PLANO, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Huawei, a leading telecom solutions provider, is one of 24 technology companies with Silicon Valley locations participating in TechWomen. The program involves 37 women from Middle East and North Africa (MENA) countries being paired with mentors from leading companies with locations in the Silicon Valley and the greater San Francisco area.
The mentees are working with their mentors on technical projects at their host Silicon Valley companies during June, followed by presentations at the U.S. Department of State in Washington DC during the week of July 4th. As part of the program, selected mentors will travel to the Middle East and North Africa region later in 2011 to conduct workshops for women in the technology sector and young girls who have expressed an interest in pursuing a tech-based career.
Four members of the Huawei R&D facility in Santa Clara, California are mentors, including:
- Att Athsani, Sr. Manager, Business Development & Planning
- Kyna Sah, Director, Strategic Partnerships
- Linda Schnieder, Distinguished Engineer
- Jun Wei, Principle Researcher
Also working on TechWomen is Huawei’s Katy Dickinson (Director, Operations) who is the program’s Mentoring Process Architect. In addition to supporting three mentees, Huawei hosted a workshop on 17 June 2011 called “Developing Women Entrepreneurs”. Huawei’s support of TechWomen follows its sponsorship of the Anita Borg Institute’s Women of Vision Awards Banquet in May 2011 in Santa Clara as part of an ongoing program supporting women in technology.
John Roese, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Huawei North America R&D, stated, “As a leading supplier of communications technology to the developing world, and a key supplier of mobile networks in the MENA region, we see initiatives such as TechWomen as being instrumental in providing training to the region’s future technologists. We support programs that build on technical innovation and Silicon Valley thinking, so that the mentees return home with an ability to support local innovation using the latest technologies.”
About TechWomen
Bringing the power of global business, technology, and education together, TechWomen will pair women in Silicon Valley and the Bay Area with their counterparts in the Middle East and North Africa for a professional mentorship and exchange program at leading technology companies beginning in the summer of 2011. Using innovative technologies, cutting-edge content, and social networking tools, TechWomen will foster and develop the next generation of women leaders in the technology field by providing women and girls with the access and opportunity needed to pursue tech-based careers.
TechWomen, a public-private partnership, was developed to implement President Barack Obama’s vision of greater collaboration between the United States and communities with predominantly Muslim populations, as outlined in his June 2009 speech in Cairo. TechWomen is funded by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA), managed by the Institute of International Education (IIE), and implemented in partnership with the Anita Borg Institute for Women in Technology (ABI). For more information, please visit: www.techwomen.org.
About the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA)
The Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) of the U.S. Department of State fosters mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries to promote friendly and peaceful relations, as mandated by the Mutual Educational and Cultural Exchange Act of 1961. ECA engages youth, students, educators, artists, athletes, and rising leaders in many fields in the United States and more than 160 countries through academic, cultural, sports, and professional exchanges. Striving to reflect the diversity of the United States and global society, ECA programs, funding, and other activities encourage the involvement of American and international participants from traditionally underrepresented groups, including women, racial and ethnic minorities, and people with disabilities. ECA exchange program alumni encompass over 1 million people around the world, including more than 40 Nobel Laureates and more than 300 current and former heads of state and government. For more information, visit exchanges.state.gov.
About the Institute of International Education (IIE)
The Institute of International Education collaborates with universities, governments, non-governmental organizations and corporations to develop and implement scholarship, exchange, and training programs that educate and build leadership skills among students, scholars, and professionals worldwide. These include the prestigious Fulbright and Humphrey Fellowship Programs and the International Visitor Leadership Program, administered on behalf of the U.S. Department of State in partnership with other countries, as well as more than 250 other initiatives that benefit over 26,000 men and women from 175 countries each year. IIE has extensive experience working with U.S. Embassies and Missions around the world to implement high-profile programs to foster cross-cultural dialogue and public diplomacy on behalf of the U.S. government.
IIE is currently engaged in collaborative program initiatives in 16 countries/territories in the MENA region that reach over 7,000 students, scholars, and professionals each year to promote workforce development, good governance, and gender equity in the region. IIE programs utilize social media to connect emerging leaders worldwide to forge solutions to critical problems, and enhance networking among alumni. IIE’s MENA Regional Office in Cairo has also provided training in a wide range of fields to over 10,000 individuals from the public, private and NGO sectors. Through its West Coast Center (IIE/WCC) in San Francisco, IIE has extensive experience and success collaborating with the technology sector and local organizations, especially in the MENA region. For more information, visit www.iie.org.
About the Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology (ABI)
The Anita Borg Institute provides resources and programs to help industry, academia, and government recruit, retain, and advance women technical leaders, resulting in higher levels of technological innovation. ABI programs serve technical women by creating a community and providing tools to help them develop their careers. ABI is a not-for-profit 501(c)3 charitable organization. ABI Partners include: Google, HP, Microsoft, CA Technologies, Cisco, Facebook, First Republic Bank, IBM, Intel, Intuit, Lockheed Martin, National Science Foundation, National Security Agency, NetApp, SAP, Symantec, Thomson Reuters, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, Amazon, Broadcom, Motorola Foundation, Raytheon, Salesforce and Yahoo!. For more information, visit www.anitaborg.org.
About Huawei
Huawei is a leading telecoms solutions provider serving 45 of the world’s top 50 telecom operators. Huawei’s products and solutions have been deployed in over 100 countries and support the communications needs of one third of the world’s population. The company is committed to providing innovative and customized products, services and solutions to create long-term value and growth potential for its customers. For more information, visit Huawei online: www.huawei.com. Follow us on Twitter: www.twitter.com/huaweipress and YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/HuaweiPress.