Please note that the title is “Most Interesting”…. they’re interesting for better or worse reasons than others, but it’s still a good list.
Some of my favorites:
Cannot go wrong with Leymah Gbowee, the influential women’s peace activist from Liberia who won the Nobel Peace Prize this year, along with Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and Tawakkul Karman (two equally as amazing women).
This 9-minute video is loaded with insight from across the industry on this question. Whichever viewpoint you hold (there is a problem, there isn’t, it’s a mix), this is really interesting.
In March, the State Department took a Women’s Technology Delegation to Liberia and Sierra Leone to explore how technology can increase opportunities for women and girls. Eight leading women innovators and entrepreneurs were chosen to attend, among them Trina DasGupta, who currently works as the mWomen Program Director for the GSM Association, which represents the interests of the worldwide mobile communications industry.
I was able to interview her about her experience on the delegation and what insights she brought back with her.
Key Takeaways:
While both countries face numerous development challenges, certain enabling technologies offer a lot of potential for progressive change.
Women and girls in both countries hold additional potential as change-agents in both countries.
A few statistics
Gender gap in mobile technology access: A woman in Liberia is 43% less likely than a man to own a mobile phone. In Sierra Leone a woman is 44% less likely.
Limited internet access, regardless of gender: In 2009, there were 20,000 internet users in Liberia and 14,900 in Sierra Leone; their populations are approximately 3.5 million and 6.5 million respectively, meaning less than one percent of either country is able to access the internet.
Quality of Life: In Sierra Leone, 1 out of 8 women die during childbirth; in Liberia 85% of the population is unemployed; in both countries literacy rates are low and access to electricity is rare.
There were several solutions and action-items that came out of the delegation’s work.
Technology is not a silver bullet, but it can enable change.
With several leadership examples and many demonstrations of perseverance, strength and dedication, it seems clear that women are the driving force for positive change in both countries.
These woman know how to sing!
KB: What was the purpose of the delegation and how does it fit into the goals of GSMA mWomen?
TD: Liberia & Sierra Leone face great socio-economic challenges from a lack of basic infrastructure to complex issues with health, education and economic growth. However, the U.S. State Department believes both countries have much potential for positive change, especially with the help of the right enabling technologies. The aims of the week were to bring together influential women from both the public sector and private enterprise to explore these challenges more deeply and to explore ways technology and tech-based tools can play a transformative role in specifically helping women and girls in these countries.
The aims of Women’s Tech Delegation are closely aligned with those of the GSMA mWomen Program. In February 2010, the GSMA, in partnership with the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women, identified a gender gap in mobile phone ownership in the developing world – 300 million fewer women than men own mobile phones and the potentially life changing tools that they can provide, such as access to health services, banking, employment opportunities and educational tools.
The GSMA mWomen Program that was created in response to this research is an unprecedented global public-private partnership between the worldwide mobile industry and the international development community to address the barriers to women’s mobile phone ownership in low-to-middle income countries and to deliver life-changing services, such as health care and education, at scale via mobile. The program aims to reduce the mobile phone gender gap by 50%, bringing the benefits of mobile phone ownership to 150 million women over three years, by creating an enabling market environment.
KB: What were some of the observances you saw on the ground while in Sierra Leone and Liberia?
TD: Women’s life circumstances are incredibly challenging in both countries. Though it’s been ten years since the civil war, the war’s effects are still quite pervasive. In Sierra Leone, 1 out of 8 women die during childbirth; in Liberia 85% of the population is unemployed; in both countries literacy rates are low and access to electricity is rare.
Basic infrastructure is the greatest need – roads, electricity, healthcare facilities, schools. So our challenge on the Women’s Technology Delegation was to think through how technology can be useful when basic needs are most critical.
KB: Were there any differences between the two countries in terms of technology usage, access of the status of women?
TD: According to our analysis at the GSMA mWomen Program, a woman in Liberia is 43% less likely than a man to own a mobile phone. In Sierra Leone a woman is 44% less likely.
