Tag Archives: Egypt

Thanks Symantec! TechWomen Emerging Leaders Poster

As of January 2015, these cards and posters are available for sale on Notable Technical Women.

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Thanks to Eileen Brewer, Symantec is donating the printing for the first edition of the “TechWomen Emerging Leaders” poster – enough for us to take on the South Africa Delegation later this month! Thanks also to Jessica Dickinson Goodman (my capable and talented daughter) for designing the poster and cards. And, of course, thanks to the 54 TechWomen Emerging Leaders from 16 countries in Africa and the Middle East for being our amazing honorees! I am proud and honored to work with some of the most intelligent and accomplished technical women there are.

TechWomen Mai Ahmed Abualkas Temraz (2014-Palestine) TechWomen Josette Tejan-Cole (2013-Sierra Leone) TechWomen Zimkhita Buwa (2013-South Africa)
TechWomen Ogechi Blessing Onuoha (2014-Nigeria) TechWomen Omnia Eteyari (2013-Libya) TechWomen Heba Hosny Mohamed (2012-Egypt)

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List: TechWomen Emerging Leader Cards from Africa and the Middle East

As of January 2015, these cards are available for sale on Notable Technical Women.

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Yesterday, the selection committee picked 54 TechWomen Emerging Leaders to honor in a deck of playing cards.  TechWomen Emerging Leaders are selected annually from among thousands of applicants. They have participated from 16 countries in the Middle East and Africa since 2011 – coming to the San Francisco Bay Area to be mentored at Silicon Valley companies and universities in a prestigious STEM program. We received a very enthusiastic response by the TechWomen mentee alumnae community to our 15 December 2014 call for participation – unfortunately, more than could be included in a card deck of just 54. It was a hard decision for the selection committee to pick from among these remarkably talented women. We are pleased to be able to honor an impressive group from Algeria, Cameroon, Egypt, Jordan, Kenya, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Nigeria, Palestine, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Tunsia, Yemen, and Zimbabwe.  The selection committee members are:

Finance and Production:

We welcome financial backers! If you would like to join us in supporting this inspiring project, please contribute here. If we do not collect enough money to produce card decks in time for the TechWomen South Africa Delegation at the end of January 2015, we will prepare a poster featuring the cards to take to South Africa, then focus on getting funding for producing the playing cards to take on the Tunisia Delegation in mid-March 2015. The “TechWomen Emerging Leader” poster will be inspired by the “Notable Women in Computing” playing cards and poster project in content and design.  This project is a labor of love for the women behind it, which is why we are licensing it under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 U.S. License. We will make $0 profit from this project.

All 54 TechWomen Emerging Leader cards:

Here are the names and card assignments of the honorees. There may be text edits before production starts – space is very limited on playing cards! Jessica is creating the card and poster designs now – a sample card hand is above.

