African Women Participate in TechWomen 2014

Office of the Spokesperson
Department of State
Washington, DC
September 29, 2014

As part of the U.S. Department of State’s TechWomen exchange program, companies in the San Francisco Bay area and Silicon Valley will host 78 women from the Middle East and Africa from September 30 – November 5. The TechWomen program supports the United States’ global commitment to provide women the access and opportunities needed to advance their careers, pursue their dreams, and build a network of mentors in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).

This year’s participants – from Algeria, Cameroon, Egypt, Jordan, Kenya, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Nigeria, the Palestinian Territories, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Tunisia, Yemen, and Zimbabwe – will work side-by-side with American counterparts at 40 leading companies. They will attend professional networking events and workshops hosted by partners in one of the following tracks: hardware, Internet, science, software, telecommunications, and for the first time this year green technology, as women who work in that field look for global solutions to environmental challenges.

After returning to their home countries, the 2014 TechWomen participants will join other program alumnae and several visiting U.S. mentors to conduct workshops for women and girls who have expressed interest in pursuing tech-based careers.

The professional mentor organizations include Adobe, Autodesk, BrightRoll, Cahill Contractors, Calix, Cisco Systems, Cleantech Open, Code for America, Coursera, eBay, Ericsson, Esurance, Everwise, Genentech, Juniper Networks, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, LinkedIn Corporation, Los Altos History Museum, Lumos Labs, McAfee, Meltwater, Mozilla Corporation, NASA Ames, NestGSV, Northgate Environmental Management, Pacific Gas & Electric, Digital Health, Salesforce.com, San Francisco Department of the Environment, Santa Clara University, Santa Clara Valley Water District, ServiceMaxx, SolarCity Corporation, SunEdison, Symantec Corporation, ThoughtWorks, Twitter, Vista Solar, VMware, Walmart, and Wikispaces (Tangient) LLC.

TechWomen, launched in 2011, is conducted in coordination with the Institute of International Education (IIE)’s Center for Women’s Leadership Initiatives in San Francisco. Join the conversation on Twitter @TechWomen or follow on Facebook. For more information, please contact of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at ECA-Press@state.gov.