UNDP Human Development Report
UNESCO #LearningNeverStops. Or, rather, it should never stop. Yet, for far too many, it ends prematurely.
UNDP Let’s Build a World Beyond Racism and Discrimination
AWS Demo Day Grand Prize Winner: Glowup Damas
Student Testimonial: Ikenna Enyidede
UNESCO Education in Africa: 4 in 5 children don’t achieve minimum proficiency in reading
AWS Demo Day Grand Prize Winner: 1 Degree Equity Pitch
AWS Demo Day: Career Guidance Counselor Pitch
SDG 13: How Alexa Can Help Combat Climate Change
My name is Ikenna Enyidede, a Nigerian and a freelance Product Designer.
Joining the Global Alexa Skills Challenge was borne out of my love for learning and trying out new things, in this case, learning a new skill in an enabling environment. I was hoping to broaden my knowledge base with one of the fast-growing skills in the tech space as well as collaborate with like-minded individuals.
With the recurring negative changes in climate conditions all over the world, my team and I addressed the Sustainable Development Goal 13 (Climate Action) hoping to offer a possible solution in tackling this problem. The corresponding Alexa skill built was targeted at providing education and information on climate related activities to individuals between the age of 16 and 40 through quizzes, random facts and weather information of cities around the world.
Recommending the Alexa Skills Challenge to future participants would be an easy thing to do as the value I have acquired from fellow participants, mentors and instructors have been extremely valuable. I would also recommend this to all and sundry because, as with things you consider valuable, you share with those around you.
Working with individuals in different parts of the world was as challenging as it was exciting. From figuring how to collaborate in real time, to figuring out the balance between time zones for voice and video calls. From managing individuals with different skillset, to ensuring that tasks are completed in good time. It was a rollercoaster ride which opened up avenues to learn and grow. I got to understand different modes at which different individuals try to accomplish tasks and also learnt not to be overbearing as we all work with different strides. People management was a skill honed during the course of liaising with team members, which I still plan on building upon.
The learning experience was a unique one for me, everything was virtual, from the onboarding, through the office hours with our trainers and sessions with mentors (I learnt a great deal from my mentor who basically gave me a crash course on how to approach problems). Seeing beautiful new faces. Surrounded with people with the same goals, moving through the same learning path and also insightful sessions from guest speakers. The experience taught me patience and also persistence amongst a list of other soft skills and I hope to showcase all that was learnt in all interactions and engagements I have moving forward.
My team was very supportive even in their busy schedule as without them the project would have never been completed. Staying up late to meet, going out of their way to complete tasks and meet deadlines and exercising a truckload of patience when processes were not going as planned. The real Rockstar team and I am very proud.
The best way I knew how to support my team was to show up. Show up when things needed to be done, show up to organize tasks and deliverables, show up when others were indisposed. I believe that is the first step to getting things done.
So I plan to keep showing up and getting things done.
AWS Demo Day: New Birth/Mother & Child Pitch
’21 AWS Global AI Challenge Highlights
AWS Demo Day: Target Health Pitch
AWS Demo Day Team: iClimate Pitch Deck
AWS Demo Day: Clima Health Pitch
AWS Demo Day: Eco P.A. Pitch
EDequity Global Hosts ‘21 AWS Global Innovation Summit; Graduates Over 45 Participants from Across the Globe
EDequity Global AWS Global Innovation Summit
“In the face of the global COVID crises, how do we put the women and people who have suffered the largest economic effects at the center of recovery efforts and work toward fixing long-standing inequalities, by leveraging technology?” Shauna Ruyle, Founder & Executive Director, EDequity Global
Facing recovery from a global economic crisis, high unemployment, increased poverty, stagnating income growth, lowered GDP, and community college enrollment plummeting (in California, USA), is important to understand the different ways that technology is changing the world of work and how together we can stimulate inclusive economic growth through education. Hence, Edequity Global with the support of 30+ sponsors and partners including AWS, American Association of University Women (AAUW), Google, Netflix, ThingLogix, African Leadership University, California State University Office of the Chancellor, The Basement UCSD, Southwestern College, and more – has taken the bull by the horns to equip women, underserved young graduates and entrepreneurs in communities across the globe with 21st century cloud skills at the ‘21 Global Amazon Alexa Skills Challenge.
