TechWomen Fellows Fight to Save U.S.-Backed STEM Exchange Program

Tens of thousands of technical women aspire to apply to this program, but as of Friday, it might be gone forever.

On March 14th, 2025, thousands of women in tech received a devastating email. An international exchange program tens of thousands of women in STEM have aspired to join looked like it was the latest casualty of what is happening in DC. But then something unexpected happened: working across continents and time zones, the women started fighting back.

TechWomen is the U.S. State Department-funded flagship technical exchange program for women in STEM in the Middle East, Africa, Central, and South Asia. Its dedicated and hardworking Executive Director, who had worked on this program for 6 years and under 3 U.S. Presidencies, wrote thousands of past and potential program participants last Friday to say that all of her staff had been furloughed that day and she didn’t know when their funding would resume and allow them to continue this life-changing public-private partnership.

TechWomen is not the only exchange program affected. Fulbright Scholars in the U.S. and outside of it have been stranded. Benjamin A. Gilman Scholars haven’t received the awards they won through a long and highly competitive process. Highly-trained, dedicated, and often underpaid employees of the 100-year-old Institute of International Education (IIE) – the group that administers these programs  – aren’t sure when they will get their next paycheck or when they will be able to return to the citizen diplomacy-enabling work they love.

For those who are unfamiliar with highly competitive international tech exchange programs, here are 3 key facts about TechWomen:

• Tens of thousands of women in STEM from 23 program countries have applied to TechWomen in the past 15 years.
• Only the top 5% get in: Fellows who have completed the program include brilliant computer scientists, start-up founders, cancer researchers, climate scientists, and the Chief Scientific Officer Nigerian Space Agency, amongst many others.
• 24 countries in a global network: This program supports hundreds of volunteer mentors in the U.S. and pairs them with incredible Algerians, Cameroonians, Egyptians, Jordanians, Kazakhs, Kenyan, Kyrgyz, Lebanese, Libyans, Morocans, Nigerian, Pakistanis, Palestinians, Rwandans, Sierra Leonians, South Africans, Tajikis, Tunisians, Turkmen women, Uzbeks, Yemenis, and Zimbabweans. TechWomen was in the middle of recruiting the first cohort from Albania for the fall 2025 cohort.

The March 14th email came as dozens of volunteer mentors in Silicon Valley and Chicago were elbows deep in reviewing thousands of applications for the fall 2025 cohort. On Friday, this year’s applicants also received a devastating email:

IIE is suspending indefinitely the 2025 TechWomen selection process. No further action will be taken with your application at this time. Please understand that the IIE team will not be able to respond to any questions during this period. If the situation changes and the process can restart, IIE will inform all applicants and provide an updated timeline for your application.

The situation can change, because the U.S. Congress chose to fund these valuable programs in the first place. We know Congress can save TechWomen — and all our vital exchange programs. The Senate Committee on Foreign Relations is the key, as these Senators can ask the State Department to restore funding.

Get ready for a long list of who has the power to help save TechWomen: It is chaired by Congressman James E. Risch (ID), with Pete Ricketts (NE), Dave McCormick (PA), Steve Daines (MT), Bill Hagerty (TN), John Barrasso (WY), Mike Lee (UT), Rand Paul (KY), Ted Cruz (TX), Rick Scott (FL), John Curtis (UT), and John Cornyn (TX) in the majority, and Senators Jeanne Shaheen (NH), Chris Coons (DE), Chris Murphy (CT), Tim Kaine (VA), Jeff Merkley (OR), Cory Booker (NJ), Brian Schatz (HI), Chris Van Hollen (MD), Tammy Duckworth (IL), and Jacky Rosen (NV) in the minority.

Did you see your state above? Your Mom’s? Best friend’s? If so, that is someone who can – and we would argue should – call their Senator and tell them about TechWomen. If you do, you won’t be alone.. Since the March 14th email was sent out, TechWomen Fellows and mentors have:

• Arranged meetings with Congressional offices.
• Submitted letters to local newspapers, calling on Congress to act to restore funding.
• Drafted op-eds and letters to U.S. Ambassadors.
• Designed technical infrastructure to ensure they can stay connected.
• Strategized about alternative funding and organizational models to bridge the gap for months or years.
• Held in-person planning meetings to vent, mourn — and organize.

These women are from all around the world, have seen each other through wars and famines, babies and divorces, PhDs and refugee evacuations. They have laughed, smiled, cheered, and danced together.

When it comes to the program that brought them together? You can bet they will fight for it side by side. Stand alongside them by reaching out to your representative or the U.S. ambassador in your country and asking for them to restore this vital program’s funding. Thank you.

About the Authors

Moustapha Binta completed the TechWomen program in 2014 and works in Niger and Nigeria on the circular economy, tech diplomacy, civic and public affairs, sustainable development, climate action projects, and digital skills programs for young people and women in tech.

Jessica Dickinson Goodman is a longtime TechWomen mentor, past Board President of the Internet Society: San Francisco Bay Area Chapter, and aspiring diplomat.

Kathy Giori is a longtime TechWomen mentor, CEO of Tricyrcle Corp., and head of Global Partnerships and Outreach for MicroBlocks.fun.