Tag Archives: Lebanon

August 19, 2015 · 3:33 pm

Organizing TechWomen Mentors, South Bay Activities

The TechWomen mentoring program of the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs is looking forward to welcoming 99 Emerging Leaders from 19 countries to the Silicon Valley next month. I am honored to be the Lead for the Cultural Mentors – South Bay – Arts & Culture group, working with experienced TechWomen mentors Megan Dean Farah, Lori Kahn, Rochelle Kopp, and Shannon McElyea. Arezoo Miot (TechWomen Director) and Jillian Scott (TechWomen Program Manager) of IIE – San Francisco lead the South Bay Cultural Mentors’ orientation meeting yesterday, generously hosted by Flipboard in Palo Alto.

Our Arts & Culture team will work with about fifty of the ELs who are staying in Mountain View – coming to us from Algeria, Cameroon, Egypt, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Morocco, Nigeria, Palestine, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Tajikistan, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Zimbabwe. The ELs are still in the process of being matched with their Professional Mentors and companies. 91 companies in the San Francisco Bay Area have hosted ELs since 2011. They arrive at the end of September and will be in the US for about six weeks.

Our team will be considering events and activities throughout the Bay Area. However, since we all live in the South Bay, we have been collaborating to create a list of options closer to home – to reduce transportation management and traffic time. Here is our list so far – for discussion. We will only pick a small number of these for the whole South Bay EL group to enjoy!

17 Mile Drive (Carmel)
Art Silicon Valley/San Francisco
Big Basin Redwoods State Park (Santa Cruz)
California Missions Trail – 6 in SF Bay Area:
San Juan Bautista, Santa Cruz, Santa Clara de Asis, San Jose,
San Francisco de Asis Mission Dolores, San Rafael Arcangel
Children’s Discovery Museum of San Jose
Chinese Cultural Garden – Overfelt Gardens Park (San Jose)
Computer History Museum – Friday Night (Mountain View)
Congregation Beth David Simchat Torah Celebrations (Saratoga)
Creative Convergence Silicon Valley
de Saisset Museum at Santa Clara University
Dragon Theater (Redwood City)
Draeger’s Cooking School (Menlo Park)
Gilroy Gardens – theme park (Gilroy)
Great America – amusement park (Santa Clara)
Habitat for Humanity – volunteer to build a house
Hakone gardens, Saratoga
Half Moon Bay Art and Pumpkin Festival
Happy Hollow (San Jose)
Harker School – high school homecoming game (San Jose)
Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park (Santa Cruz Mountains)
History San Jose
Japanese American Museum of San Jose
Lick Observatory tour (Mount Hamilton – San Jose)
Monterey Baq Aquarium day trip
Muslim Community Center tour (Santa Clara)
Petroglyph ceramic lounge, and Glow candle making – crafts (Willow Glen – San Jose)
Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum & Planetarium (San Jose)
San Francisco 49ers – football game (Santa Clara)
San Jose Animal Care Center – animal shelter (San Jose)
San Jose City Hall – tour
San Jose Earthquakes – soccer game (San Jose)
San Jose Municipal Rose Garden
San Jose State Spartans – football game (San Jose)
San Jose Taiko Public Workshop
San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles
San Jose State University – campus tour
San Juan Bautista – city and mission tour
Santa Clara University – campus tour
Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk – amusement park on beach
Santa Maria Urban Ministry – volunteer at a community food distribution warehouse
Silicon Valley Ballet (San Jose)
Silicon Valley Lines model train club operations night (San Jose)
Silicon Valley Symphony – California Theater (San Jose)
Stanford University – campus tour (Stanford / Palo Alto)
Sunset Gardens kitchen and garden tour (Menlo Park)
TechShop San Jose – tour fabrication and prototyping studio
The Tech Museum of Innovation (San Jose)
Theaterworks (Mountain View)
University of California at Santa Cruz – campus tour
Westwind Drive-in movie night at Capitol (San Jose)
Winchester Mystery House (San Jose)

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Tagged as Africa, Algeria, Cameroon, Central Asia, Egypt, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Mentoring, Middle East, Morocco, Nigeria, Palestine, Rwanda, San Francisco, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Tajikistan, technical women, TechWomen, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Zimbabwe

August 8, 2015 · 12:00 pm

TechWomen 2015, Mentoring Standard, Notable Technical Women, Wikipedia

TechWomen 2015: The TechWomen 2015 year has started! Professional and Cultural mentors for the 99 Emerging Leaders from 19 countries who will participate in the five-week program are being notified of acceptances. I have been honored to be selected as a Cultural Mentor for the South Bay Area in the Arts & Culture group. I am looking forward to working with Emerging Leaders and other mentors in the Silicon Valley. Since 2011, 156 women from Algeria, Cameroon, Egypt, Jordan, Kenya, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Nigeria, Palestine, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Tunisia, Yemen, and Zimbabwe have participated. The 2015 TechWomen program will expand to include women from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.