The ‘21 Global Amazon Alexa SkilIs Challenge received over 300 registrants from across the globe with 46 women, marginalized college/university student and entrepreneur graduates coming from 6 countries (over 70% participants from Nigeria, then USA, India, Kenya, Brazil and Mexico). These impressive alumni completed the 5-week AI primer, formed teams and built innovative Alexa Skills to address one or more of the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
‘21 Global Innovation Summit
EDequity Global has organized the 2-Day Virtual Global Innovation Summit as an exciting “finale event’ and celebration to showcase graduate technology solutions to global problems, leveraging AWS. Business leaders, educators, nonprofits and civic leaders from the US and across the globe will join three leadership round tables to discuss the most pressing political, economic, environmental and human rights issues facing this generation today.
Highlights
• 3 trail-blazing keynotes including:
London Bell, 2020 African Descent Fellow, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, NGO Committee on the Status of Women, Founder and President Bell Global Justice Institute
Diya Wynn, AWS Senior Practice Manager for AI/ML Ethics
Marianna Holiday, AWS Educate International, Education to Workforce Solutions
• 17 global leaders
• 3 leadership roundtable discussions
• 8 international team fast-pitch demos
• 6 tech all-star judges
• 20 AWS scholarships awarded
• 350+ attendees
• 30+ partners
AWS Demo Day
April 17, 7-11am US Pacific Time / 3-7pm West Africa Time
Following the 5-week artificial intelligence (AI) primer and project submissions, 8 teams will be invited to deliver their fast-pitch demos on AWS Demo Day, April 17, 2021 at the Global Innovation Summit for a chance to win scholarships toward AWS training & certification! Participants from 6 countries
including (Nigeria, USA, India, Kenya, Brazil and Mexico) will present their Alexa skill solutions to global problems in a fun, interactive livestream format.
Leadership Roundtable Discussions
April 28, 7am-2pm US Pacific Time / 3-10pm West Africa Time
The leadership round table discussions will center around three important themes:
’21 AWS Demo Day Highlights
We Connect The Dots & EDequity.Global Merge Organizations to Build Capacity and Expand Global Reach
Westbury, New York, April 21, 2021 – We Connect The Dots announced today that the EDequity.Global organization founded and lead by Shauna Ruyle a San Diego, CA based organization is now a brand within the We Connect The Dots, Inc. nonprofit organization. Over the past two years We Connect The Dots has supported Shauna and her mission to impact equity in tech education globally. The two organization leaders saw a clear path where they could leverage strengths and increase their overall impact together. The combined effort allows the organizations to create a greater impact without increasing organizational overhead by reducing redundancies. Shauna Ruyle who has been the visionary and leader for the EDequity.Global brand will begin to play a key role in the We Connect The Dots organization working to expand the EDequity.Global brand and integrate it into the We Connect The Dots social enterprise of brands, Code-A-Thon, CreatingSTEAM, Community Ambassador Program and Unlock The Box brand.
We Connect The Dots, Inc. a Westbury, NY-based non-profit offers underrepresented populations and at-risk youth the opportunity to engage in experiential learning programs for Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math (STEAM). The programs are designed to assist young people in preparing for entry into America’s evolving workplace. We Connect The Dots was founded by entrepreneur and Microsoft veteran Laurie Carey to address the digital divide in communities nationally. Currently the organization works with students, in Long Island, the Greater New York Metro area, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Washington, California, Illinois, Virginia, and Iowa. The not-for-profit’s programs provide underrepresented populations from low-income communities and others with opportunities to access and personally experience working in STEAM focused disciplines. These programs give students the skills they need to enter the workforce or continue their education in STEAM related fields such as engineering, science and computing.
San Diego, CA-based EDequity.Global is a global coalition of partners advancing education and economic equity for women and BIPOC youth leveraging Amazon Web Services (AWS). Shauna Ruyle an entrepreneur and Microsoft veteran, founded the EDequity.Global brand to address the growing need to support women and people who have suffered economically, to fix long-standing inequalities in education and to build a more diverse workforce in the tech industry. EDequity.Global recently completed the second year of their AmazonAI Challenge with over 300 registrations from across the globe. The program competition consisted of 46 women, marginalized college/university students and entrepreneurs coming from 6 countries (over 70% participants from Nigeria, then USA, India, Kenya, Brazil and Mexico).