With regards to the Internet, access is incredibly limited for everyone, not only women. According to the World Bank, as of 2009 there were 20,000 internet users in Liberia and 14,900 in Sierra Leone; their populations are approximately 3.5 million and 6.5 million respectively, meaning less than one percent of either country is able to access the internet.
KB: What were some action-items or solutions that came out of the trip?
TD: In Liberia, the Women’s Technology Delegation has committed to explore piloting a center that will train and connect youth, specifically girls, to micro-work via the internet. For female micro-entrepreneurs, we are working with the mobile phone industry to try to expand the number of female retailers of cell phone products, such as pre-paid airtime.
In Sierra Leone, the delegation met with a dynamic group of female entrepreneurs who own small-to-medium enterprises. We are working with this group to explore starting a business incubation center that will help them connect to each other for networking, support and sharing best business practices to help drive economic opportunities for women. Training on using technology as a key business tool will be a part of the center design.
In both countries, we are exploring SMS and voice-based information services for health and civic engagement, as well as sharing best practices on how mobile phones can be used to help incentivize increased literacy. We are also trying to help develop an enabling regulatory and market environment to expand access to the internet and mobile phones for the people of Liberia and Sierra Leone.
KB: There seemed to be a lot of discussion about access to technology and education. What are the major hurdles to more widespread use of technology and opportunities for education? Likewise, were there any specific solutions that you saw being implemented or that the delegation was able to come up with?
TD: One of our main takeaways from the trip was that technology is not a silver bullet to solve the development challenges we witnessed in Liberia and Sierra Leone, but it can enable change. In the realm of education, technology-based solutions are challenging, as literacy rates are low. SMS and most internet tools require some level of literacy for impactful engagement. The alternative is voice-based models, and currently there are few proven models on how to teach someone to read simply using voice messages without some sort of teacher or guide to support the learner.
Where we ended up in the discussion was to share with the various government ministries and other education stakeholders a successful example from Senegal. The Jokko Initiative leveraged women’s desire to send SMSes as a way to increase demand for literacy and numeracy. In this way, the mobile phone was used as a tool to incentivize literacy programs.
KB: How do women and girls fit into the equation in these two developing countries?
TD: In both countries, we met with women from all walks of life – entrepreneurs, weavers, teachers, nurses, students, government officials – and we were genuinely moved by their perseverance, strength and dedication after years of war tore apart the region. Our meetings with President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and Her Excellency First Lady of Sierra Leone Mrs. Sia Koroma demonstrated the inspirational leadership at the top of both countries, and women from the diaspora returning back to their home countries from the U.S. showed us endless courage and love for the betterment of their people.
These women and others showed us that although there are many challenges in Liberia and Sierra Leone, women are the driving force for positive change. Women helped achieve peace in Liberia and are leading the re-building in both countries, along with the men who actively support women’s leadership roles. Women are managing their families, making up the large percentage of micro-entrepreneurs, running for political office and they are determined to be the positive change they want to see in their world.
KB: On a looser note, what was the best thing you ate? The most memorable moment? Favorite local art?
TD: One of the most powerful parts of our trip was a visit to the Annie Walsh Memorial Girls School. The girls at the school are the future of Liberia and West Africa, and each girl we spoke to was passionate and determined about their future. The choir treated us to the most incredible performance that nearly brought me to tears; it truly was unbelievably beautiful and moving. Here’s a short video from the performance taken by Maria Thomas, who was also part of the Women’s Technology Delegation:
Tommy, our Girls in Tech COO, passed along an article to me, “Women and Tech: Focus On Female Consumers and the Founders Will Follow” (20 Feb), that looks like it’s gotten a bit of attention in the past few days. It’s written by Christina Brodbeck from ThelceBreak in San Francisco. I’d like to add a few quick notes to the discussion.
Please note, I’m not a fist-pounder when it comes to demanding women rights, boohooing our position in technology, etc (Yes, I know I’m the CMO of Girls in Tech, but keep reading). I find it equally as unproductive as the author. I’m not what you would call “a feminist” in the oft-thought angry sort of way. I’m a doer, and hopefully in the process, an empowerer.
