Trailblazing Mongolian Tech Entrepreneur Overcomes Adversity to Empower Girls

SheVentures

Imagine being the youngest female member of the Mongolian government and the country’s first female state secretary of digital development.

For Bolor-Erdene Battsengel, these are not mere titles. She crafted, implemented, and executed a plan to transform Mongolia into a “digital nation” by leading the E-Mongolia Project, ensuring internet access across the country. Before her plan, the nation faced challenges in digital inclusion. Today, she estimates 80 percent of Mongolian adults have internet access.

When Battsengel left her government position due to alleged cyberbullying, she continued her focus as a social entrepreneur in technology. She pivoted to create a program, Girls Code, that teaches coding skills to girls from disadvantaged, rural communities in Mongolia. Battsengel, raised in a rural community herself, worked at both the World Bank and the United Nations, and received an MBA as well as a master’s in public policy from Oxford. She was named a Next Generation Leader by Time magazine and a Forbes 30 Under 30 in Asia.

Listen to Battsengel describe her journey as a child from a rural village in Mongolia to becoming an advocate of social entrepreneurship on this episode of SheVentures.

Highlights:

• Battsengel describes how her childhood in a small town in Mongolia influenced her to become a passionate advocate for digital access.
• A self-described nerd, Battsengel remembers finishing high school at 14 and being the youngest person in the room for most of her professional life.
• How Battsengel transitioned to Oxford where she earned her master’s in public policy
• The World Bank and the United Nations both taught Battsengel how to implement programs to address a social need. She shares why she thinks so many programs fail due to a lack of cultural understanding.
• How the pandemic was used to promote E-Mongolia, a platform that offers more than 1,300 services to its citizens on its platform
• Gender perception in Mongolia and the challenges faced by women and girls who hold managerial or executive roles
• Battsengel discusses her experiences with age and gender discrimination in politics and the tech industry as well as the cyberbullying she faced as a result of her political activism.
• Why creating a culture of equality and collaboration to support women in leadership is her mandate
• Battsengel discusses the admissions process for GirlsCode, a free program, which is highly competitive and involves four exams and four interviews with the girls, their parents, and their teachers.
• Expansion plans: Battsengel hopes to expand the GirlsCode initiative to other countries; how international sponsors can help make a bigger impact.
• Make a donation to GirlsCode at girlscode.mn