The Magic of Cultural Exchange

Guest post by Arezoo Miot

After a rich and memorable week of professional meetings, I came home and reflected on my time in Jordan with the TechWomen delegation. As a Program Officer for the program, I was honored and fortunate to participate alongside mentors from the United States and emerging leaders from across the Middle East and North Africa on a ten-day adventure in Jordan, including Amman, Irbid, Koura, the Dead Sea, and Petra.

With a packed schedule, each day was filled with opportunities to learn about the digital environment in Jordan and the greater Arab region. Companies such as Yahoo, HP, Palma, and N2V opened their doors and candidly spoke of the opportunities and challenges before them. We heard pitches from ambitious female technopreneurs eagerly seeking funding to grow their online platforms. While Silicon Valley may be at the center of tech innovation, countries such as Jordan are quickly becoming industry leaders in their own right.

Women in technology—Africa

Photo courtesy of IVLP program

Divine Ndhlukula, Juliana Rotich and Mariéme Jamme are a few inspirational African women at the forefront of technology and entrepreneurship. They are paving the way for other women in their countries. They are leaders in their communities who are helping initiate change and create greater prosperity. According to recent article in the New York Times, in 21^st-century Africa, businesswomen are pushing into the national scenes of their countries as movers and shakers of industry.