Suit Honoree Name (TechWomen Year) Country Position, Company or Organization Honors, Awards, Notable Professional Acknowledgements
Joker Nisreen Deeb (2013) Lebanon Senior Software Developer- Mediterranean Shipping Company & MSC Cruises Best Scout Leader of top 2 scout trainees in the Lebanese Scout Federation
Joker Salwa Sameer Nassar (2014) Palestine Civil engineer – United Nations Development Programme Member of the Board of Directors in Society of Al-Burij For Community Rehabilitation
Hearts QueenSukaina Al-Nasrawi (2011) Lebanon Professional Staff Member, Statistics Division of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia, PhD researcher, Information Systems Dean’s Honor List: American University of Beirut, Department of Computer Science // Full scholarship for CS graduate studies
KingNermin Salah Ahmed Mostafa (2013) Egypt Lecturer at German University in Cairo Science Technology and Development grant 2013 // Univ. Management scholarship at Oldenburg, Germany 2013
JackPeace Asukwo (2013) Nigeria Country Head of IT/Information Managements at Save the Children International 1st Lady, Country IT Technician, Save the Children UK // 1st Lady, Country IT Representative, West and Central Africa for Save the Children International
AceSeham Ahmad Abdullah Aljaafreh (2014) Jordan New think Academy Founder + supervisor of Mutah knowledge Station “100 Outstanding Telecentre Women in the World” Award – Telecentre.org 2011 // “Best Influential Youth” Jordan Award 2013
10- Mai Ahmed Abualkas Temraz (2014) Palestine CEO and Founder of Amateur Club Training Center The First and only Female Amateur Radio Operator in Palestine // Extra Class License from the American Radio Relay League
9- Heba Hosny Mohamed (2012) Egypt Scrum Master/ Team Coordinar, Senior Testing Engineer, at InsideTrack Semifinalist in the in the Global Initiative for Science and Technology, GIST, competition in Turkey.
8- Placidie Benamahirwe (2014) Rwanda Senior System Administrator/ Africa Olleh Services Ltd Award from Ministry of Education to study three international courses
7- Sylvia Mukasa (2014) Kenya Chief Executive Officer, GlobalX Investments Ltd, Nairobi Finalist USAID/Kenya Feed the Future Innovation Engine Competition, GlobalX Hello Mkulima Concept 2014
6- Ameni Channoufi (2014) Tunisia Service Manager, PKI operations, National Digital Certification Agency Systems Security and PKI Certified
5- Nassima Berrayah (2013) Algeria Founder and CEO @ eBlink.dz (my own startup) JoomChrono Awards 2013: Dynamic website design // WIT MEA Awards: Best Startup Business – Dubai 2014
4- Yara Maher Mohamed Ahmed (2012) Egypt Advanced Analytics Lead at Vodafone Google Anita Borg Memorial Award for Women in Technology in EMEA 2014 // TEDx Speaker 2014
3- Amel Chenouf (2012) Algeria Researcher at Advanced Technologies Development Center; CDTA Certificate Appreciation- Test Technology Council // Outstanding volunteer- IEEE Symposium 2014
2- Amal Al-saqqaf (2014) Yemen Teaching assistant in software engineering department, Taiz University, Republic of Yemen Fellow in ICANN 52 fellowship program in Singapore // Internet Society member – Yemen chapter
Diamonds QueenMekuate Tayou Christelle Carine epse Tachoula (2014) Cameroon Founder and CEO of “SOFT-ELITE” Cameroon’s Representative at MONDIALOGO International Symposium // 1st girl President of CLUB MATHS at the University of Yaoundé
KingMarie Claire Murekatete (2014) Rwanda Senior Software engineer at Rwanda Development Board and founder of Atlas computer systems Award – best female in Computer Engineering and Information Technology // Girls In ICT Fellow
JackAmel Ghouila (2014) Tunisia Bioinformatics researcher (PhD), Institut Pasteur de Tunis EMBO grant – organisation of a bioinformatics course 2014)// Merit PhD Scholarship, High Technology from Islamic development bank (2010 – 2013)
AceNezha Larhrissi Taghi (2013) Morocco Advisor to the Minister; Ministry of Environment Won Rally Aicha des Gazelles, Relais des Médias category 2005 // Book chapter “Advanced Cellular Network Planning and Optimization” 2007
10- Rokia Abubaker Mohammed Al-beity (2014) Yemen HSE & Security specialist / Baker Hughes Interpries – Yemen .
9- Neza Guillaine (2013) Rwanda Senior Software developer at Partners In Health, Her2Voice founder, Technovation regional coordinator Oracle Java SE Programmer Certified // Best trainer on data management in the EAC
8- Dorothée Danedjo Fouba (2014) Cameroon Multimedia Journalist – Media Education Engineer-Blogger / Ministry of Communication African FOSS Reporter Award 2012 // Best African ICT Blog 2012 & 2013
7- Zimkhita Buwa (2013) South Africa BU Business Intelligence Manager Company: Britehouse Siliconcape Exco Member – Cape Town tech entrepreneurship // SAP Mentor – one of two African SAP Mentors
6- Amel Awadallah (2013) Palestine Senior Quality Assurance Engineer, Asal Technologies, Ramallah ISTQB certificate // CCNA Certificate
5- Ogechi Blessing Onuoha (2014) Nigeria Technologist, Department of Systems Engineering, University of Lagos; Membership/Volunteer Relations Manager Mobile Monday Presidential Special Scholarship for Scheme For Innovation and Development (PRESSID)
4- Alaa Abdel-Razzaq Fatayer (2014) Palestine Charging System Engineer, Jawwal “Palestine Cellular Communication Company” Technovation Regional Ambassador // Contributed with an IEEE publication under An-Najah National University
3- Gamilah Abdulhak AL-qadhi (2014) Yemen PhD student –Cairo Univ.; 2012: Assistant lecturer –Department of oral biology- Univ. Science and Technology-Sana’a; 2004-2007: Dentist- Altafary dental center- Sana’a Published in Egyptian Dental Journal 58, 2012 // Speaker at the 1st Yemeni – Turkey Dental Congress – Univ. Science and Technology- Sana’a 2012
