So this book was produced by Inter-American Network of Academies of Sciences and represents the Academies of Sciences of all of the Americas, from Canada all the way down to Chile, including the Caribbean. This publication was produced in the hope that the careers profiled will encourage more young women to consider a career in science.

Some may feel that it is an impossible dream, that the obstacles are too overwhelming and that too much must be sacrificed to achieve a career in science. But consider the stories of the bright and vital women profiled here. They have blazed a path that you too can follow. The ultimate reward is a rich and fulfilling life.

The qualities and experiences of the women profiled in this book, represent the spirit of science and they summarize our hopes for the future. But women are still seriously underrepresented in science careers and society is failing to realize the full potential of our greatest resource – human talent and the creativity of women and men.

Download the IANAS book-Young-Women-Scientists – A Bright Future for the Americas

Lisa Ring,
Director – Global Recruitment
THNK School of Creative Leadership,
Amsterdam, Netherlands

“How can THNK help you change the world?” is the first question that we ask every creative leader we connect with. Our mission is to address the world’s most pressing and inspiring societal challenges by accelerating the development of the next generation of creative leaders and their ventures.

As a result, the THNK School of Creative Leadership has forged a new category in global business education by becoming a C-school. Where a B-school focuses on management, our training is centered on innovation leadership. Where a D-school focuses on product design, our training is centered on business design. As a C-school, we allow our students to explore topics such as innovation strategy, business design thinking, leadership development, entrepreneurship and the triple bottom line.

The THNK School of Creative Leadership has grown to more than 300 people since 2010. Our community is defined by its diversity, and although every THNK journey is unique, every member of THNK’s alumni have passed through our Creative Leadership Program, our flagship part-time 6 month course.

During four 8-10 day modules, participants are fully immersed in the THNK methodology, whether that is around the city, in the wilderness or on campus at our homes specially designed for experiential learning.

The Creative Leadership Program is made up of 4 elements:

At THNK, our classes bring together participants from across the globe, people from very different backgrounds. We consciously bring together leaders from big business, entrepreneurship, social entrepreneurship, government and public sector, participants are given unique exposure to a range of new perspectives and ideas.
THNK focuses on accelerating the next generation of creative leaders. Our guiding principles shape how we think about learning. For example, we believe learning should be short on theory and long on experience; learning should be fun yet at the same time challenging; and learning should always be linked to topics that are relevant and real for the learner.

While these guiding principles are deep in the DNA of how we engaged all participants at THNK, during our 18-month, part-time Executive Program, we support our participants to build their creative leadership skills through four program elements:

Challenge: The Challenge is the next generation of the business school staple, the business case. In the Challenge, an external sponsor brings in a topic of large societal relevance (such as food or mobility or education), which our participants explore using THNK’s innovation toolkit. Our toolkit is derived from a number of disciplines including design thinking, critical thinking and systems thinking.

Quest: In the Quest, participants explore the personal leadership dimensions of creativity and innovation. They learn to tap into their passion and purpose while maintaining an explorative mindset. They learn to envision what a better future could look like, orchestrate creative teams and drive their vision to break-through impact.

Forum: The Forum is a lecture reinvented. During the Forum, a global creative leader spends an evening engaging our
participants in a dialogue of co-creation, sparking inspiration and new insights.
Accelerator: The Accelerator is the participant’s own project that is designed to change the world. Participants use all the things they have learned during the THNK journey to launch their Accelerator.
Since the first Creative Leadership Program in 2012, THNK has grown globally and is now offering the same program in Amsterdam, Vancouver and Lisbon. The ever-growing global popularity of THNK directly results from the inspiring societal impact that previous participants are now making around the world.

Creative leaders across the globe that serves as a role model

Elon Musk for his uncompromisingly, challenging vision for the future; Steve Jobs for his ability to articulate the needs of consumers before they were able to articulate them themselves and his relentless strive for perfection; Richard Branson for his burning entrepreneurial drive; Muhammad Yunus for his brilliance in scaling a small concept into something with large societal impact.

Testimonials of leaders that have been featured in this program

Participants such as Jacob Ellenberg, Osher Gunsberg, Rym Baouendi, Wempy Dycota Koto share their experience in THNK as fulfilling, genuine, an incredible methodology to manifest business plans, spiritual by design, transformative experience, endless journey – a drive to contribute to the world, and provides functional knowledge.
Upcoming programs in 2016 therefore have limited spaces left, but we encourage all potential participants to make contact and allow us to ask the question: “How can THNK help you change the world?”

Profile: Lisa Ring
Lisa currently leads the global recruitment function on behalf of THNK Amsterdam which she considers a privilege. Passionate about discovering, engaging and developing top talent, Lisa is truly inspired to be cultivating the next breed of creative leaders on a daily basis for THNK.

