#HiddenNoMore: My Experience of the International Visitor Leadership Program
I recently participated in an exchange program by the US Department of State and 21st Century Fox for female leaders in STEM. The title of the program was “Hidden No More”, which was inspired by the movie “Hidden Figures”. It tells the story of three African-American women who worked at NASA and who had to fight against discrimination and bias. 50 women from 50 countries were invited to this program and we all met in Washington in the end of October. The purpose of the program was for the participants to learn from each other, as well as to get inspired by female leaders that we met throughout the program. In the following, I will go through my personal highlights of this trip that truly changed my life.
Washington, DC
The program started with a city tour of Washington and with an introduction of all 50 participants. I knew from the start that these women are absolutely amazing in their fields and their achievements truly impressed me. There was a retired lieutenant from the Zambian airforce who was also the first female aerospace engineer in her country. There was a 27 year old woman from Kosovo who is working in a government organisation with open data and at the same time contributes to building the still young country. There was an amazing lady from Thailand who teaches women in rural Thai areas how to use textile colours from natural resources in order to make the textile industry more sustainable. I could go on like this for every single woman I met on this program, but I think I made myself clear that these women are unbelievable leaders that live and work for their communities.
Applied Physics Laboratory
One of the visits in Washington was to the Applied Physics Laboratory, where we spent a whole afternoon. We heard presentations by female scientists that work on robot missions to several planets. These women are real geniuses and true leaders in their fields. One of them is working on a mission to bring a robot to Titan, one of Saturn’s moons. The goal is to find out if there is or has been life on this planet.
National Geographic
We spent a whole day at National Geographic. The morning was full of inspiring talks by women who have high ranking positions at National Geographic. One of them was a lady who shared her academic journey that started in India and led her to be a National Geographic Explorer.
Following this, we had a private screening of “Hidden Figures” at one of National Geographic’s cinemas. Knowing that the whole program was based on this movie and watching it with all these amazing women created a real special and emotional atmosphere. Everyone was crying at the same scenes ;-).
National Academy of Sciences
At the Academy of Sciences, we had the pleasure to meet and network with high ranking female leaders in science. Among others, there was a Deputy Chief Technologist from NASA, a Program Director of the National Science Foundation and a professor for Information Systems at Howard University. We had round table discussions where we exchanged best practices in their institutions, as well as in our countries. We also learned about the importance of good leadership and mentoring in a career. As these women are now at the peak of their career, this was an excellent opportunity for us to learn from their experiences.
Charleston, SC
After almost a week in Washington, the group split into six groups, each of them going to a different city on the east coast. Our group of nine people (plus one liaison of the State Department) went to Charleston, South Carolina.
The purpose of this destination was to get insights into how science and technology flourishes in smaller US cities. The background of the whole group was technology and coding, so the visits were largely focused on this topic. Charleston was also a very interesting city regarding culture. South Carolina was one of the 13 founding states of the US. Also, it was a major site for slave trade and the Civil War originated in Charleston.
Girl Scouts of Eastern South Carolina
One of the highlights in Charleston was the visit at the Girl Scouts of Eastern South Carolina. The girl scouts is an organisation that is almost free, and it is for girls between 5 and 17 years old.
The Girl Scout’s most famous project is the cookie program. During the “cookie season” (two months per year), girls go from door to door and sell cookies. This program is meant to teach them skills that are important later in their career: goal setting, decision making, money management, people skills and business ethics. One box of cookies costs $4, and the Girl Scouts make over $5m per year. It’s the girls’ decision what projects to fund with this money, but as the Girl Scouts encourage girls in science and technology, the projects are often in these fields (e.g. robotics, aerospace engineering, computer science).
All the projects are lead by the girls, with adult supervision, to make sure that they can learn these important skills and to get the confidence they need for their careers and lives.
Porter Gaud School
Another impressive visit was the one at the Porter Gaud school in Charleston. It’s a private school where children get education in computer science from an early age.
We had the chance to talk to the person responsible for the course content of the children. Also, we visited two computer science classes. The younger children were programming games with Scratch and they were very eager to show us their projects, it was really sweet. The older children were working on a robot programming assignment. In total, the students at the school have around 6 hours of computer science per week. This school visit was such an inspiration for all of us. I have never seen a school that is set up like this one is, and I think a lot of other schools can learn from them when it comes to teaching skills relevant in the 21st century.
Boston, MA
After an inspiring few days in Charleston, our group flew to Boston, where we met two of the other groups that had earlier been split. Boston has a great science museum that I can recommend to anyone who is in the area.
MIT
My highlight in Boston was a visit to MIT. We spent almost a whole day there and we got to meet a lot of inspiring and successful women. We first heard talks from four women that are professors or researchers at MIT.
