Tag Archives: Middle East

May 14, 2014 · 4:13 pm

Women of Vision, King Abdullah of Jordan, TechWomen

Last week, I sat with the Anita Borg Institute Advisory Board at a gala celebrating Women of Vision, and in particular, the well-deserved award for Leadership honoring Dr. Maria Klawe, President of Harvey Mudd College here in California. I am dating myself to write that I remember when Mudd was an all-male institution. Maria and her team have grown Mudd from 10% women in Computer Science to 40% – and have kept that 40% stable for years. This unique accomplishment deserves some celebration! Maria is amazing – she is also #17 on Fortune’s list of the world’s 50 greatest leaders.

The other inspiring winners were Tal Rabin (Research Staff Member and Manager cryptographic research, IBM T.J. Watson Research Center) for Innovation; and Kathrin Winkler (Senior Vice President and Chief Sustainability Officer, EMC Corporation) for Social Impact. Bank of America won as the 2014 Top Company for Women in Computing. Also attending the event were many of my sister mentors who have served in the U.S. State Department’s TechWomen program for scientific and technical women in the Middle East and Africa, including: Jameeka Aaron (of Lockheed Martin), Larissa Shapiro (of Mozilla), Andrea Leszek (of Salesforce), and Rahima Mohammed (of Intel).

Yesterday, my husband John and I drove to Berkeley to see His Majesty, King Abdullah II ibn al-Hussein of Jordan speak at International House on the University of California campus. I was pleased to see the slide saying that 30% of Jordan’s tech industry workers are women – better than the 26% in America as of 2013.

I have never seen the King in person before, although last year I was honored to meet his cousin, Her Royal Highness Princess Sumaya bint El Hassan. Also, when my daughter Jessica and I were on the bus to Petra in Jordan, we watched “The Royal Tour“, a video featuring King Abdullah riding his motorcycle to show off his country. Yesterday’s talk is yet-another event that entered my life because of TechWomen. Mentor Lucie Newcomb (of NewComm Global Group) posted information about the event – including how to get tickets.

TechWomen 2014 mentor sign ups open soon! Please consider expanding your mind, experience, and heart to join us!

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Filed under Home & Family, Hopper - Anita Borg Institute, Mentoring & Other Business, News & Reviews

Tagged as Africa, Geeks, Jessica, John, Jordan, Mentoring, Middle East, San Jose, teaching, technical women, TechWomen, University of California

May 11, 2014 · 3:44 pm

Happy Mother’s Day

Today is America’s official celebration of motherhood – when flowers, candy, greeting cards, and brunch are practically required. John and Paul and I took my mother with her bouquet of roses to St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church, followed by Indian buffet at The Mynt Restaurant in Saratoga, CA. We squabbled over who got to eat the caramels out of the box of chocolates she gave me. We missed Jessica and her husband Matthew but hope to talk with them by phone later today.

One of the benefits of my being the keeper of the photo repository is that I have a pictorial record from birth for almost every member of the family, including those below. This is a beautiful day to celebrate my wonderful family, of whom I am very proud!

Eleanor Creekmore Dickinson and baby Katy Dickinson, 1958

Katy Dickinson and baby Jessica Dickinson Goodman, by Jeffrey Davila, 1988

Grandpa Wade Dickinson, Grandma Eleanor Creekmore Dickinson, and baby Paul Dickinson Goodman, 1992

Katy Dickinson and Jessica Dickinson Goodman, at Petra Jordan, 2013

Matthew Holmes and Jessica Dickinson Goodman, at the Lair of the Golden Bear, Pinecrest CA, 2013

Katy Dickinson and Paul Dickinson Goodman 2014

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Tagged as Eleanor, Jessica, John, Jordan, Matthew, Middle East, Paul, Wade

April 30, 2014 · 10:44 pm

Recruiting TechWomen Mentors

Last night, many of the TechWomen 2011-2013 mentor alumnae from the Silicon Valley and San Francisco participated in an event introducing the U.S. State Department mentoring program for women in the Middle East and Africa to potential new mentors. Thanks to BrightRoll for hosting the event!

