Life After TechWomen: “Those five weeks were just the beginning.”

Thekra, a 2011 TechWomen Mentee, at the 4th of July Parade in Washington, DC.

“I had always thought about doing something for underserved girls in the world,” Thekra explains. She had an idea to start an NGO, Edugirl. “Most NGOs focus on university-aged students,” Thekra says, “I want to focus on girls in neglected areas who get married early, who are isolated and who don’t have anyone who is fighting for them.” Thekra had this idea, this dream, but she had never shared it with anyone until she attended Barbara Fittapaldi’s workshop on Breakthrough Leadership in the first week of her TechWomen mentorship.

Using Comics to Encourage Girls’ Involvement in STEM

Rayane Hazimeh with fellow TechWomen mentees and colleagues at her host company, Symantec

If someone had asked Rayane Hazimeh a few years ago why she had become an engineer, she probably would have said that it was by mistake. “I was always the black sheep,” Rayane explains, “and often that meant walking away from the norm.” Rayane has always had a taste for adventure and challenges, and the fact that no other girls around her were choosing to pursue engineering degrees because “it was not for girls and was too hard” was enough of an incentive. “I didn’t need more than that to make it my goal” she says. “I wanted to prove to the world that women are as competent as men in this field.”

Communities Change Precedent to Educate Girls

Current Camfed campaign to provide school supplies to girls. Courtesy: www.camfed.org

Today, the Institute of International Education West Coast Center was fortunate to host an intimate brown bag lunch with Ann Cotton, Founder and Executive Director of Camfed. As we shared about the work of TechWomen and Ann shared the work of Camfed, it was clear that the synergies between our programs, and our office, were prominent.