Lisa has over a decade of experience working across sectors and industries, having the bulk of her experience within the education sector as Director of Recruitment & Marketing for Hult International Business School where she helped to scale-up a rapidly growing program in Asia Pacific.

She also spent time working within the Human Resources sector with organizations such as The Adidas Group and Philips International LTD.

Lisa is passionate about non-profit international work and spent a year working with HIV/AIDS orphaned children in South Africa and continues to stay active in this sector.

THNK Leadership Training

Profile: Lisa Ring
Lisa currently leads the global recruitment function on behalf of THNK Amsterdam which she considers a privilege. Passionate about discovering, engaging and developing top talent, Lisa is truly inspired to be cultivating the next breed of creative leaders on a daily basis for THNK.
Lisa has over a decade of experience working across sectors and industries, having the bulk of her experience within the education sector as Director of Recruitment & Marketing for Hult International Business School where she helped to scale-up a rapidly growing program in Asia Pacific.
She also spent time working within the Human Resources sector with organizations such as The Adidas Group and Philips International LTD.
Lisa is passionate about non-profit international work and spent a year working with HIV/AIDS orphaned children in South Africa and continues to stay active in this sector.

Founder of the Sasol Solar Challenge, Winstone Jordaan, had the idea of building an electric car in 2003. After visiting the World Solar Challenge in 2005 he realized that people in South Africa did not possess basic knowledge about electric cars. He was impressed by the 1400 skilled students from all over the world in Australia, and could only imagine how much knowledge South Africa would be able to gain when hosting a solar challenge as well. This knowledge will result in accomplishing the ultimate goal; an improved future for South Africa.

1.1 Goal and Objectives
Our eco-efficiency challenge allows teams from around the world to come together in South Africa to participate and demonstrate the sophistication and performance of solar-powered vehicles. The Purpose of the event is to promote research into sustainable transport, showcase technologies and present a platform for participants and the public to engage. The underlining goal of the solar challenge is to increase the number of people in South Africa that are interested in the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) subjects. These subjects are crucial to get the country to a higher level.

1.2 Organizing the Sasol Solar Challenge has resulted in giving South Africa a platform where they can exercise the skills in building cars locally. This in turn has resulted in an increased level of knowledge & curiosity in the industry about electric motors, its battery systems, vehicle aerodynamics and more. Secondly, solar cars show the public, what solar panels can do. When people will see solar panels driving a car, it creates a positive sentiment, building trust in its ability. Trusting this technology, will also make electric vehicles more acceptable in the community. Finally, the Sasol Solar Challenge motivates students to fresh thinking, a creative approach, and flexible solution.

1.3 History:
Fortunately, we managed to run the first South African Solar Challenge in 2008. Tokai was one of the teams competing in South Africa. Back then they competed with an eleven year-old car they built, with which they were able to win the race. The Japanese team leveraged massively from the victory in South Africa. It enabled them to receive sponsorships and build a new car to compete with in the World Solar Challenge in 2009, and ultimately win the Australian race.

The second edition of the solar challenge in 2010, included a 4 100 km route and five teams competing. The focus of this race was on recognition, compliance and alignment with the FIA. The aim of the 2012 event was to get more local teams participating, especially universities. A total of twelve teams competed in the third edition of the South African Solar Challenge.

In 2014, we raised the level of the event to an international standard. The World Solar Challenge Winners, NUNA from the Netherlands, joined us for an amazing event. The event started in Pretoria and finished the one way route in Cape Town.

In 2014, we launched an educational program, that entailed an educational kit which explained how solar powered vehicles work and material that enabled kids to build their own solar car. For the 2014 Solar Challenge more than 600 schools were engaged which makes it more than 350,000 scholars in total.

1.4 The Sasol Solar Challenge, South Africa, occurs on public roads with normal traffic. It is therefore essential that teams comply with the road rules and any conditions imposed by the road traffic authorities. The solar challenge will start in Pretoria on September 24th and ends eight days later in Cape Town going through Kroonstad, Bloemfontein, Gariep Dam, Graaff-Reinet, Port Elizabeth, Sedgefield and Swellendam. The main route will span approximately 2000km through the country, covering an average distance of 260km a day.

1.5 All correspondence regarding the Sasol Solar Challenge can be forwarded to: Annalie van Vuuren (Project/Event Manager) E-mail: annalie@solarchallenge.org.za Mobile: +27 71 687 0047 OR Winstone Jordaan (Race Director) E-mail: winstone@solarchallenge.org.za Mobile: +27 83 284 7747