2- Racha Bia (2014) Algeria Pharmacist and Computer Science student (future engineer), Engineering Systems and Softwares Option Google Student Ambassador 2012-2013 // Finalist at Arab Mobile App Challenge
Spades QueenMaysoun Ibrahim (2011) Palestine Acting Director General of Information and Communication Technology, Office of Palestinian President / PhD researcher, Information Systems Grace Hopper Celebration Change Agent Award 2011 // Palestinian ICT Incubator Business Plan Award of Year 2006
KingAdla Mahmoud Chatila (2012) Lebanon Information & Finance Director, Makassed Philanthropic Islamic Association of Beirut Received Microsoft Award for ICT integration in Makassed schools // Won Board Award for reengineering project at Makassed schools
JackJosette Tejan-Cole (2013) Sierra Leone Procurement and Logistics Manager, Total Sierra Leone Ltd (Petroleum Company), enrolled at Heriot-Watt University for a Petroleum Engineering Masters Degree Employee of the year 2012 // Best Mechanical Engineer USL 2007 // Best mechanical design of an ice making machine SLBL 2007
AceOuafa Benterki (2012) Algeria Lecturer at the Higher Arab Institute of Translation, Founder of MTY Intelligent Software President: Machine Translation Association in Algiers 2013 // Pioneer of Machine Translation 2012
10- Emma Marie Ndoringoma (2013) Rwanda Co-founder & Technical Manager at Fidalix / Product Manager at Promelec 1st Google Student Ambassador, University of Rwanda
9- Benhamou Amina (2012) Algeria Professor researcher in university and general manager of Sundous Energy Trefle d’or of women in entrepreneurship in Algeria 2014 // 1st place of research in Algeria 2014
8- Germaine Ashu (2014) Cameroon Electrical Engineer – Electricity Development Corporation – Yaounde 2011 Young Professional for Cameroon at Commonwealth Conference for Administration and Management
7- Asal Ibrahim (2014) Jordan Researcher, Fraunhofer institute for solar energy systems Green Talents Award, German Ministry – Education and Research 2013 // 1st place, Scientific Day at the Hashemite Univ. 2012
6- Wifak Tayeb (2014) Morocco Information manager and PhD researcher, Ministry of Interior, Morocco Valedictory Award for Masters in Supply Chain Management // Scholarship Award – Maastricht School of Management
5- Mona Eilouti (2014) Jordan Product Manager, Bayt.com Best Project Award at the Int. Undergraduate Research Conf., Dubai for “Toward an Interactive Mobile Arabic Learning Paradigm”
4- Douache Djamila (2013) Algeria Senior International Training Engineer at ZTE Corporation Best trainer in quality at ZTE Corporation // First lady speaker at Alumni Day at ENP
3- Hanan Youssef (2013) Egypt Incubation Manager, OTVentures, Cairo Certified Business Analysis Professional, Int. Institute of Bus. Analysis // Speaker- Voices Conference, Global Tech Women, 2014
2- Nour Yousef Alkhalil (2012) Jordan Technical Team Lead, Bayt.com IEEE Darrel Chong Award for MovIEEE initiative // 1st Place- MENA for Ubiquitous GPS Vehicle System
Clubs QueenJosephine Kamanthe Ndambuki (2013) Kenya Senior engineer, Transport and IP support, Safaricom Top under 40 women in Kenya, Business Daily 2014 // Canadian Development Agency, Coady International Institute emerging Global change leader 2011
KingPatience Mthunzi (2014) South Africa Senior Research Scientist and Principal Investigator, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) TED Fellow (2015) // Most Influential Women 2013 Award, by Celebrating Excellence in Organizations Communications Awards
JackOmnia Eteyari (2013) Libya Co-Founder / CEO of Mazadah for Training and Development Emerging Leader, American Council for Young Political Leaders // Shaper at Tripoli Global Shapers
AceNyarumbu Trish (2014) Zimbabwe Principal Research Officer, Horticultural Research Institute – Department of Research and Specialist Services, Ministry of Agriculture Fellowship – NUFIC to attend courses on Plant Genetic Resources and Seeds (India) and Climate Change Governance (Netherlands)
10- Arwa Yahia Al-Eryani (2012) Yemen Assistant Professor at Yemen Academy for Graduate Studies Published author of four books in information technology
9- Ogo Maduewesi (2014) Nigeria Founder/Executive Director, Vitiligo Support and Awareness Foundation Ashoka Fellowship // Architects of the Future Award // Netherlands Fellowship Programme NFP Scholarship
8- Nomso Faith Kana (2013) South Africa Innovation Ambassador, Company: The Innovation Hub Management company Appointed Delegation Leader for South Africa – World Sustainable Energy Initiative 2014
7- Houda Chakiri (2012) Morocco CEO Enhanced Technologies, Morocco Top ten – Sawaed contest (2008 – 2009) for innovative ideas using ICT to promote Arabic Content in the Arab World // IEEE CIST Young ICT Entrepreneur Award (2014)
6- Helen Olubunmi Aderemi (2013) Nigeria Ph.D Work in Department of Management and Accounting, Faculty of Administration, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria Distinguished Lead Speaker: ‘Gender, Youth and Entrepreneurship’. Int. Conf. on Business Administration and Management, 2014
5- Maria Salama (2012) Egypt Assistant Lecturer, British Universty in Egypt Postgraduate Elite Scholarship in the College of Engineering and Physical Sciences, Univ. of Birmingham, UK (2013-2016)
4- Ouafae Alami (2014) Morocco Senior Software Engineer – Devoteam Services Maroc Sun Certification, Java Programming // Sun Certification for Web Component Development
3- Rawan abu Shmais (2014) Palestine BSS Radio Engineer working at JAWWAL / Palestine Participated in International Social Camp for Children in Refugee Camps
2- Mona Karamalah Hasan (2014) Egypt Civil infrastructure engineer – Vodafone Egypt Managing Directors of Girls In Tech Egypt

