Tag Archives: technical women

November 5, 2013 · 3:28 pm

TechWomen: Day 2 at the State Department

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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Tagged as Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Mentoring, Middle East, Morocco, technical women, TechWomen

November 4, 2013 · 7:46 pm

TechWomen: 1st Day at State Department

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.

Romeo and Juliet at Folger Shakespeare

Tonight, my daughter Jessica and I saw a delightful production of Romeo and Juliet at the Folger Shakespeare Library here in Washington D.C. I am visiting the nation’s capitol with the TechWomen mentors and 78 emerging leaders from 16 African and Middle Eastern countries. Our formal meetings at the US State Department start tomorrow!

Opened in 1932, the beautiful Folger Shakespeare Library, theater, and garden is located on Capitol Hill. “Home to the world’s largest and finest collection of Shakespeare materials and to major collections of other rare Renaissance books, manuscripts, and works of art, the Folger serves a wide audience of researchers, visitors, teachers, students, families, and theater- and concert-goers.”

TechWomen, Mozilla, Halloween

Imen Rahal, my TechWomen 2013 mentee from Algeria, gave her final presentation at Mozilla yesterday. Of course, yesterday was also the very-American celebration of Halloween, so the conference room was decorated with bats, ghouls, and the remains of a lively lunchtime costume party. Hear the recording of Imen’s talk on Air Mozilla (thanks to Larissa Shapiro, Imen’s other mentor – and her host at Mozilla). Next week, the TechWomen travel to Washington D.C.

Larissa reported that the costume contest at Mozilla came down to two teams, one dressed as the Star Trek bridge crew, and the other as the Avengers. The Avengers won – see below for a picture of the ladies dressed as Thor and Iron Man.

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Tagged as Algeria, Mentoring, Middle East, technical women, TechWomen

October 31, 2013 · 1:01 pm

TechWomen’s Last Week in Silicon Valley

This is the last week for the 78 TechWomen mentees visiting the Silicon Valley from Africa and the Middle East. Next week, they move to Washington DC for meetings with the US State Department, the TechWomen program sponsors. Some of us 106 mentors will be going with them! Last weekend, Larissa, Imen, and I and our families rode the annual Ghost Train at the Roaring Camp Railroads in Felton, CA. We also joined the TechWomen farewell potluck picnic at Huddart Park in Woodside. Imen joined our Shakespeare Reading Group, celebrating Halloween by reading Macbeth.

Today, Imen is giving her final technical presentation at Mozilla, the company which has generously hosted her this month. After our trip to the capitol, we will be sad to see Imen return home to Algeria.

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Tagged as Algeria, Geeks, John, Mentoring, Middle East, Paul, Shakespeare, Silicon Valley, technical women, TechWomen

October 24, 2013 · 1:45 pm

Jazz and Sales: TechWomen Cultural Exploration

In my role as a 2013 TechWomen cultural mentor, this month Imen and I have gone to places and events of my choosing, but also of hers. Two of the events that Imen picked were a Women in Technology International (WITI) sales workshop last week, and a San Jose Jazz music evening featuring Moy Eng and the Steve Nakano Quartet – at the San Jose Fairmont Hotel. Very different but interesting!

The WITI “Five Factors of Sales Success!” content by Judy Frank was a surprise to Imen. The focus was on “Operating Principles – the 5 Cs”: Communication, Collaboration, Commitment, Competence, and Creativity. I think Imen was expecting less about personality styles and more on how to “Ask for the Sale”. Last night’s jazz event was elegantly presented and fun. Imen says she learned to enjoy jazz at home in Algeria.

TechWomen at Twitter

Twitter generously hosted a TechWomen community event last night at their San Francisco headquarters. Hundreds of mentees, mentors, and guests enjoyed food and speakers, plus lively networking and discussion. Imen, Larissa and I kept losing each other in the crowd! We enjoyed sending tweets from Twitter HQ. Twitter even provided a little wooden birdhouse that took silly photos then posted the images in tweets.