Silicon Valley professionals to mentor Nigerian women in STEM

A 16-member delegation of senior women professionals from Silicon Valley, California has arrived in Nigeria.Their mission is to mentor young women working in the areas of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). 

This was contained in a statement by the Information Specialist, Public Affairs Section (PAS), United States Consulate General, Temitayo Famutimi.They would be working with the Nigerian Fellows of the TechWomen to facilitate the mentoring sessions in Lagos and Abuja for young women in STEM.

The professionals represent organisations as diverse as Twitter, LinkedIn, Netflix, Mozilla, Autodesk, WomenCollegeTech, Stanford Graduate School of Business, and Juniper Networks.Other stakeholders are Fairrer Samani Group, Northgate Environmental Management, Jessica Dickinson Goodman Consulting, and the Institute of International Education.
 

The aim is to expand networks of women in STEM teaching and learning in Nigeria. TechWomen was launched in 2011 as an initiative of the U.S. Department of State.It supports its global commitment to advancing the participation of women and girls in the business and technology sectors.
 
As part of its mandates, it sends delegations of American women technology mentors abroad.The exchange programme also brings young women leaders from the Middle East, Central Asia, North Africa, and sub-Saharan Africa, including Nigeria to the U.S. for a professional mentorship at leading technology companies. 

Famutimi listed members of the delegation to include Ms. Larissa Shapiro, Head of Mozilla’s Global Diversity and Inclusion Division, and Twitter’s Senior Software Engineer, Ms. Elizabeth Deng.

She is a computer science graduate of the University of Southern California, who co-organised “Girls Who Code Summer Immersion Programme” for the micro-blogging website in 2017. Others are the Director WomenCollegeTech and former Director of Programmes at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s Ames Research Centre in Silicon Valley Dr. Leedjia Svec.Also on the delegation is the Principal Geologist/Chief Operating Officer at the Northgate Environmental Management, Ms. Maile Smith.