In this episode, four women from the Middle East, Africa, Latin America and North America talk about how they beat the odds to work with technology -- and why it's so important for women to aim for these positions and bring new perspectives into the world of tech.

This season of The Backstory is produced in partnership with WAN-IFRA's Women in News programme, a ground-breaking effort to promote gender equality throughout the news industry.

In this episode:

• Mariana Santos, founder, Chicas Poderosas, training women in digital media and leadership skills across Latin America
• Catherine Gicheru, ICFJ Knight Fellow, Co-founder @PesaCheck, Founding editor @TheStarKenya*
• Chayma Mehdi, head of the Innovation Lab, Inkyfada, Tunis, Tunisia
• Sonali Verma, senior product manager of analytics, Globe and Mail, Toronto, Canada

* At the time of interview, Catherine was senior programme manager at Code for Africa

For resources and tips visit WAN-IFRA's press freedom page and the Women in News page.

The Backstory production team is Andrew Heslop, Mariona Sanz, Colette
Davidson and Sarah Elzas, who mixed the episode.

Music in this episode: Gaia by Soularflair.