Both women credit their background at Microsoft in helping them succeed with such a massive undertaking and aim to empower young women and underrepresented students hoping to make an impact in the world of STEAM.
These two powerhouse women are driven by passion to create change and their entrepreneurial spirit drives innovative programs that span the globe. With an east and west coast presence the organization will continue to expand its impact to support building a more diverse workforce in tech for women and underrepresented populations.
“I am excited about our future together and look forward to seeing how the organization evolves over the coming year. Shauna brings so much to the organization with her marketing and business leadership, an established network in the industry, and a passion for change in education, she will enhance our team greatly.” Laurie Carey Founder of We Connect The Dots.
“I am thrilled to join We Connect The Dots. This collaboration provides the opportunity for networking and mentorship relationships and will help EDequity.Global’s overall mission to advance economic equity and cloud education for women and BIPOC youth, leveraging Amazon Web Services (AWS). Together with Laurie and her social enterprise we can move faster on our journeys to help millions of women, girls and underrepresented populations learn in-demand tech skills and secure resilient careers.” Shauna Ruyle Founder and Executive Director, EDequity.Global
About We Connect The Dots and EDequity Global
We Connect the Dots, a non-profit educational organization founded by Laurie Carey in 2013, seeks to use learning and coaching models to create positive outcomes across education and professional development communities and provide engaging learning experiences. We Connect the Dots exists in-concert with Ms. Carey’s for-profit entity, Nebula Academy (a D.B.A. of Laurie Carey Consulting). Nebula Academy’s mission is to use cognitive learning and coaching models to create positive outcomes across education and professional development communities, where technology is used as a tool for supporting productive and engaging learning experiences. http://www.we-connect-the-dots.org. EDequity Global, is a brand within the WCTD organization, founded by Shauna Ruyle in 2019, EDequity.Global is a global coalition of partners advancing cloud education and economic equity for women and BIPOC youth leveraging Amazon Web Services (AWS). www.edequity.global.
The demographic case for investing in America’s children
Originally published by Brookings Institution, William H. Frey
The Biden administration has made no secret about its intention to focus on investing in the nation’s youth. With its allies in Congress, the White House’s “American Rescue Plan” proposes to provide thousands of dollars of cash payments to families with children. This, alongside increased attention to education, caregiving, and other family support measures, signals the administration’s spotlight on the well-being of children. Although investment in the nation’s youth is a long-held staple of American politics, it was clearly not an emphasis of the Trump administration, which paid more attention to appeasing its largely older political base.
Meet the ’21 Mentor Team
EDequity.Global wants to give a HUGE THANK YOU to 9 selfless, all-star tech professionals who are mentoring/coaching international teams of women, BIPOC college/university students and entrepreneurs to imagine the future with voice at the Global Amazon #AlexaSkillsChallenge!
Mariam Hazali
Niles Pyelshak
Maria Lupetini
Franky Fuentes, Ph.D.
Sedleigh Adams
Sam Rastovich
Nicholas Gatehouse
Seema Moorjani
Woody Zuill
Mentors are coaching 9 international student teams to build #Alexa Skills that address these United Nations #SustainableDevelopmentGoals: 🌍
#ClimateAction
#GenderEquality
#NoPoverty
#ZeroHunger
#GoodHealthandWellBeing
#QualityEducation
Stay tuned for #AWS Demo Day!
EDequity Global and AAUW San Diego Partner to Unlock Gender and Economic Equity with Artificial Intelligence (AI)
AAUW will support EDequity Global’s skills initiative for women and underserved students
December 31, 2020, San Diego, California — EDequity Global recently received a $10,000 award from American Association of University Women (AAUW) San Diego to support the upcoming 2021 Global Amazon Alexa Skills Challenge Initiative. The award will be used to offer women, underserved college/university students and entrepreneurs the opportunity to learn in-demand cloud skills for free, to kickstart their AI journey and the chance to win a scholarship towards Amazon Web Services (AWS) training and certification. The goal of the global initiative is to build human capital, skills and the know-how needed for the jobs of the future. Participants will work in teams to solve a global issue aligned to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, teaching the importance of social responsibility.
AAUW San Diego is also supporting through this award the We Connect The Dots annual Code-a-Thon, a program designed to support young people ages 13-18 in learning to code. Their sponsorship extends into EDequity Global’s Smartphone No-Code Alexa Skills Summer 2021 Workshop.
