In June 2024, the Tech2Empower Malaysia program created impact and connection : a) women-led NGOs and tech Advisors engaged in collaborative, social impact project work; b) Advisors led tech and leadership workshops for high school girls; and c) women leaders from 10 Southeast Asian countries plus Nepal connected with Advisors on tech and communications topics and participated in small group mentoring sessions.
Tech2Empower Advisors are experienced professionals who commit their skills, time, and resources to advance social justice, champion the rights of women and girls, and enhance women's economic empowerment. Companies represented by the Advisor cohort for Malaysia included Accenture, Google, LinkedIn, Salesforce, and more.
WAKE appreciates the valuable contributions of its partners in Penang, Malaysia, including The U.S. Embassy in Malaysia, Harpswell, The Penang Institute, and the American Tech Corner @ Penang Science Cluster.
Through the Tech2Empower Impact Challenge, women-led NGOs propose specific projects to enhance their impact or streamline their systems in order to better serve their beneficiaries. WAKE mobilizes volunteer Advisors eager to apply their professional skills in partnership with these organizations, providing pro bono consultation, training and skill-sharing. They collaborate on an impact project and support each participating organization in meeting their goals and developing new skills.
Arus Academy developed a comprehensive pitch strategy for their Girls Maker Club program to secure funding and sponsorship. They created a compelling pitch deck and refined their delivery. The process enhanced their pitching skills and effectiveness as advocates for STEM education for girls and fostered further financial support for this initiative.
Penang Green Council focused on enhancing their digital strategies and website interface to improve functionality and user experience. The team developed new strategies for social media promotion and content creation, refining techniques to increase efficiency. This project will broaden their audience engagement on environmental issues and sustainability through clearer, impactful communication.
Befrienders Penang chose a project that will raise awareness of their essential services and increase the number of callers to their suicide prevention hotline. The team worked to improve website traffic through SEO and paid search, enhanced outreach with standardized templates, and explored corporate sponsorships to boost funding and support. With an expanded set of resources, they will increase their reach to provide services to more beneficiaries.
Penang Science Cluster developed survey templates and metrics for better data processing and visualization to demonstrate program impact to key stakeholders. They created standardized digital forms, along with playbooks and manuals for efficient data management. These efforts improved their ability to provide compelling data, propose new community programs, and showcase their significant impact effectively.
Through the Impact Challenge, NGO leaders acquire new skills and produce deliverables that will create long-term benefits benefit their organizations.
NGO leaders and Advisors worked effectively as a team to create tangible project outcomes.
In collaboration with the Harpswell ASEAN Women’s Leadership Summit, 22 participants from 11 countries engaged in tech-focused skill-building workshops and mentorship circles led by Tech2Empower Advisors. The program further developed their professional competencies, empowering them on their journeys as bright leaders in their fields.
This day was comprised of Google’s #IamRemarkable, workshops on Personal Branding, Project Management, and Artificial Intelligence & Ethics, and small-group mentoring.
Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam
Advisors and participants were matched in small mentorship groups to explore professional development topics identified by the participants such as “Women's Leadership in Male-dominated Spaces” and “Professional Networking”. The majority of participants agreed or strongly agreed with the following outcomes of this session:
“Doing #IAMRemarkable was such a transforming experience for me. Now I know that speaking about our self-promotion is a muscle we have to exercise and that it can be not only empowering, but enabling to get what we deserve. I will remember this session for a long, long time.”
- Leigh Ginette Fuentes, ASEAN Women’s Leadership Summit participant
“As an advisor for WAKE's Tech2Empower program, I have had the privilege of authentically stepping into the lives of remarkable women and young girls from different corners of the world. Their challenges, obstacles, and unwavering passion & curiosity deeply resonated with me.”
- Renée Lahti, Tech2Empower Advisor
During this program, Tech2Empower Advisors designed and led tech workshops to support and inspire 40 high school girls to explore education and careers in STEM. Students acquired essential technical competencies and also cultivated self-confidence, leadership acumen, and intercultural communication skills. Tech2Empower Day for Girls was organized in partnership with the Wanita Empowered campaign of the U.S. Embassy in Malaysia and the American Tech Corner @ Penang Science Cluster
The sessions included a 'speed geek' activity in which students learned about Advisors' career trajectories and shared their own interests. Additionally, Advisors led workshops covering topics such as Artificial Intelligence, Data & Metrics, Coding, and Business Planning.
“I had a wonderful experience! I had a lot of fun learning and speaking to the advisors! I'm happy to have gotten an opportunity to be a part of this! That's all from me, thank you so much for this experience!
- Pooshpiitha A/P Arun, Day for Girls participant.”
“Being involved with WAKE has exceeded all my expectations. Working with awesome women and girls is inspirational. The work we undertook as part of the program provided many opportunities for impact, connection and meaningful engagement with future female leaders.”
- Viv Scott, Tech2Empower Advisor
