On behalf of all the Emerging Leaders I would like to

thank the National Museum of Women in the Arts for

hosting us tonight, the Department of State for

sponsoring this wonderful programme and Dr Jill

Biden for blessing us with your presence!

On the 3rd

of October, the Oracle Women’s Network

hosted the TechWomen Orientation at Oracle.

I was so proud to see Barbara William, my cultural

mentor in action as one of the Keynote speakers. She shared with us her secret weapon, which she

calls the Barb List - which is a list of 10 steps that can help us succeed in our careers.

There were three steps on the Barb List that resonated with me and can sum up my experience of

being part of the TechWomen programme.

The first step is realising that "Relationships Matter" –

• I think of the many friendships that have been formed amongst us at the Emerging Leaders,

the Breakthroughs and the Dreams that we shared just this morning!

• I think of the deep connections that have been made with our mentors and personally the

connection I have made with my two sisters, my mentors Barb as the cultural mentor and

Tanya Kobyluk as the Professional Mentor. I have found strength in your support, guidance

and in our memorable conversations!

• I also think of the Tech Community at Silicon Valley who opened their doors and hearts to us

as the emerging leaders and the inspiration we found from listening to so many women who

shared their stories of being Women in STEM proving that our stories are similar and our

experiences universal.

I do however realise though that for these relationships to continue beyond the borders of the

Techwomen programme I have to put in the work and make time for nurture them!

The second step is the need to "Be Flexible" - My professional mentor exposed me to a completely

different way of working! She is a NOMAD worker - which means that she does not have a

designated desk – for the duration of the project we were moving around between NOMAD Hotel

spaces and meeting rooms. This threw me out of my comfort zone completely where back home, I

have my designated space where I can have a picture of my son, my family! Something that I found

interesting was that Autodesk also allows its employees to work remotely. This made me think

perhaps need to reconsider our work environments and how we can enable and measure

productivity.

The third step that I took from the Barb List "Being of Service" - which for me is one of the core

foundation of the Techwomen Programme.

Each and every single person in this room has a commitment towards this programme. I think of the

mentors who have committed themselves to helping us grown and to helping us achieve our

dreams! Witnessing that commitment has challenged each of the Emerging Leaders to pay this

blessing forward.

It is with this thought that the Emerging Leaders who are based in South Africa are planning to form

a Non-Profit organisation which will help inform young girls of the diverse careers available within

the STEM fields.

Colby Dorr Dam, a famous writer illustrated my thoughts beautifully when he said

“Each person has an ideal, a hope, a dream which represents the soul. We must give to it the

warmth of love, the light of understanding and the essence of encouragement.” & I truly believe

that the Techwomen Program has done this for all of us.

Enkosi TechWomen, Thank you TechWomen for this amazing and life-changing opportunity!

Enkosi!