African Gifted Foundation, Xcalibur Smart Mapping and Xcalibur Foundation together to promote female leadership in STEM in Africa

• Xcalibur Smart Mapping and Xcalibur Foundation kick off their first project in the female STEM field alongside African Gifted Foundation this Wednesday 14th of February.

• The primary objective of the HERoSTEM project is to contribute to the development of future female leaders in STEM through tailored mentorship and informational sessions for African Science Academy (ASA) students in Ghana, facilitating their integration into the professional world.

• The pilot project will initially last for one year, with the understanding that the programme will continue if the results are satisfactory.

• Xcalibur Smart Mapping contributes by offering mentorship and speaking sessions conducted by its employees to ASA alumni and current students of the institution starting. African Gifted Foundation (AGF), Xcalibur Smart Mapping (XSM), and Xcalibur Foundation (XF) are launching the HERoSTEM project on February 14th, aimed at promoting female leadership in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) in Africa.

The objective of this collaboration is to contribute to the development of female leaders in STEM through mentorship for students and alumni of the African Science Academy (ASA) in Ghana and guest speaking sessions tailored to their academic training, thus facilitating their integration into the professional world.

The pilot project is scheduled to run for one year, with the option for renewal. In its first stage, ASA students and alumni, selected for their high performance in various STEM areas, will receive profesional guidance from experts in different fields, including the most common technical profiles in XSM, such as geologists, geophysicists, etc.

Xcalibur Smart Mapping volunteers will be responsible for this mentoring programme providing support and necessary tools for the personal and professional development of ASA students and alumni. Additionally, the students will benefit from speaking sessions held by XSM professionals from different areas of expertise.

Following the agreement signing, Laura Blanco, XSM’s ESG Director, emphasized the project’s significance as a major step in Xcalibur’s CSR strategy, aligned with the Group’s global ESG agenda.

This initiative aims to promote gender equality and empower women by fostering their involvement and leadership in pivotal STEM domains. ‘We have great experts in our team in GIS, geophysics etc and we are excited about how our team has embraced this intercultural synergy’ added the ESG Director.

Xcalibur Foundation, will play a coordinating role between Xcalibur Smart Mapping and African Gifted Foundation, ensuring project management methodology, goal definition, project planning, monitoring, and impact measurement.

María José Toro, President of XF, emphasized the significance of the HERoSTEM programme in promoting gender equality in Africa. ‘Our main mission is to enhance the emotional and physical well-being of vulnerable communities through continuous education.

We are immensely proud to take a step further by fostering the training and development of women in the STEM field. The girls participating in this programme will represent the future of science on the African continent’.

African Gifted Foundation will be responsible for defining areas of collaboration between XSM and XF and informing them about the training curriculum and the schedule of defined activities. Yasameen Al-jboury, Executive Director of AGF, commented ‘We are excited to partner with Xcalibur Smart Mapping and Xcalibur Foundation on this transformative project.

The HERoSTEM initiative aligns perfectly with our mission to unlock the potential of Africa’s young women, empowering them to become leaders who will shape the future of STEM on the continent. Together, we will advance gender equality in STEM fields, inspiring a new generation of female scientists, technologists, engineers, and mathematicians’.

In conclusion, HERoSTEM project is an educational initiative and a movement towards creating a more inclusive, equitable, and prosperous future for all.