Tag Archives: Lebanon

February 11, 2013 · 9:57 pm

Makassed Talk, AUB and Sidon Walk

Yesterday, My daughter Jessica and I walked through the campus of the American University of Beirut to see their archeological museum, visited Al Makassed (the Makassed Philanthropic Islamic Association of Beirut) to hear a talk, then toured the ancient city of Sidon or Saida. The impressive talk was to the Makassed students by His Eminence Bishop Gabriel Caccia, Vatican Ambassador to Lebanon, about Christian-Muslim understanding and dialogue. The talk coming on the day of the surprise resignation of His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI made it even more interesting. I was honored to sit next to Bishop Caccia at lunch and benefited from his charming informal remarks. We also discussed MentorCloud, TechWomen, and the benefits of professional mentoring. After lunch, Jessica and I were delighted to be given a night tour of the Sidon souk and other old stone remains of some of the many cultures which have lived in this amazing place.

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February 10, 2013 · 10:47 pm

Friends in Beirut

The 2013 TechWomen delegation to Jordan has sadly said its goodbyes. Most of us have returned to Algeria, Palestine, Egypt, Lebanon, Morocco, Yemen, Tunisia, Jordan, and the USA. We will continue to communicate on email, Skype, LinkedIn, Facebook, by telephone and sometimes even through precious visits to each other’s homes.

My daughter Jessica and I traveled yesterday to the lovely city of Beirut, Lebanon, to visit more TechWomen friends and to meet with Al Makassed (the Makassed Philanthropic Islamic Association of Beirut). Our dear TechWomen friends Sukaina Al-Nasrawi and Maysoun Ibrahim met us in the hotel lobby when we checked in, then took us on a walking tour of downtown. We were honored to have a driving tour and marvelous dinner with Dr. Amine Daouk, President of Makassed, and Adla Chatila, Makassed’s IT and Finance Director (my amazing and talented TechWomen 2012 mentee). We look forward to seeing even more of this fascinating place today.

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Tagged as Algeria, Egypt, Episcopal church, Jessica, Jordan, Lebanon, Mentoring, Middle East, Morocco, Palestine, technical women, TechWomen

February 9, 2013 · 7:36 pm

TechWomen at Petra

On our last day together, the TechWomen delegation drove by bus from our Dead Seaside hotel to the ancient city of Petra. As with many “touristic” locations, souvenir vendors and sellers of services (in Petra’s case: camel, donkey, and carriage rides) are as much a part of the site as are the ruins. I took so many photos that the poor computer service at our hotel could not handle the upload – so I will post the image of Jessica and me on camels later. The colors of the sandstone were luscious and changed as the light shifted during the hours we walked through Petra. The TechWomen said goodbye to our beloved friends as the delegation left for home. Jessica and I fly from Amman, Jordan, to Beirut, Lebanon, today.

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February 1, 2013 · 1:58 pm

MentorCloud, Seoul National University, TechWomen

Busy week… I have been working with MentorCloud on mentoring programs from Ethiopia to Afghanistan to Korea to the USA. A group of three graduate students from Seoul National University, who have been hosted at Global Fluency here in the Silicon Valley, have been discussing their mentoring research with us. Their big presentation on mentoring in Korea compared to the USA was very interesting.

The San Jose city inspector signed off on our new porch construction (hooray!). The iron work railing, breakfast bar, and handrail got fitted by the blacksmith crew – and was carried away for final welding and powder coating. We hope all porch work will be done by the time I get home!

I am leaving today for a two week trip to Jordan and Lebanon with the TechWomen delegation. I already finished and sent off for translation my presentation materials, one is a talk on mentoring and the other a workshop on e-commerce for crafts. My husband drove me to the airport right after MentorCloud held its user experience walk-through with customers, at the Plug and Play Center in Sunnyvale. A long airplane ride sounds restful about now…

19 October 2019: Links Updated. For more about MentorCloud business practices, see Collecting a Labor Judgement (15 January 2016).

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Tagged as House Work, John, Jordan, Lebanon, Mentoring, Middle East, technical women, TechWomen

December 20, 2012 · 10:41 am

TechWomen Mentors’ Reunion

The TechWomen mentors gathered for a reunion and evening holiday party at Anar Simpson’s home in Saratoga, California, this week. Anar was a TechWomen mentor in both 2011 and 2012 and is on the TechWomen entrepreneurship advisory committee. At the event, Heather Ramsey (Director for Strategic Partnerships, Institute of International Education) gave us details about the October 2013 TechWomen program (more below), and the February 2013 delegation to Jordan – which I plan to join! I caught up with news from my sister Mentors and told them about my new job as the Vice President for Solutions at the MentorCloud startup.

