Emerging women STEM leaders from fifteen countries around the world and their mentors took part in a virtual TechWomen International Day at the Lab on March 15, getting a taste of the Lab’s science and climate impact and networking with leaders at the Lab. Organized by the U.S. State Department, the TechWomen leadership development program gives emerging women leaders in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics from more than twenty countries in Africa, Central and South Asia, and the Middle East an opportunity to network and to participate in information exchange to advance their careers and help them pursue their dreams.
In years past, TechWomen participants were able to visit the United States for six weeks, working with mentors at various Silicon Valley institutions and visiting a number of organizations in person. But because of COVID-19 restrictions, all activities this year have been virtual.
The Lab’s TechWomen International Day at the Lab event this March, which took place at 7:00 am PT to accommodate time zones, featured some of our own women leaders, including Reshma Singh from the Energy Technologies Area, Mary Maxon from Biosciences, Suksham Barun from the Molecular Foundry, Romy Chakraborty from Earth and Environmental Sciences, and Jackie Scoggins from IT. Omolara Aladesanmi, an affiliate researcher at the Lab who was herself a TechWomen participant a number of years ago, shared her journey. Ina Reichel from Accelerator Technology and Applied Physics gave a virtual tour of the Advanced Light Source. Horst Simon, the Lab’s Deputy Director for Research, connected the global participants to the human aspects of science leadership through his talk, “Six Lessons from my Science Career.”
Continuing the momentum of previous years, Reshma led the global participants in taking “Climate Smart TechWomen pledges,” a commitment to climate action at a personal, professional, or community level. The pledges ranged from “Drive less, walk more” to “Conduct science to develop biogenic building materials.” A TechWomen mentor for the past seven years, Reshma leads the Lab’s engagement with the program as an elected member of the TechWomen Advisory Council.
Berkeley Lab is the only national lab that partners with TechWomen. Over the past eight years, mentors from all six scientific areas of the Lab have mentored TechWomen emerging leaders. Lab leaders, including Kathy Yellick, Ravi Prasher, Jeff Neaton, Inder Monga, Tom Kirchstetter, Branden Brough, and others have presented at TechWomen Lab events in the past.
Several emerging leaders mentored at Berkeley Lab have created impact in their home countries. Rund Awwad stood for Jordan’s national elections on a platform of renewable energy and Safiya Aliyu co-founded an award-winning solar lighting company in Nigeria (her Lab mentor was Reshma Singh); Omalora Aladesanmi returned as an affiliate researcher in the Earth and Environmental Sciences Area (her mentor was Romy Chakroborty), and Aseel Honein from Lebanon developed a new company, Architecture-in-a-Box, for green building design (her mentor was Jessica Granderson), to name a few.
Lab Protocol Officer Kevin Gifford-Tinker, who has organized the event for the Lab since 2017, said, “TechWomen program is a wonderful way for these women to take knowledge back to their countries and to network with other women leaders. I hope we can host the women again next year, but in person!”
