?? The first software engineer was a woman

???Welcome to episode 17 of The Upgrading Women Newsletter?

I’m your editor, Rebecca ?? Leppard , a feminist and communications nerd who has way too many business ideas and actually did some of them: from selling homemade almond milk to running a Montessori-inspired play group.

And because of that I have empathy and admiration to women who hustle. I’m so happy that entrepreneurship has become a popular that there’s no more shame in selling cupcakes as a side business to your 9 to 5 job.

I used to resell synthetic eyelashes while maintaining my cushy corner-office job and people were confused about that. “Your 6-figure salary is not enough, Rebecca?”

No, true entrepreneurship is rarely about the money. It’s mainly about: solving problems and supporting the ecosystem.

That’s why I am shamelessly plugging my new business, which is still in beta mode: Girl Brand, and I’m inviting you, my inner circle, to join as testers next Thursday, 5 October at 9am to 11am British Summer Time, GRATIS!

It’s a two-hour immersive co-working session:

?? You’ll learn empathy mapping and design principles ?

?? You’ll decide your brand voice, look and content pillars ?

?? You’ll walk away with weeks worth of your content sorted

Just dm me Rebecca ?? Leppard and I’ll send you the invite.

Keep it simple and now scroll on this episode, ladies.

??? What happened recently:

Tennessee elected its first transgender woman

Taylor Swift’s home state listened to her message to go and vote. A couple of weeks later Nashville elected Olivia Hill into Metro Council.

British Vogue appointed its first Black female editor

BBC reported fashion journalist and podcaster Chioma Nnadi has been named as the new head of editorial content at British Vogue. She will become the first black female head of the industry-leading fashion title, which also has outlets in the US, France and Italy.

Maya Turner became the first female to play in U Sport’s regular season of football

Maya Turner became the first-ever female player to play — and score — in a University Sports American football game in Canada. The University of Manitoba Bisons player also kicked the game-winning field goal in double overtime.

?? Update from around the world:

Bhutan increased its snow leopard numbers by nearly 40%

National Snow Leopard Survey 2022-2023 reported the presence of 134 snow leopards. This represents a 39.5% increase from the Bhutan’s first survey in 2016. Other key observations from the survey were the evidence of habitat overlap between snow leopards and other large carnivores like tiger and common leopard, plus the recording of a new deer species to Bhutan, the White-lipped deer/Thorold's deer. This report gave me a sense of hope.

Somalia’s all-female newsroom is making waves

Launched in 2022, Somali Women Journalist Organisation is going strong. Led by one of the few female senior news producers in the country, the team of six will produce content for TV, radio and online media on issues such as gender-based violence, women in politics and female entrepreneurs.

We want to cover these issues and challenge societal beliefs that women should stay at home ~ Nasrin Mohamed Ibrahim

They are now training more journalists all over the country from Mahas to Mogadishu. This training was designed for media practitioners in covering traumatic incidents and how to cope with the long-term impact of such reporting. It has been the first of its kind to raise journalists’ awareness of the complexity of survivors' trauma experiences, the impact on themselves as reporters and their audience.

This tweet by Sara Wahedi