TechWomen Program Summary
Eileen Brewer and Cathy Simpson conducted a series of over 30 talks, workshops, and sessions on topics relating to women in STEM and entrepreneurship from February 26 to March 12, 2020 in Lahore and Islamabad, Pakistan. The program’s participants were able to discuss new frontiers in STEM education and practices and how best to support women pursuing STEM education or entrepreneurship. Women made up a majority of attendees at almost all of the venues and were promised continuing support from the speakers in their pursuits of using STEM ideas and practices in start-ups. Over 800 people attended events, with backgrounds ranging from high school and undergrad students to post-graduates, scholars, and young professionals. Brewer and Simpson also hosted 5 separate programs at various institutions across Lahore and Islamabad, including a panel discussion at the Government College University, Lahore that featured 4 prominent Vice-Chancellors. These additional programs allowed the speakers to explore additional topics such as cybersecurity and STEM education for younger students. Participants in these programs were excited to be able to use their knowledge and spread information at their institutions to further the reach of this program.
Scholar Bios
Eileen Brewer
Eileen Brewer has a Bachelor's in Information Technology and 20 years experience working in Silicon Valley tech companies. She has helped develop and deliver to market over 100 enterprise software and hardware products. Ms. Brewer is also an Angel Investor in Silicon Valley, where she has listened to hundreds of pitches and mentors founders. Ms Brewer has been a Mentor for the US State Department TechWomen Exchange Program since 2012 and has mentored dozens of women and traveled to many countries to provide training and workshops. She is now a Global Consultant and Trainer, focusing 100% of her time in providing training and workshops. Her focus is in training founders and running STEM workshops for students.
Cathy Simpson
Cathy Simpson is a certified scrum trainer and agile coach, with a passion for transforming the world of work to be more productive, creative and fun.
Cathy combines a warm energetic style with insights learned in the trenches at companies ranging from large financial institutions to small start-ups. This enables her to effectively connect with individuals, teams and managers in order to facilitate transformation.