Tag Archives: Middle East

December 11, 2014 · 10:19 am

TechWomen Delegation to South Africa – Preparations

Last night was the potluck holiday party for TechWomen, the professional mentoring program for women in Africa and the Middle East, an initiative of the US State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. TechWomen is run by the San Francisco office of the Institute of International Education. Dozens of mentors from Silicon Valley companies arrived (despite dire storm warnings) to enjoy each other’s company, celebrate the promotion of Arezoo Miot to Director of TechWomen, admire the newly-remodeled IIE offices, and to start discussions for next month’s Delegation to South Africa.

We also celebrated our new alumnae: Heather Ramsey and Trish Tierney (former executives for IIE) who have a new non-profit startup called WAKE International (Women’s Alliance for Knowledge Exchange).

I am looking forward to planning my first trip to South Africa!

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Filed under Mentoring & Other Business, News & Reviews

Tagged as Africa, Geeks, Mentoring, Middle East, San Francisco, technical women, TechWomen

November 24, 2014 · 12:32 pm

Mentoring in Arab Culture

One of my motivations in working with Mai Temraz (of Palestine) and Seham Al Jaafreh (of Jordan) to create the Arabic Mentor-Protege video set by Everwise was to respond to discussions I had in the Middle East last year. As I wrote in my February 2013 blog entry “Honoring Our Own Generosity“, I was surprised and concerned to be twice told that in Arabic, that the saying is not “Give and Take” but “Take and Give”. Some doubted that mentoring would work in Arab culture. Yet, I have been treated with nothing but extraordinary generosity in my travels in the Middle East. Also, in the last four years, I have seen the TechWomen Emerging Leaders from the Middle East thrive in that professional mentoring program. I think that mentoring fits beautifully into the ancient Arab tradition of hospitality.

In October 2014 in San Francisco, Mai and Seham and I worked together to record the seven videos posted on my YouTube channel:

Everwise: Mentoring in Arab Culture (In Arabic), Featuring Seham Al Jaafreh, 16 views
Everwise: Mentoring Feedback (In Arabic), Featuring Mai Temraz, 6 views
Everwise: Mentoring Recommendations and Resources (In Arabic), Featuring Mai Temraz, 7 views
Everwise: Questions for Your Mentor? (In Arabic), Featuring Mai Temraz, 14 views
Everwise: Mentoring Introductions (In Arabic), Featuring Mai Termaz, 12 views
Everwise: Why Be a Mentor? (In Arabic), Featuring Seham Al Jaafreh, 22 views
Why Mentoring? (In Arabic), Featuring Seham Al Jaafreh, 5 views

The seven videos are getting a small amount of attention and I hope that they will get more. These videos present mentoring in simple words, communicating to potential mentors and proteges. If you are interested in mentoring but do not understand exactly how it can work for your circumstances, this series is for you. Mentoring is new to many cultures, and not all languages even have a word for the practice.

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Tagged as Jordan, Mentoring, Middle East, Palestine, San Francisco, technical women, TechWomen

November 19, 2014 · 5:49 pm

Everwise Blogs by TechWomen

Everwise just posted another in its series of blogs about TechWomen (the US State Department – Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs’ mentoring program) and hosting two Emerging Leaders in San Francisco, in October 2014. Here is the whole blog set:

Getting a lot done (and practically perfectly) 19 October 2014, by Katy with Mai and Seham
Participating In Multiple Approaches To Mentorship 23 October 2014, by Seham Al Jaafareh (Jordan) and Katy Dickinson
Increasing Access To STEM Careers, Around The World 17 October 2014, by Mai Temraz (Palestine) and Katy Dickinson
Everwise is a Proud TechWomen Host 2 October 2014, by Katy Dickinson

Mai is still traveling in the USA, visiting family, but Seham has returned to Jordan. Hers is the first donation of “Notable Women in Computing” card decks to be delivered to actual users in the field. Here are Seham’s cards being checked out at the Mutah Knowledge Station (Karak, Jordan):