This year, my company Mentoring Standard will be offering training and certification for TechWomen mentors. Our Team is now developing those materials. We are very much looking forward to supporting this outstanding program of citizen diplomacy by the US Department of State – Bureau of Educational Cultural Affairs.

Notable Technical Women: The Notable Technical Women project by Jessica Dickinson Goodman (California Department of Justice), Dr. Susan Rodger (Duke University), and me is also thriving: Jessica just placed a big re-order of the Notable Women in Computing card decks and posters, and the TechWomen cards and posters continue to sell steadily. TechWomen Director Arezoo Miot is pictured above with the TechWomen poster in her Institute of International Education office in San Francisco.

Want to write for Wikipedia? We welcome corrections and additions to information on the Notable Technical Women materials. Since the first printing in November 2014, eight honorees have had new Wikipedia biographies written (or we found pages about them): Clarisse Sieckenius de Souza, Laurie Hendren, Kathleen McKeown, Betty Snyder (aka Betty Holberton), Valerie Taylor, Marlyn Wescoff (aka Marilyn Meltzer), Linda Petzold, and Lixia Zhang. There are only six Notable Technical Women honorees left (out of the 54 honorees) who need biographies written: Anuradha Annaswamy, Chieko Asakawa, Qiheng Hu, Yuqing Gao, Lila Ibrahim, and Sophie Vandebroek. We update the cards as possible between printings.

	Just-printed posters – July 2015
	Susan, Jessica, and Katy – June 2015

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Tagged as Africa, Algeria, Cameroon, Central Asia, Certified Mentors, Egypt, Jessica, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Libya, Mentoring, Middle East, Morocco, Nigeria, Palestine, Rwanda, San Francisco, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Tajikistan, technical women, TechWomen, the Palestinian Territories, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Wikipedia, Yemen, Zimbabwe

July 8, 2015 · 10:55 am

Become a Mentor with TechWomen!

The Mentor Application for the 2015 TechWomen is now open!

I have been working with the TechWomen program since 2010 and I highly recommend it as a life-changing and exceptionally rewarding professional and personal experience! These photos are of TechWomen mentees and friends from Lebanon, Palestine, Jordan and Algeria – some of the most impressive and capable women I know!

Apply by July 19th for priority consideration.

Professional Mentor Application

Eligibility Requirements

Professional Mentor applicants must be

Women working in science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM) in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Able to host an Emerging Leader at their company’s site.

Able to coach the Emerging Leader on the project four days per week for four weeks in October 2015.

Learn more about the Professional Mentor role.

Cultural Mentor Application

Eligibility Requirements

Cultural Mentors applicants must be

Women living and working in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Willing to coordinate within a group to foster relationships and plan activities of interest to their respective Emerging Leaders.

Excited about serving as a cultural ambassador and showcasing all the Bay Area has to offer.

Willing to help Emerging Leaders navigate logistical challenges as they settle into life in the Bay Area.

Learn more about the Cultural Mentor role.

TechWomen Mission

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.

How TechWomen Does It

TechWomen brings emerging women leaders in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) from Africa and the Middle East together with their professional counterparts in the United States for a mentorship and exchange program. TechWomen provides participants access to networks, resources, and knowledge to empower them to reach their full potential.

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. The 2015 program will expand to include women from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.

Mentoring Across the World

The TechWomen experience doesn’t end in California or Washington, D.C. After the program, Emerging Leaders and Mentors have the opportunity to reconnect during delegation trips to program countries in Africa and the Middle East. Programming focuses on expanding networks of women in the STEM fields, creating and strengthening partnerships, encouraging girls to pursue STEM careers, and ensuring the sustainability of Mentor-Emerging Leader relationships.

TechWomen is an initiative of the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA). TechWomen, launched 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).

Images Copyright Katy Dickinson 2012-2015

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Tagged as Africa, Algeria, Egypt, Jessica, Jordan, Lebanon, Mentoring, Middle East, Morocco, Palestine, Rwanda, San Francisco, technical women, TechWomen

March 23, 2015 · 12:02 pm

TechWomen Tunisia Delegation – Short but Excellent

The TechWomen Tunisia Delegation ended early due to the violence at the Bardo Museum in Tunis on 18 March 2015. Twenty-four delegates from California’s Silicon Valley, plus four IIE San Francisco staff, our Washington DC representative from the US State Department Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, and the forteen TechWomen Fellows from Morocco, Lebanon, Algeria and Tunisia were sad for the families of those killed, and for the people of Tunisia. Some of us took pictures on 19 March holding a sign saying “We Love You Tunisia – We Will Be Back”.