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New Playing Cards Honoring Women of Africa and the Middle East

As of January 2015, these cards are available for sale on Notable Technical Women.

Adla Mahmoud Chatila – Lebanon Draft Card Design - Adla Mahmoud Chatila - Lebanon - TechWomen Emerging Leader . Nezha Larhrissi Taghi – Morocco Photo Nezha Larhrissi Taghi- Morocco - TechWomen Emerging Leader
Patience Mthunzi – South Africa Photo Patience Mthunzi - South Africa - TechWomen Emerging Leader . Arwa Yahia Al-Eryani – Yemen Photo Arwa Yahia Al-Eryani - Yemen - TechWomen Emerging Leader
Maysoun Ibrahim – Palestine Photo Maysoun Ibrahim - Palestine - TechWomen Emerging Leader . Josephine Kamanthe Ndambuki – Kenya Photo Josephine Kamanthe Ndambuki - Kenya - TechWomen Emerging Leader

TechWomen Mentor Eileen Brewer, Jessica Dickinson Goodman and I are partnering with Arezoo Miot (IIE TechWomen Director), Jill Finlayson and Julia Lovin (Council Co-Chairs of the TechWomen Alumnae Organization, and TechWomen Mentors) to create a new playing card deck honoring 54 of the remarkable TechWomen Emerging Leaders – from 16 countries in the Middle East and Africa since 2011.  We are building on the success and structure of the “Notable Women in Computing Card Deck”  that Jessica and I developed with Professor Susan Rodger (Duke University) to develop this new deck honoring global women of STEM.

TechWomen is a professional mentorship and exchange program developed in response to President Obama’s efforts to strengthen relations between the United States and the Middle East and North Africa.

Former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton first announced the TechWomen initiative on April 28, 2010 during President Obama’s Entrepreneurship Summit. In June 2011, TechWomen launched with 37 participants from Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, and the Palestinian Territories. In 2012, the program expanded to include women from Tunsia and Yemen. In 2013, the cohort doubled in size with the addition of women from Cameroon, Kenya, Libya, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, South Africa, and Zimbabwe.

TechWomen is an initiative of the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.
TechWomen – Who We Are

The card design above is Jessica’s first draft proposal – still under discussion! It honors my 2012 TechWomen mentee and friend: Adla Chatila of Lebabon. This project is a labor of love for the women behind it, which is why we are licensing the card deck under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 U.S. License. We will make $0 profit from this project. We are still discussing how to fund production.

Thanks to the 70+ TechWomen Emerging Leaders who have already submitted their information to be considered for inclusion. I am very much enjoying my email communications with this inspiring and energetic group as we develop this exciting new project!

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TechWomen Opening Day 2014!

