In the period from April 24 to April 29, 2023, an official visit of women mentors of the international organization Techwomen (USA), who work in Bonefirewomen, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Workday, Salesforce, MicroBlocks, Chegg, Northgate Environmental Management, Hillstra Associates, Marvell Technology Inc., AWS / Amazon, Jacobs and other technological companies took place companies.
Within the framework of the visit, TechnoWomen held a number of events in the cities of Almaty and Astana.
On April 24, TechnoWomen Central Asia together with TechWomen USA held a Pitch Training in Almaty. During the Pitch Training, the Delegation met with entrepreneurs who founded businesses in the technology sector. The main purpose of this event was to involve entrepreneurs in the topic of innovation and to provide quick mentoring at presentations after the pitch seminar, as well as to raise the status of Kazakhstani women and girls by encouraging them to reach their full potential in STEM.
Also on April 24, a Silicon Valley Symposium was held, which was dedicated to the empowerment of women in technology and business. At the symposium, speakers presented the most relevant topics of Silicon Valley:
Alexa Barnes, bioinformatics scientist at Thermo Fisher Scientific, spoke on the topic “Technological Trends.”, Mimi Hills, Director of Hillstrand Associates, revealed the topic “Anyone can be a leader”, Cora Lam, Senior Chief Engineer at Marvell Technology Inc, spoke on the topic “Mentoring with Influence”, Shawnee Van Deusen-Jeffries – a data processing manager and an analyst talked about “Creating a personal brand.”
The symposium also hosted a series of seminars, panel discussions and networking sessions with other top speakers from Central Asia and the USA.
On April 25 in Almaty and on April 26 in Astana, as part of the visit of TechnoWomen together with Techwomen (USA), U.S. Embassy to Kazakhstan and americancorner_astana, an event “STEM Career Day” was held for first-year students, including graduates of Technovation and TechGirls. During which, discussions were held with entrepreneurs and students were introduced to a variety of career opportunities in STEM, the relevance and application of STEM, the future of STEM careers and opportunities that may be of interest to students, including an entrepreneurial career. We had conversations about different roads in STEM, and also heard the stories of successful women in the industry.
On April 27, a closed panel discussion “WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP” was held in Astana, organized by TechnoWomen Central Asia and TechWomen USA, KazMunayGas and Kazakhstan Temir Zholy. TechnoWomen and speakers from Silicon Valley discussed with the heads of three companies: KazMunayGas and The BI Group, as well as Kazakhstan Temir Zholy, the topic of mentoring, empowerment and overcoming obstacles for women in STEM. The speakers openly talked about their achievements and how to improve their self-promotion skills in the workplace and beyond.
On April 27, within the framework of the visit, a meeting was held at the Ministry of Digital Development, Innovation and Aerospace Industry of the Republic of Kazakhstan, delegates discussed the state policy of digital development of the country, innovations with the Minister of Digital Development, Innovation and Aerospace Industry of the Republic of Kazakhstan Bagdat Musin.
At the end of the day on April 27 in the evening TechnoWomen held a corporate dinner in a homely atmosphere with Kazakh traditions.
During the dinner, the delegates digested dishes of Kazakh national cuisine, got acquainted with the elements of Kazakh culture from birth ceremonies to marriage, with the tradition of giving gifts “Korzhyn”.
Also, the TechnoWomen community, Astana Hub and the US Embassy in Astana held a mini-symposium on April 28 at Astana Hub, the largest international technology park of start-ups in Central Asia. During this interactive session, TechWomen delegates from Silicon Valley (USA) and Central Asian stepindiats shared their knowledge and experience on the topics of design thinking, project management, creating profitable startups, opening closed doors and correct feedback. During the event, in addition to the speakers’ speeches, networking and exchange of experience between participants with women founders of startups, tech entrepreneurs and OT specialists also took place.
On April 28, a round table on the topic “Women in STEM” was held at Nazarbayev University, as well as Talks on social skills for career success, such as: “Growth Mindset”, “Design Thinking”, “Presentation Skills”, “Interviewing Skills” and Networking. During the visit, a tour of the campus and laboratory of Nazarbayev University, an English-speaking research university in Astana, took place.
At the end of the official visit, with the support of Kazakhtelecom TechnoWomen Central Asia, a Gala dinner was organized at Rixos President Astana. At the dinner, the delegates noted the ties established in Kazakhstan during the official week-long trip of the TechWomen delegation. In addition, the guests were able to get acquainted with the history and traditions of Kazakhstan, national costumes, music and dances, as well as take part in some national rituals.
We thank Kazakhtelecom for supporting our events and hope for further cooperation. Thank you for making our world more technologically advanced and equal for women!
Also, thanks to the support of the Ministry of Culture and Sports of the Republic of Kazakhstan29 April, our guests from TechWomen (USA) attended an evening of ethno-jazz at the Central Concert Hall “QAZAQSTAN”!
The event was attended by the folklore and ethnographic ensemble “TURAN”, folk group “Stepe Sons”, group “Saz&Soul”, as well as laureates of international competitions and talented performers of “Kazakconcert”.