Carmel Jud from Rising International gave us a presentation about her organization and brought in crafts made by women entrepreneurs – including some delightful lady dolls from Afghanistan. In the picture above, the doll on the lower left was the first one made. The doll on the lower right is the one I purchased for our family doll collection.

TechWomen potential Mentees may now apply for the 2013 program. TechWomen brings emerging women leaders in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) from the Middle East and Africa together with their counterparts in the United States for a professional mentorship and exchange program. TechWomen connects and supports the next generation of women leaders in STEM fields by providing them access and opportunity to advance their careers and pursue their dreams.

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

In 2012, 41 TechWomen Emerging Leaders participated from Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, the Palestinian Territories, Tunisia and Yemen. The 2013 TechWomen program has expanded to include women from Cameroon, Kenya, Libya, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, South Africa and Zimbabwe. TechWomen is an initiative of the U.S. Department of State Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA). The Mentee Application deadline is February 22nd, 2013.

The Professional Mentor application will be available April 1st, 2013 (deadline is June 1st, 2013). Cultural Mentor application will be available July 1, 2013 (deadline to apply is August 1st, 2013).

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November 30, 2012 · 2:30 pm

Hopper Conference, TechWomen Press

I have been honored to have been included in two news stories recently:

“Sharing the Hopper Conference” – a story about my daughter Jessica and me attending the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women and Computing together, on the fascinating website Anitasquilt.org
United Nations – Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia Weekly News story (Issue 45/52) “Women and ICT”, about the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women and Computing 2012 panel “Arab Women in Computing: Challenges vs. Aspirations” for which I was the moderator. The UN ESCWA story is about the participation of the impressive Sukaina Al-Nasrawi, Associate Social Affairs Officer at the ESCWA Centre for Women in Beirut, Lebanon. Sukaina was one of the amazing participants in the U.S. State Department’s 2011 TechWomen mentoring program, four of whom returned as GHC12 panelists (the others were: Reham Nasser of Egypt, Maysoun Ibrahim of Palestine, and Hania Gati of Algeria). Read more about the panel in my 4 October 2012 blog entry and in Larissa’s 7 October 2012 blog entry.

Here are screen shots of the news stories:

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Tagged as Algeria, Egypt, Jessica, Lebanon, Mentoring, Middle East, Palestine, technical women, TechWomen

October 12, 2012 · 8:01 am

TechWomen’s last day in Washington DC

The TechWomen enjoyed their last day in Washington DC and are now slowly making their way home to either the Silicon Valley area (mentors), or to Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Palestine, Tunisia, and Yemen in the MENA region (mentees). I miss them already!

Wednesday was full of TechWomen-normal activities: networking, exchanging ideas and experiences, and taking pictures. It is usual for me to be given three to six cameras and smart phones and asked to photograph a posed group of lovely intelligent women. The group I am photographing may start small but if the setting is good, it often doubles and triples as other TechWomen join in. Taking TechWomen group pictures is an enjoyable if frenetic experience. My daughter Jessica lives in Washington DC and was invited to two of the TechWomen dinners – which made picture taking even more enjoyable.

We met in the morning in the Loy Henderson conference room at the US State Department for a political discussion, then had a magnificent lunch in the Benjamin Franklin State Dining Room. The TechWomen were welcomed and honored by Ann Stock, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs, and Melanne Verveer, Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues. We regretfully did not get to meet the program sponsor, US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. Ann Stock was patient and a very good sport – she stayed after the lunch to take dozens of pictures with the TechWomen. I love the diplomatic rooms at the US State Department, with cases full of china and silver (some by Paul Revere), and walls covered with portraits of American historical greats. The copy of the Declaration of Independence is my particular favorite.

After lunch, we returned to the Henderson room for Sheila Casey (Deputy Director, Office of Citizen Exchanges at U.S. Department of State) and Heather Ramsey (Director at Institute of International Education) to give the mentees their participation certificates (signed by Secretary Clinton). Our going away party was around the very windy roof pool of the Donovan House hotel (the party eventually moved downstairs since we were all freezing!).