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Yesterday was the TechWomen 2014 opening event for participants from 16 countries in Africa and the Middle East (plus the USA!) – generously hosted by Juniper Networks again in Sunnyvale, California. During the next five weeks, I will be the Professional Mentor for Seham Jaafreh from Jordan – working together at Everwise In San Francisco. Lucy Keoni will also be working with Seham as her Cultural Mentor.

Assistant US Secretary of State Evan Ryan made the welcome announcement that the countries included in TechWomen 2015 will be extended to South Central Asia!

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Images Copyright 2014 by Katy Dickinson

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Opening Event for TechWomen 2014 Mentors

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I am proud and honored to once again be a TechWomen mentor. Today was the orientation session for the mentors (generously hosted by LinkedIn in Mountain View, California). We meet our Emerging Leaders on 6 October. I am very much looking forward to working with my new mentee from Jordan on a project at Everwise in San Francisco.  She and I have been speaking by Skype for the last few weeks – making plans.  Lucy Keoni will be her Cultural Mentor and I will be her Professional Mentor next month.  Since 2010, I have served with 250 outstanding women mentors from 89 Silicon Valley and San Francisco Bay Area companies in this remarkable and life-changing program.

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About TechWomen:

The mission of TechWomen is to empower, connect, and support the next generation of women leaders in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) by providing them access and opportunity to advance their careers, pursue their dreams, and become role models for women and girls in their communities.

During the five-week program, participants engage in project-based mentorships at leading companies in the San Francisco Bay Area and Silicon Valley, participate in professional development workshops and networking events, and travel to Washington, D.C. for targeted meetings and special events to conclude the program.

Over the past three years, 156 women from Algeria, Cameroon, Egypt, Jordan, Kenya, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Nigeria, the Palestinian Territories, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Tunisia, Yemen, and Zimbabwe have participated in TechWomen.

TechWomen is an initiative of the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA). TechWomen, launched by former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in 2011, supports the United States’ global commitment toward advancing the rights and participation of women and girls around the world by enabling them to reach their full potential in the tech industry.

TechWomen is managed by the Center for Women’s Leadership Initiatives (WLI) at the Institute of International Education (IIE).

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Images Copyright 2014 by Katy Dickinson

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TechWomen: Day 2 at the State Department

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200 TechWomen – including emerging leaders from Africa and the Middle East and their Silicon Valley mentors – visited the US State Department here in Washington DC for the second day today. This included a formal lunch in the Benjamin Franklin State Dining Room, plus fascinating meetings with Lee Satterfield (Deputy Assistant Secretary of State), Macon Philips (Coordinator, Bureau of International Information Programs), and Sheila Casey (Deputy Director, Office of Citizen Exchanges at U.S. Dept. of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs), plus two panel discussions:

  • Katie Dowd (Senior Advisor to the US CTO at The White House), Jennifer Pahlka (Deputy Chief Technology Officer of the USA, CEO of Code for America), and Erin Lindsay (Deputy Director of Online Engagement for the Office of Digital Strategy).
  • Dee Dee Myers (Political Analyst and the first woman to be a White House Press Secretary) with four TechWomen participants.

We also heard from Chang Suh of the US State Department’s International Exchange Alumni program about TechWomen Alumnae opportunities for RAR: resources, access, and recognition. This month with TechWomen has been an amazing experience.  Our farewell party is tonight.  Then we sadly say our goodbyes as our sisters return home to Algeria, Cameroon, Egypt, Jordan, Kenya, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Nigeria, Palestine, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Tunisia, Yemen, and Zimbabwe.

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Images Copyright 2013 by Katy Dickinson

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TechWomen: 1st Day at State Department

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The TechWomen 78 emerging leaders from 16 countries in Africa and the Middle East, and the Silicon Valley mentors visited the US State Department here in Washington DC today. The mentors heard an interesting presentation by Lesley Fair, Bureau of Consumer Protection, Federal Trade Commission, while the mentees were at a closing workshop. This was followed by a program feedback session (for which I was one of the table facilitators).

This evening we enjoyed a lively reception at the National Museum of Women in the Arts with Dr. Jill Biden, Second Lady of America. After all of the official events, a group of us went out to the Kabob House where we ate a late supper of Afghan food, followed by Baklava with green tea and cardamom. We took turns singing our national anthems to each other – American, Egyptian, Mexican, Indian, Algerian, Tunisian – much to our own amusement.

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Images Copyright 2013 by Katy Dickinson

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