I, like the author, have also been fairly lucky in my life in terms of having a supportive and encouraging upbringing, a good schooling, and the confidence to, as I say, Kick Butt. I also know many fantastic women who have likewise done the same.
However, I feel Christina’s argument is flawed in a few respects, and I would still argue that issue needs to be looked at. Allow me a moment.
Firstly, concerning her argument:
I find it misplaced and disjointed. Being a consumer of technology and being a professional in the field (start-up or not) are two very different things. I’m unclear how this connection comes to “…and the Founders will Follow”…. Everyone, male or female, would love to get their hands on purse percentage of the female consumer, but the article didn’t make a strong enough connection in my mind (or hardly any connection) to how that draws more people into founding positions or increases the strength or number of women in technology. I’m happy to have a further conversation about this (leave any insights in the comments please!).
All of the examples noted are not what I would consider a use of technology for most parts of the US. I’m still buying clothes off GiltGroupe, spa treatments and dinners off Groupon, finding dates on Match.com, and talking to other women… I’m just now doing it online. In most parts of the US, knowing how to hop on the internet and buy stuff and talk to people doesn’t exactly constitute “adding to the technology landscape.” There are so many other examples here that could have been used.
Beyond this, I want to make a few comments on the larger picture:
On the start-up side and especially the investing side, there is still a disparity between women-run companies getting funding and women funders. Why? I would so love to see more women as Angels, and especially VCs. I don’t think the answer is just “hey, if you don’t have the chops, don’t come to the table,” is it?
As I mentioned, I come from a lucky background. All to often, the people that jump in these arguments saying we’ve got to stop talking about women in tech come from just as lucky of positions, such as the author or myself. So I guess we just assume that everyone has those opportunities, right?
Nope. In my opinion, a better way to look at this is understand where to focus. Several women (and men) in the comments of the article said “just do it” because you all have or know women who have. Perhaps using that knowledge and reaching out and teaching other women who find that difficult for a multitude of reasons is a more constructive way to look at the issue, recognizing that you were probably nurtured and encouraged in positive ways growing up, had access to the tools you needed to excel in technology, you knew how to take charge and feel confident, yadda yadda yadda. Just because you were perhaps lucky in that respect (and I was too, don’t get me wrong) doesn’t mean everyone was.
For instance, if you take a look at K-12 (specifically middle school age) in the US, there are far fewer girls being brought up to excel in the sciences and maths. Almost every single state has a special program within the STEM initiatives that tackles this issue. Those initiatives are probably there for a reason.
And if you take examples outside the walls of our country, which is where this “women and tech” banter always resides for us, I don’t even need to begin listing the disparities of education and access that women face, even when you look at the numbers indicating that when women DO excel in these fields, they generally add significantly more to their communities than men do. That could be fixed, no?
Some people are, in fact Secretary Clinton has started a specific effort to reach more global women in these fields (there’s currently a delegation of top US women in tech in Sierra Leone and Liberia as we speak) and increasing global mentorship opportunities through the TechWomen program.
My point is this: From your position of success and accomplishment (and an awesome one it is!) I would love to see you not dismiss the issue as done, I did it, it’s a tired argument, let’s focus on people who are buying stuff (as they always were).
Take what you’ve learned and pass it along to others, or help me better understand what your suggestions (a seed fund for the consumer??) does for the big picture…. once you’ve done that I’m happy to listen further.
I was the Tech Garden last night listening to entrepreneur Steven Gal from Cornell University. In the midst of his talk, something popped out at me.
The elevator pitch – you know, the one they drill into your head as an entrepreneur or a student of entrepreneurship? The one you agonize over? – as a standard, is 140 words long. As Steven said, nowadays, that’s too long, no one’s paying any attention for that many words. You need to be concise. Try to make it shorter.
I want to take this one step further. In a world now dominated by digital connections – especially in the professional world – where social tools are becoming key ways to connect with people, discuss ideas and…. PITCH COMPANIES…
….why not make sure you have an Elevator Tweet? This isn’t just an exercise of conciseness, it’s a reality. It may actually be a key part of connecting with the right people, online or offline.
