud parraine la bourse Susan Broaddus aux États-Unis. Le Révérend Dr Kahwa Njojo, doyen de la faculté de théologie de l’université anglicane de Bunia et récemment élu évêque du diocèse anglican de Kalemie, parraine la bourse d’études Susan Broaddus en RDC.

Au cours de la période 2024-2025, cette bourse d’études soutiendra deux étudiantes en théologie à l’Université anglicane de Bunia. Le comité de la bourse d’étude est honoré de soutenir ces femmes de l’Église, compétentes et inspirantes, en tant que premières lauréates de la bourse. Ces boursières s’engagent à suivre l’exemple de Susan Broaddus, membre fidèle du Réseau Congo, décédée en 2021 après une vie d’activisme fidèle et de direction laïque, y compris douze ans en tant que missionnaire épiscopale au Congo. Les contributions exceptionnelles et inspirantes de Susan ont développé le rôle des femmes leaders et les programmes éducatifs, en particulier à l’Université Anglicane du Congo.

Depuis le décès de Susan Broaddus, le Réseau Congo s’est efforcé d’honorer son héritage en matière d’éducation et de promotion. Le comité de la bourse Susan Broaddus a développé un plan et un processus de gouvernance. Il a établi un partenariat avec l’évêque épiscopale Susan B. Haynes du diocèse de Virginie du Sud et il a collecté des fonds pour les deux premières boursières Susan Broaddus. Le comité a fait la promotion de la bourse, a collecté et examiné les candidatures, puis a approuvé les premières lauréates.

Si vous souhaitez soutenir les femmes dans des rôles de leadership dans les églises au Congo, envisagez de faire un don au fonds de la bourse d’études à la mémoire de Susan Broaddus.

26 Sep 2024: French translation added

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Doctoral Dissertation Submitted!

You may have noticed a gap in my Katysblog posts in 2024. I was spending my time writing my doctoral dissertation, traveling to Africa, and visiting with my fascinating grandbaby, Alex.

This week, I turned my 123 page dissertation over to my committee for review. Hooray! Since 2021, I have been a Doctor of Ministry student at the Berkeley School of Theology. BST’s DMin degree is based on a project that comes out of the student’s regular work. My project was to rewrite The Transforming Literature of the Bible (TLB) class I present weekly in Santa Clara County jail. The current TLB text is about 300 pages long. The next step toward my degree is for my committee to read the dissertation and give comments. I then get to defend it. All of this should be done before 2025 (God willing and the creek don’t rise).

Here is my DMin dissertation abstract,

The Transforming Literature of the Bible scripture study and theological reflection program (TLB) provides faith-based study materials tailored to county jail inmate interests and challenges in a welcoming setting with the intention of reducing some of their disadvantages and support them in their goal to stay out of jail in the future. This project revised the 2018 TLB with a focus on supporting three groups of disadvantaged and often isolated inmates. The groups are those who are primarily-Spanish language speakers (mostly Latinx inmates who make up the majority of inmates in Santa Clara County, California), those who have reading difficulties,and those with mental health challenges. The high-level results of this project are, the TLB page count was cut in half, an image was added to each session (or chapter) with a process for theological reflection using that image as a focus, and a Spanish language translation of the TLB was developed. Mental health topics are presented in several TLB sessions in a way intended to encourage discussion without embarrassment. In response to a series of surveys of inmates and seminar observers in 2023–2024, 99% rated TLB as Excellent and overall satisfaction and 98% of inmates said that they would recommend the class. 92% of inmates said that it was important that TLB be presented in both English and Spanish and 98% said that the machine translations of TLB were of high quality and readability. This dissertation presents information on the TLB project and its methodology, background on incarceration, an analysis of the theological and biblical context for the TLB and this project, and detailed research results.

Wish me luck!

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Filed under Chaplain, Church, News & Reviews

Tagged as Berkeley, Berkeley School of Theology, Correctional Institutions Chaplaincy - CIC, Episcopal church, Jail, teaching

August 31, 2024 · 3:29 pm

TechWomen in Nigeria

After the TechWomen Cameroon Delegation, in March 2024 I made a side trip to Nigeria to visit the TechWomen Fellows there. Private side trips, or as we sometimes call them, mini-delegations, have been an unofficial part of TechWomen since the start. My first mini-delegation was in 2013 with my daughter Jessica Dickinson Goodman when we visited Lebanon. Jessica and I also went on a mini-delegation to Palestine and Gaza in 2016. TechWomen is an initiative of the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. I helped design this mentoring program in 2010-2011, so it is very important to me. I am grateful to Binta Moustapha, Fatima Abdulaziz Sule, Rumana Kabir Aminu, and the remarkable TechWomen Fellows team that invited TechWomen Mentor Kathy Giori and me to visit them in Abuja, Nigeria for the 2023 Tech Community Impact Week.

Getting to Nigeria is painful. Visas are exceptionally difficult and frustrating to secure and after many months of effort, I only received mine the day before I left. However, once in Nigeria, people are welcoming and generous and there is much to do and learn. I learned that we arrived in Nigeria at a difficult time when fuel prices were very high so I was grateful that the inspiring TechWomen Fellows were able to drive us or find drivers for us to get around. I am grateful that the dedicated and persistent Fellows were able to put together our presentations and visits despite these hardships. I would love to visit them again to see more of their amazing country.