The COVID-19 crisis is exacerbating inequality – revealing gender, racial and economic inequalities (related to resilient employment, economic security, access to education, leadership representation, power and influence in business and government) that have been ignored for too long.
Inequality for women is one of the world’s biggest injustices. It must change.
- 75% of parliamentarians are men
- 73% of managerial decision-makers are men
- 67% of climate negotiators are men
- 87% people at the peace table are men
- The global gender pay gap is stuck at 16%
The COVID-19 crisis has greatly intensified these challenges. Specifically, employment has collapsed, threatening a major humanitarian crisis in many economies. Millions of young people are out of school or work. According to the World Economic Forum, at the peak of the pandemic, 1.6 billion students were out of school and 11 million girls may not return to school after the COVID-19 pandemic.
Now, more than ever, in the COVID-economy is the time to provide in-demand cloud computing skills, training and a connection to jobs that pay a living wage. Emerging technology is significantly transforming the way we work and live. We believe that marginalized communities should not be excluded from the opportunities that these changes create. This bold partnership with AAUW San Diego allows us to continue making economic and social impact, achieving gender equity, racial equity and building the next generation of inclusive leadership, economic security and jobs.
“If we are going to help build the next generation of technologists we need to be committed to work in the public interest by providing scholarships, skills training, opportunity for entrepreneurialism, innovation, roadmaps and role models to women and underrepresented students that introduce them to what this work entails and what success looks like in the career field. The Global Amazon Alexa Skills Challenge is an important first step.” – Jane Niemeier, President AAUW San Diego
About AAUW
AAUW, is a non-profit, non partisan organization that is tenacious and trailblazing, advocating for women and girls since 1881 and into the future! Leading the fight for fair pay and economic opportunity for women, AAUW’s mission is gender equity & economic security. https://sandiego-ca.aauw.net/
“With crisis comes the opportunity for innovation. The Global Amazon Alexa Skills Challenge 2021 initiative, is positioned to help realize how the COVID-19 pandemic and economic crisis brings opportunity for innovation – something our youth are best equipped for.” – Shauna Oenning Ruyle, Founder & Executive Director, EDequity Global
About We Connect The Dots and EDequity Global
We Connect the Dots, a non-profit educational organization founded by Laurie Carey in 2013, seeks to use learning and coaching models to create positive outcomes across education and professional development communities and provide engaging learning experiences. We Connect the Dots exists in-concert with Ms. Carey’s for-profit entity, Nebula Academy (a D.B.A. of Laurie Carey Consulting). Nebula Academy’s mission is to use cognitive learning and coaching models to create positive outcomes across education and professional development communities, where technology is used as a tool for supporting productive and engaging learning experiences. http://www.wctd.org.
EDequity Global, is a brand within the WCTD organization, founded by Shauna Oenning Ruyle in 2019, EDequity.Global is a global coalition of partners advancing cloud education and economic equity for women and underrepresented youth leveraging Amazon Web Services (AWS). www.edequity.global.
Media Contact:
Susan Akinuli, Program Manager
Phone: (631) 468-7475
Email: sakinuli@wctd.org
How investing in girls’ education could return billions in GDP
Originally published on World Economic Forum, by Sonia Elks
11 million girls may not return to school after the COVID-19 pandemic.
- For every dollar invested into girls’ rights and education, developing nations could see a return of $2.80, according to a new report.
- Targets to improve girls education are included in the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, signed by world leaders in 2015.
- Around 130 million girls worldwide were out of school before COVID-19, according to UNESCO, and more than 11 million may not return to classes.
New UNESCO Report on Artificial Intelligence and Gender Equality
UNESCO just released its new report on Artificial Intelligence and Gender Equality, which sets forth proposed elements of a Framework on Gender Equality and AI for further consideration, discussion and elaboration amongst various stakeholders.
Advancing gender equality through education, the sciences, culture, information and communication lies at the heart of UNESCO’s mandate, with Gender Equality constituting one of the two Global Priorities of the Organization since 2008. UNESCO is therefore keen to adopt a gender equality lens in its ongoing work on artificial intelligence in all its programme areas.
Melinda Gates: How Women Are Left Behind in the Pandemic Economy
How to build a financial system that works for people and planet
Originally published on World Economic Forum, by Patrick Njorge Governor, Central Bank of Kenya
- We now have the tools and know-how to achieve inclusive, sustainable development, writes Patrick Njoroge, Governor of the Central Bank of Kenya.