My challenge to you: TELL ME YOUR BUSINESS IDEA, AND ALL YOU GET IS A 140-CHARACTER TWEET!
Leave them in the comments section (preferred) or you can tweet them to me – @just_kate
Leave your business information if you’d like, so we can all double check!
If you have an interesting anecdote on using twitter to pitch your business, or why you personally think this is important (or not!), let me know.
If you’re coming here from Girls in Tech, make sure you let me know, we’ll throw those up on our GIT website as well.
I’ll highlight the best ones, or maybe I’ll run a poll to see which ones ring the most true, we’ll see how much action we get.
I’ve really enjoyed my time working with the organization, and can’t wait to continue working with the great team we have at Global, as well as all of our 57 (and growing!) chapters.
@missusp (Christine, who rocks the house) responded, and then wrote a quick blog post, which she encouraged us all to give a high five to an awesome women in tech.
I DMed her back and said she should start a #high5 thread on Twitter, referencing one or a few awesome women entrepreneurs or women in tech, possibly making a day of it.
Last night I had the pleasure of seeing Greg Mortenson speak. Greg started a campaign 16 years ago to increase the number of rural schools in Afghanistan and Pakistan, which has since grown into the Central Asia Institute (among other initiatives). I could say a lot more about him, but I’ll let you catch up with his bio. PS I might as well tell you to read at least one of his two books, because they have a lot of really great insight (I’m sure many of you have actually read Three Cups of Tea).
There were several points during the discussion that made me think of Girls in Tech and some of the philosophies and missions we support. I’ve listed a few of the below.
The importance of empowering young girls. One of the major foci of Mortenson’s work is not only to increase the educational opportunities of children in these areas, but specifically of young girls. His idea is if you educate a girl, they effect a whole community (based on various factors such as the fact that they don’t leave for rural areas, they are nurturers, and they are generally the teachers of families, and thus communities).
The importance of listening to your elders. This wasn’t specific to young girls per se, but when Mortenson asks young kids whether they have regular discussions with and learn from their grandparents, maybe 10% of the kids in the US raise their hands. It’s 80-90% in countries like Pakistan and Afhganistan. My first thought? That’s so awesome.
The importance of women in terms of peace. I spent a summer in graduate school researching the Bangladeshi “terrorist scene” with the goal of identifying the threat to the US of terrorism that may or may not be coming out of the madrasa (school) system. As I’m reaching the time for the conference report of findings, it was becoming clear that the threat to the US was in fact quite low. However, what was more clear was that there was still domestic unrest, hostility, local acts of violence and distaste for the government…. All good ingredients for terrorism. However, one of the most promising ways in which that could be combated based on the current system in place was to educate and empower the women in the community, who were not only the family leaders but often the teachers in these schools. This alone could be powerful enough to quell several types of violent outburst. Mortenson used the example of jihad: when an individual wishes to declare jihad of any sort, they must get the approval of their mother. When the mother is more educated, they are much less likely to give that approval. Enough said.
So much of this rings for Girls in Tech. Empowering the next generation of women is a very important part of our mission, whether it’s locally or internationally, but also gaining valuable knowledge from the generations before us. Both of these apply no matter what your age. I know one of my goals in the Boston Chapter has been and will continue to be to get the involvement of all age groups, from young girls to grandmothers, because there’s so much that can be done when you can capture everything that’s in that span.
And lastly, in terms of number three, I mean, it’s simple. Women rock in a serious way. And the more we can all do to give them the means to rock, fantastic. Isn’t that why we’re all here?
The technology in my immediate life is mostly computer and internet-based. I work all day in front of a screen, playing around with new media tools, figuring out how they can be used for marketing and can rarely get my job done for very long if I don’t have internet access (eeek, that sounds mildly pathetic). On the side I research the effects of digital tools on society and neat things like that.
But of course, there’s way more to technology than that. As Managing Director of Girls in Tech Boston, I’ve been spending the last few weeks formulating a (sort of) working definition of what “technology” really means…..
Please note that the title is “Most Interesting”…. they’re interesting for better or worse reasons than others, but it’s still a good list.
[This interview was originally posted on the 
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