We were sorry that we could not continue our inspiring meetings with technical girls and women but it seemed wise to go home sooner than scheduled. Before the tragic attack that lead to 21 deaths in one of the world’s great museums, we were able to tour (including an afternoon at the Bardo on 15 March), and connect with remarkable leaders in STEM:

Women’s Enterprise for Sustainability – Entrepreneurship and Social Media Training – 16 March
Women in Science at the Institute Pasteur de Tunis – 17 March
Women in Green Technology, hosted by Maya Organization – 17 March
Technology Workshops with Tunisian Girls hosted by the Youth for Science Foundation – Esprit Innovation Hub – 18 March

Thanks to our TechWomen Fellows in Tunisia who made these meetings possible, including: Ameni Channoufi (Service Manager, PKI operations), Amel Ghoulia (Bioinformatician – Institut Pasteur de Tunis), Olfa Khelifi (Maya Organization President and Founder), and Ines Nasri (Owner, Web Power). Due to the early end to the TechWomen Tunisia Delegation on 18 March, we were not able to participate in Tunisia Digital Day at Cite des Sciences in Tunis; however, some of the TechWomen who were scheduled to speak recorded messages for playback at the event on 19 March. I was happy to be able to distribute all 12 of the Notable Technical Women posters and 30 decks of cards to schools and educators in Tunisia (and Algeria) before I left. Other TechWomen delegates also left their educational materials. We will continue our communications with the impressive technical leaders of Tunisia now that we are home.

The Lufthansa strike made it very difficult to get home earlier. Many of us (finding that there was a two hour phone wait to try to arrange itinerary changes – if calls went through at all) abandoned our original flights and bought new tickets.

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Tagged as Africa, Algeria, Lebanon, Mentoring, Middle East, Morocco, teaching, technical women, TechWomen, Tunisia

March 16, 2015 · 12:06 pm

Touring with TechWomen Tunisia Delegation

This week, I am a member of a TechWomen Delegation for the sixth time – having been on every delegation since the program started. It has been my honor and pleasure to visit Emerging Leaders in Morocco (2011), Jordan (2013 – with a side trip to Lebanon), Rwanda (2014), Morocco (2014), South Africa (2015), and now, Tunisia. As always, we travel with a U.S. Department of State Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs representative, in addition to Institute of International Education (IIE) staff. I begin my ten days in Tunisia with local tours, both informal and formal, to provide cultural context. Last weekend, we visited:

Dougga – made a UN World Heritage Site in 1997 representing “the best-preserved Roman small town in North Africa”
Sidi Bou Said – a small coastal town with blue doors, winding streets, and many cats
The ancient ruins of Carthage – another UN World Heritage Site, since 1979
The North African American Cemetery and Memorial (in Carthage) where 2,841 US military casualties are interred, mostly from World War II
The Bardo National Museum in Tunis – with one of the best mosaic collections in the world
The Tunis Medina, also made a UN World Heritage site in 1979

Dougga

Sidi Bou Said

North African American Cemetery and Memorial

Carthage

Bardo Museum

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Tagged as Africa, Jordan, Lebanon, Mentoring, Middle East, Morocco, Rwanda, South Africa, technical women, TechWomen, Tunisia

March 6, 2015 · 1:11 pm

More Photos of TechWomen with Cards

Thanks to the honorees and supporters of the Notable Technical Women Project – particularly the amazing and talented TechWomen community! Here are new photos of TechWomen Director Arezoo Miot with a “TechWomen Emerging Leaders from Africa and the Middle East” deck in San Francisco, and four honorees in Lebanon holding their individual cards: Adla Chatila, Nisreen Deeb, Sukaina Al-Nasrawi (birthday girl!), and Maysoun Ibrahim.

More pictures of TechWomen honorees with their cards are on Notable Technical Women Project (27 February 2015).

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Tagged as Africa, Lebanon, Mentoring, Middle East, Palestine, technical women, TechWomen

February 6, 2015 · 5:25 pm

TechWomen Delegation to South Africa

I am still catching up from my trip to South Africa with the TechWomen Delegation. Some of the highlights for me of this inspiring trip to Johannesburg, Pretoria, Cape Town and nearby Townships were spending time in a professional workshop or coaching session with girls and women, particularly at the Phateng Secondary School (in Mamelodi, Pretoria), TheBarn incubator (in Khayelitsha, Cape Town), and at the African Institute of Mathematical Sciences (in Muizenberg, Cape Town) where I was honored to give a talk on mentoring. It was a great pleasure to spend the week with the other two 2011 TechWomen Alumnae in the SA Delegation – my dear friends Sukaina Al-Nasrawi and Maysoun Ibrahim. We have not seen each other in-person since Jessica and I visited them in Beirut in 2012.

Eileen Brewer and I gave away dozens of “TechWomen Emerging Leaders from Africa and the Middle East” posters and card decks (now for sale!) – often in a brief formal presentation at the end of the Delegation’s visit. We hope that these educational materials will continue to inspire women in their technical aspirations for many years to come. This trip marks the farthest South I have ever been!