- We must use them to leverage new digital-finance technology to build a financial system that works for people and the planet.
- As the global economy builds back better, digital services will be vital in supporting individuals through transfers, loans and saving mechanisms.
UN Secretary General’s Message on Education and COVID-19
“We are at a defining moment for the world’s children and young people.”
The United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres launches his Policy Brief on Education in a Post COVID-19 world together with the Save Our Future campaign. #SaveOurFuture
Resetting the way we teach science is vital for all our futures
This article is part of the Young Global Leaders Annual Summit
Originally published on World Economic Forum by Marga Gual Soler Founder of SciDipGLOBAL, molecular biologist, advisor to the EU Science Diplomacy Cluster, and Komal Dadlani Biochemist and ed-tech entrepreneur. CEO/Co-founder at Lab4U,
- COVID-19 has forced big changes in the way lessons are delivered.
- But education worldwide needs an even more radical rethink.
- Science, technology, engineering and maths are crucial to our future.
COVID-19 has forced more than 1 billion students and youth out of school, triggering the world’s biggest educational technology (edtech) implementation in history, almost overnight. Schools and universities are scrambling to redesign their teaching and learning to allow for students of all ages to study from home. While this raises huge practical and logistic issues for students, teachers and parents (especially women), it opens up a world of opportunities to reimagine what learning looks like in the 21st century.
Reimagining the future of skills: what do young people think?
Originally published on World Economic Forum by Henrietta H. Fore & Robert E. Moritz
- COVID-19 is casting a long shadow over the futures of young people all around the world.
- On World Youth Skills Day, we asked young people their thoughts on redesigning education and skills for the post-COVID era.
For children and young people looking to gain an education and skills, COVID-19 has made a bad situation even worse.
Before the pandemic, they faced a growing mismatch between the skills they were learning in school and those needed for employment.
Now, under the shadow of COVID-19, over one billion are out of school altogether. And millions of young people who were set to join the workforce cannot find jobs.
This moment is an important opportunity to reimagine how, and what, education and skills are delivered to prepare students for a rapidly changing world of work.
But governments and businesses cannot address this problem alone.
So, on World Youth Skills Day, we decided to bring together young people from Algeria, Argentina and South Africa to hear their thoughts about how we can re-design and re-imagine education and skills systems to meet their needs.
The virtual discussion, moderated by Mari-Lisa Njenga, a youth advocate from Kenya, identified four important principles that should guide change.
Why the Global Goals Matter
The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development provides a global blueprint for dignity, peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and in the future. A few years into the Agenda, we see how civil society, private sector, and governments are translating this shared vision into national development plans and strategies. Read more about why each Goal matters by reading the PDFs below.
Harnessing the Social Power of Technology
A virtual community round table discussion addressing the economic consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic on students, educators and public college/university leaders, with particular focus on how to best serve marginalized communities. The panel featured five civic, education and technology thought-leaders who are leading innovation in education with artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) in San Diego and across the state of California.
Promoting learning for the world of work
The UNESCO-UNEVOC International Centre for Technical and Vocational Education and Training is UNESCO’s only specialized centre for technical and vocational education and training (TVET) and an integral component of UNESCO’s international programme on TVET. Through its capacity development programmes, collaborative projects and global UNEVOC Network, UNESCO-UNEVOC advocates for quality TVET that is accessible for all.
UNESCO-UNEVOC’s Strategy for TVET
The Education 2030 Agenda calls on Member States to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all, with the aim of overcoming challenges posed by rapid technological developments, sustained high levels of youth unemployment, demographic changes and a growing demand for green skills.
The pandemic has created an ethos of urgent collective action in Africa. This model can achieve lasting change
Originally published by Elsie S. Kanza | World Economic Forum
17 Jul 2020
- In Africa COVID-19 has shifted the cultural context almost beyond recognition. Suddenly previous obstacles to change are surmountable as bigger ones are overcome, and an ethos of urgent action becomes the norm.
- Africa’s digital economy has accelerated, particularly with respect to e-commerce, bolstering regional resilience to the health pandemic.
- But ongoing challenges will require more unified action on: new financing models, supply chain, trade, infrastructure and inclusive digital transformation.
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