When Mona Karam landed in California, the young Egyptian civil engineer's professional goals added up to little more than a vague desire to get a master's degree in whatever the latest tech trend happens to be, she said.

Five weeks later, Karam is determined to help create an eco-friendly business culture on par with Silicon Valley's when she heads back home to Cairo. She calls her participation in the State Department's initiative for Middle Eastern and African women a "life-changing" experience that has given her the contacts and the inspiration to become a leader for change.

"That's the thing: Now I have a goal, and I have an objective," the 28-year-old told Al-Monitor. "We'll see how I do."

Karam's comments represent exactly the sort of youthful optimism then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton hoped to inspire when she announced the TechWomen project as part of President Barack Obama's Presidential Summit on Entrepreneurship in 2010. The program, which helped empower 37 young female technology professionals from the Middle East when it started in 2011, grew to 78 participants this year, including several from sub-Saharan Africa, and a further expansion to Central Asia is planned for next year.