2021 EQUALS in Tech Awards Finalists

The EQUALS Global Partnership is very pleased to announce the 25 finalists for the 2021 EQUALS in Tech Awards! Congratulations to all the finalists, who were selected from a field of more than 155 nominated initiatives representing 56 countries around the globe.

About the Awards

Every year, the EQUALS in Tech Awards recognize outstanding projects and initiatives around the world that are helping build a brighter digital future for girls and women by bridging the gender digital divide.

Prizes are awarded for outstanding achievement and innovative strategies in five categories: Access, Skills, Leadership in Technology, Leadership in SME (small and medium enterprises) and Research.

The 2021 Finalists

The 25 finalists this year come from 17 countries and represent the innovative work, dedication to digital equality, and concrete results that directly benefit the girls and women who are most excluded from access to technology, digital skills, and opportunities for tech leadership and entrepreneurship.

The 2021 EQUALS in Tech Award finalists are:

Access Category

Fundación BBVA Microfinanzas (Spain)

Foundation that aims to empower women by providing access to digital financial services, training and support.

Tanzania Development Trust (United Kingdom)

Leverages technology to support girls at risk of FGM in Mara by ensuring that they can be found quickly, especially in the middle of the night.

Women in Technology Uganda (Uganda)

Teaches and trains women leaders and businesswomen using the e-learning platform Kolibri, while also introducing STEM to young girls.

Yielding Accomplished African Women (United States)

Organization working in Africa to provide concrete mentorship, community, training, and job opportunities for African women in STEM.

IPSDI (Burundi)

Empowers young girls in Burundi with training to integrate successfully into the employment sector, and promotes female entrepreneurship in agro-food technology.

Skills Category

Girls Got IT (Lebanon)

Encourages young women to explore and venture into science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

Vijay Computer Academy (United States)

Aims to close the skills and gender gaps in ICT by holding seminars, trainings, and education programs and providing counselling to women and girls.

Brazilians in Tech (Brazil)

Brazilian platform that provides resources to support, guide and encourage women studying and working in STEM.

Woman DNS Academy (Bénin)

Provides a technical and practical certification program for women to develop skills in technology, entrepreneurship and digital leadership.

FemDev (Burundi)

Program that aims to increase the number of women in tech by providing #STEM skills and raising awareness on digital career opportunities.

Leadership in Technology Category

Leadership Training and Guidance Initiative for Women Cadres (Saudi Arabia)

Develops training and orientation programs to improve the skills of working women, preparing them for leadership positions.

Ada ITW (Argentina)

Empowers women to be leaders in tech by providing courses, workshops, career advisors, internships and funding.

PretaLab (Brazil)

Builds a more inclusive tech environment by creating a network of black women tech leaders in Brazil.

Developers in Vogue (Ghana)

Works to bridge the gender divide in the tech industry and create a supportive community of African women leaders.

Katalyst – Building Women Leaders (India)

Program aiming to bridge the socio-economic gap so that young women in all communities have the opportunity to be transformational leaders.

Leadership in SME Category

SheSABI App (Nigeria)

Free mobile learning platform for women to learn vocational, financial, digital and business skills, motivating them to create their own small businesses.

ftcash (India)

Enables easier access to loans, transactions and financial services to empower women-owned small businesses and other underserved communities.

WeLearn (Indonesia)

Helps women (particularly those owning MSMEs) in Indonesia to develop and/or grow their business, as well as increase access to supply chains.

Qodwa Tech Initiative (Egypt)

Empowers craftswomen and girls in Egypt to use the information available on the internet towards economic, social and cultural development of their work.

Promoting Female Talent (Tunisia)

Provides practical training programs, networking and job search assistance to create a female-dominated talent pool for Tunisian IT companies.

Research Category

Equilo (United States)

Online platform that automates the delivery of customized gender equality and social inclusion (GESI) analysis to empower decision makers with critical information.

The Feminist Data: Exploring the Use of Data by Feminist Movements in Africa Project (Uganda)

Explores the collection, sharing and use of data in creating social impact in communities, specifically focusing on African feminist movements working towards social justice.

Institute of Public Administration (Saudi Arabia)

Research study on the design of the qualitative inclusion, equal opportunities, and participatory work environment index in digital government agencies in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Difusión de imagen íntima no consentida en Paraguay (Paraguay)

Research into legal responses to victims of digital gender violence such as non-consensual dissemination of intimate images through mobile devices and the internet.

Scenario co-creation cards: A culturally sensitive tool for soliciting values (Saudi Arabia)

Taif University project demonstrating how values have pervasive impact on human behavior through a case study of Saudi women’s visibility in digital media.

Selection of Winners

The finalists in each category were selected by the EQUALS in Tech Award Advisory Group – comprising previous award winners, EQUALS coalition members and other experts – through an established evaluation process. One winner will be selected in each category and all winners will be announced on 9 December 2021 (see below for ceremony details).

To find out more about the awards, visit: www.equalsintech.org/awards

Awards Ceremony

The 2021 EQUALS in Tech Award winners will be announced at a *VIRTUAL* ceremony on 9 December 2021, during the Internet Governance Forum (IGF 2021). We welcome your attendance at the ceremony, which is free and open to registration now via the IGF website.

Registration instructions

To register for the event, you will first need to log into the IGF 2021 site (if you are a member or have an existing profile), or alternatively sign up if you have not done so before. As a registered attendee, you will get information by email on how to access the various sessions of the event.

The EQUALS in Tech Awards are scheduled to take place on 9 December 2021, 15:35 – 16:35 CET

• Direct link for login/registration - https://www.intgovforum.org/en/content/igf-2021-registration

• IGF 2021 home page - https://www.intgovforum.org/en

We look forward to seeing you at the 2021 EQUALS in Tech Award ceremony! Please follow us on social media to learn more about the inspiring finalists.

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