What is TechWomen?

TechWomen empowers, connects, and supports the next generation of women leaders in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) from Africa 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.

1,400 women in STEM from 16 countries have already applied to be one of the 78 emerging leaders who will come to the San Francisco Bay Area in October 2014. Selections will be announced in June. Also in June, applications will open for professional mentors. Cultural mentor applications open in July. This is a life-changing and excellent program – both for mentors and mentees. I have been part of TechWomen since 2010 and I recommend it highly!

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

March 23, 2014 · 8:56 pm

Jill’s Morocco Photos

Jill Finlayson and I were both part of the TechWomen US State Department mentoring delegation to Morocco earlier this month. She brought along a big Nikon camera and I had my hand-sized Panasonic Lumix DMC-Lx5. As we walked together, sometimes I would be in position for the best photo and sometimes Jill was. With permission, here are some of Jill’s images that I am glad she captured:

Rug sellers in Fez showing the carpet I soon bought

Fez rug merchant flirting with me

Fez from the roof

Ladies with smart phones on the road from Fez

TechWomen with Lamia Bounahmidi (CEO of startup venture Looly’s Couscous) at Dinarjat Restaurant in Rabat

Storks at Chellah in Rabat

Jill at Chellah in Rabat

Jackie at the Mausoleum of Mohammed V in Rabat

Katy and Patricia in Rabat

Rouba at the Hassan II Mosque in Casablanca

TechWomen delegation at the home of Moroccan Minister Mrs. Hakima El Haité in Rabat

Cake at the TechWomen Morocco Delegation’s Closing Party

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Filed under Mentoring & Other Business, News & Reviews

Tagged as Africa, Mentoring, Middle East, Morocco, technical women, TechWomen

March 23, 2014 · 5:20 pm

Shopping in Morocco

Part of my enjoyment in traveling is eating local dishes, seeing what people wear and use in daily life, and shopping accordingly for gifts to take home to family and friends. During my recent visit to Morocco (6-15 March 2014), I purchased a 4’x6′ red kilim vintage Berber rug (in Fez), ceramics (in Rabat), a silver bracelet for my son Paul (in Rabat), and cinnamon spice (hotter than what we get in America), silver earrings for my mother and me, a geode for my nephew Daniel, and leather slippers (in Fez). I also brought home two Fez hats: one for my brother Pete and the other for Jill Finlayson’s husband – since she could not find one before she had to travel home. I am happy with my momentoes and, in the case of my big rug purchase, will enjoy seeing it every day in my WP668 office. I was also a member of the TechWomen delegation to Morocco in 2011, at which time I also bought rugs in Marrakech. I am now on a rug diet!

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

Tagged as Africa, Middle East, Morocco, TechWomen, WP668

March 23, 2014 · 4:15 pm

TechWomen Morocco Delegation – Day 6 – Fez

The TechWomen delegation spent its last day together touring the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Fez. The historical tour was fascinating and the rooftop lunch (at the Palais de Fes dar Tazi Restaurant) delicious. However, I was glad to have been in the group that visited Fez informally the Friday before because (as is often the case with Official Guides), we mostly were shepherded into relatively expensive shops. Fez felt more touristy (or “touristic” as they say in the Middle East) and less friendly than any other city I have been to in Morocco. But any day with my TechWomen sisters is a good day – we had a delightful time together regardless!

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Tagged as Africa, Mentoring, Middle East, Morocco, technical women, TechWomen

March 23, 2014 · 3:44 pm

TechWomen Morocco Delegation – Day 5 – Rabat

The TechWomen delegation enjoyed its last official meetings day on 13 March 2014 in Rabat where we met with the impressive women learning entrepreneurship at INPT – L’Institut national des postes et télécommunications. This was a delightful morning of discussion followed by lunch. Jeannice Fairrer Samani and Hasna Sabah and I were joyful to be together for the first time since Hasna was an Emerging Leader hosted at Huawei in the 2012 TechWomen class. Hasna traveled by train (8 hours round trip from Marrakesh) to join the delegation for the day.