They told us their stories about how they got into MIT and about what they are teaching or researching and about how it is to be a woman at MIT. It was also interesting to see that even top universities like MIT have diversity issues with a phenomena called “leaky pipeline”. While at the undergraduate level, it’s 50/50, at the graduate level, there are merely 30% women. Among the faculties, it’s even less. We’ve heard about the leaky pipeline in many other institutions before, but for some reason it has impressed me the most when we heard about it at MIT. After lunch, we visited the Nanotechnology Materials Lab, which reminded me of The Big Bang Theory’s engineering lab :-).
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute (WHOI)
The WHOI is way outside the city center of Boston, but it’s totally worth a visit. It’s an educational institution and they do research using robot submarines to investigate the depth of the oceans. There were two aspects of this institution that impressed me the most. First of all, they run an annual program for disadvantaged children that live in poverty in Pennsylvania. These children spend a week with WHOI, and they learn about Ocean sciences by doing their own research. This way, they can leave their difficulties behind, they get fed and they learn that they can be researchers and scientists themselves when they grow up. Second, there was a professor who mentors 12 young women at the institute. She helps them achieve their research goals, as well as giving them advice on their professional careers. And even more admirable, she is doing this in her free time, because she realised how important it is to have a mentor in a career, and because she enjoys supporting these women along their professional paths.
Los Angeles, CA
The final stop of the program was Los Angeles. We were all looking forward to this, because it was quite cold in Boston ;-). So naturally, the first thing we did upon arrival was going to the beach to watch the sunset.
On our first day, we had a day of cultural activities. So what did we do? We went to Universal Studios! I love the US! It was an amazing day full of fun and magic (I am a huge fan of the “Wizarding World of Harry Potter” part of the park). I think we all discovered our inner child on this day. It was also great to have a full day of casual conversation between the participants.
Studio School Los Angeles
The visit at Studio School Los Angeles was a very interesting one. There was a panel discussion of six amazing ladies who work in Science & Technology. One of them flew in from the Bahamas just for this event.
The topic was: “Keeping stories alive across platforms — the convergence of technology and media”. The participants of the program were encouraged to share their stories and there was an extensive exchange between the panelists and the participants. We learned that each and every story is special and unique and worth sharing, because even if we think our stories are not interesting, they might actually be very helpful for other people. It’s important to have role models and by sharing stories, we give the opportunity to others to find their role models in us. I enjoyed this event a lot, and I admire these strong panelists for their experience as women in senior positions in their fields.
21st Century Fox
The last project excursion was a day long visit at 21st Century Fox, which was one of my favourites of the whole program! We were welcomed by the Chief Information Officer who told us her story and how she got to work at 21st Century Fox. After that, we had a studio tour, a visit in their research lab, as well as a visit to their movie archive.
One of the highlights of the day was a panel discussion that included four of our amazing participants. They told us about the wonderful things they are doing in their countries and about their challenges. It was a very emotional discussion and at some point, almost everyone in the audience was crying. It was just so special being in one room with all these successful and inspiring women and realising that in many ways, we are all in the same boat. The day was rounded off by a reception that was a great opportunity to speak to 21st Century Fox staff, as well as members of the Department of State. At the same time, it was one of the last chances to spend time with the other participants and there was so much love in the air. I was so happy to be there with everyone, and I realised that these friendships are for life ❤️.
What this program means to me
I don’t think that there are any words to express my gratitude for the opportunity to attend this program. It was one of the most impactful things I’ve done in my life and it made me grow as a professional and as a person. It was truly special to be in a group of like-minded women that are all having similar struggles. I felt a huge sense of belonging, and I am forever grateful for this experience.
When I shared my story in Boston, I was overwhelmed by the support of the other participants. There were so many nice words, hugs and tears that made me feel good about myself and that showed my that I am on the right way. I have never experienced so much support from so many people at the same time. It was like a wonderful dream or a fairy tale: people were respectful, understanding, and everyone was welcomed in the group. I could just be myself.
I would like to express my deepest gratitude and thanks to the US Department of State, 21st Century Fox, as well as the US Embassy in Switzerland for inviting me to this program. I can say that it truly changed my life. I would also like to thank all the amazing participants for their support, inspiration and stories — I learned so much from you. You have no idea what it means to me to be able to call you my friends. I will do everything I can to stay in touch! And thank you to the wonderful liaisons who travelled with us for three weeks and supported us all the way. Your kindness and overwhelming hospitality made me feel welcomed at all times, and I am forever thankful for all your help.
I will never forget these three weeks. Ever.