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Tagged as Jordan, Mentoring, Middle East, Palestine, San Francisco, technical women, TechWomen

November 14, 2014 · 4:59 pm

Recording TechWomen

During October, Everwise was pleased and honored to host two TechWomen Emerging Leaders: Mai Temraz (of Palestine) and Seham Al Jaafreh (of Jordan) in San Francisco. One of the projects we three worked on all month was making a series of videos about mentoring – featuring Seham and Mai speaking in Arabic. I have been processing the videos, adding music and animation. Six of the seven recordings are already posted on YouTube:

Everwise: Mentoring in Arab Culture (In Arabic), Featuring Seham Al Jaafreh
Everwise: Mentoring Feedback (In Arabic), Featuring Mai Temraz
Everwise: Mentoring Recommendations and Resources (In Arabic), Featuring Mai Temraz
Everwise: Questions for Your Mentor? (In Arabic), Featuring Mai Temraz
Everwise: Mentoring Introductions (In Arabic), Featuring Mai Termaz
Everwise: Why Be a Mentor? (In Arabic), Featuring Seham Al Jaafreh

15 November update: Why Mentoring? (In Arabic), Featuring Seham Al Jaafreh, has now been posted – that is the whole initial video set!

These videos present mentoring in simple words, communicating to potential mentors and proteges. If you are interested in mentoring but do not understand exactly how it can work for your circumstances, this series is for you. Mentoring is new to many cultures, and not all languages even have a word for the practice.

In addition to these videos, Mai and I were audio-recorded by StoryCorps at the San Francisco Main Public Library. Also, a picture including Seham and me was featured on the TechWomen banner on display at the US State Department in Washington DC. It was a well-recorded month!

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Tagged as Africa, Jordan, Mentoring, Middle East, Palestine, San Francisco, technical women, TechWomen

November 5, 2014 · 6:12 am

TechWomen in Washington DC – Day 4

Yesterday, the TechWomen visited the US State Department, including a formal lunch at the Benjamin Franklin State Dining Room. This is one of my favorite events during the TechWomen program! I was honored to sit next to the fascinating Ambassador Catherine M. Russell of the US State Department Office of Global Women’s Issues at lunch. I was very proud of Everwise Emerging Leaders Seham Al Jaafreh (Jordan) and Mai Temraz (Palestine) for both speaking to US government dignitaries and officials during group discussions. Mai was one of two Emerging Leaders asked to be on the luncheon panel. They have both started their post-TechWomen journeys to see some more of the USA: Seham to New York City, and Mai to Chicago. I already miss them both very much. Their intelligence, energy, and vibrant enthusiasm are an inspiration.

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

November 3, 2014 · 5:54 pm

TechWomen in Washington DC – Days 2 and 3

Yesterday, eleven of the TechWomen visited to the National Zoo together. The ladies from Kenya left early (since, as they said, they see many of these animals on the way to work every day). In the afternoon, we all went on a Potomac River Cruise at sunset. Today was our first day of meetings at the US State Department. I was very proud of Everwise Emerging Leader Mai Temraz (Palestine) for addressing Senior Advisor to the Secretary of State David Thorne. Mai talked about the importance of professional women being persistent and open with their government (and with their husbands!) about their vision and accomplishments – to get the support they need.

I took the opportunity of US Chief Technology Officer Megan Smith meeting with the TechWomen to present her with a deck of the Notable Women in Computing playing cards. She loved them! My favorite quotes from her talk:

“We are the ones we’ve been waiting for.”
“If not us, who?”
“Things don’t magically happen, people do things.”

Touring the Capital with TechWomen – Day 1

Yesterday, a group of between five and ten TechWomen Emerging Leaders from Africa and the Middle East and I toured Washington DC, seeing the Smithsonian (Air & Space, American History, and Natural History) and Washington Monument, and a very big dog. We had dinner at the excellent Food Corner Kabob House (all halal!) with several other groups of TechWomen out and about. We then walked through a cold wind to the White House and Lincoln Memorial at night. It was inspiring to join in their enthusiasm for this remarkable place!