ISSUE NO. 16
FEMALE TECH LEADERS
BLACK HISTORY TECHBBQ AND MONTH SAMSUNG PIONEERS MEET 25 THE STATE OF SUPERSTARS WOMEN IN TECH GLOBAL RANKINGS: THE TOP 10 FEMALE FOUNDERS
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WELCOME LADIES! by
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We are living different times... But we need to carry on...and we decided to launch in Brazil! Brazil is my place of birth and we are super excited to be from now a bilingual community: English and Portuguese! Estamos celebrando as nossas convidadas wue aceitaram o nosso desafio. E assim, iniciamos mais uma etapa na jornada da Female Tech Leaders. Stay safe! Candyce Costa Founder and Disruptor
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INTERVIEWS
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ABIGAIL GERONIMO ASTHA BAJPAI ELIZABETH TWEEDALE EVA DIAZ KATE BAUCHEREL KRISTINA MARIA BRANDSTETTER LEONOR FURTADO MONICA SINGER SRIPARNA CHAKRABORTY
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ARTICLES WHY KNOWING YOURSELF IS THE FIRST STEP TO BECOMING AN INCLUSIVE LEADER WHERE IS THE ACCOUNTABILITY FOR AI ETHICS GATEKEEPERS? HOW TO LET GO OF A FAILED BUSINESS BUT NOT ON ENTREPRENEURSHIP GLOBAL RANKINGS: THE TOP 10 FEMALE FOUNDERS A FUTURE OF WORK – DECENTRALISED THE STATE OF WOMEN IN TECH 2020 TECH BBQ DIGITAL 2020 BLACK HISTORY MONTH 2020 MEET 25 SUPERSTARS SAMSUNG PIONEERS
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INTERVIEW
ABIGAIL GERONIMO Data Market Bolivia, Bicicleta and Ecoss Market , Founder-CEO
Tell us about you and your career, Abigail! Three years ago I had an undertaking that failed, but it was the reason for launching another e-learning thanks to the studies I have been doing as Data Sciences, and just as I began to model the business model called Data Market Bolivia, I have 10 years of experience in leadership thanks to volunteer organizations and that's how I founded Ecoss Market where it serves children from 9 to 14 years of age in teaching and entrepreneurship. In 2019 I climbed mountains and saw the importance of conserving nature and that is how I founded Bicycle, where it supports entrepreneurs of environmentally friendly products and services commercially through a platform. Did you always know that working in technology was what you wanted to do and how did you decide to go into it? I studied Data Science and I saw the importance to study more technology that´s why I study Ing. System is my second career. Because I saw the good practice in my business to growing process and innovate process. Do you notice a lack of women in technology? If so, why do you think that’s the case? Yes, because in my career lack women, there are more men, so I saw a litle participation and interest to study technology because the machismo exist in my country, in the job so women they feel intimate Who are your role models for women in tech? Julissa Abad Mateo and Sonia Torres.
ABIGAIL GERONIMO Have you ever been in a situation where you have felt discouraged to pursue your dreams as a woman? How did you handle it? Yes, because I hear to say "That woman can not get the achievement" because the technology is for only men, so it situation was so sad for me.But I got encourage to get my dreams and I believe in me and inspire others women. What advice would you give to a woman considering a career in your industry or what you wish to know before starting your career/business? Believe yourself to get do it, the optimist woman is so power to start any dreams, and be yourself with creativity from you. What do you think companies can do to encourage more women to choose careers in tech and rectify the imbalance? Have good employee with values to motivate to train to woman, like a requeriment the training continue inside the business. In your opinion, what workplace/business?
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The machismo, and does not exist many space work to development the skills to woman. How do you find inspiration in your life? With my story, saw many girls a little opportunities to study technology because the people believe the woman is located only to cook. But mi inspiration is demostrate the wonderfull capacity from woman inside business, career about technology, many thing. To what do you attribute your success? Motivate other woman from different skills.
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MAKE EVERY MINUTE COUNT THE REASON FOR YOUR EXISTENCE FAVORITE QUOTE ABIGAIL GERONIMO
ASTHA BAJPAI Project Lead
Tell us about you and your career, Astha. An innovative and creative thinker, who craves a challenge and who is not afraid to work outside her comfort zone. Being a technology enthusiast I build up rapport easily, open up clients, find out exactly what they need, and then present them with a wide range of services and solutions. Being an immigrant woman is not easy, when you leave your country, you leave your culture, your language, your family, all the things that are important to you, your possessions. But the biggest thing you bring is hope and courage. I’m trying to help many other women in technology who dream to be in the tech world at par with men by offering information about prospects for professional development that offer diverse trails for growth, including workshops and training sessions. Did you always know that working in technology was what you wanted to do and how did you decided? Being a woman of color, an immigrant and project lead in technology was not an easy walk, it took 10 years to clearly put my opinion and help in change enablement even though my journey wasn't easy but I learned how to excel and help new folks coming in the industry. I was always fascinated by technology, in my first coding class I was surrounded with a boys club and some made me feel engineering and technology is not for women, I took it as a challenge and excelled, I also helped new women in industry to overcome their fear and bring change and help stakeholders. What advice would you give to a woman considering a career in your industry or what you wish to know before starting your career/business? Having a career in technology is not a bed of roses, it's not as easy as any fellow male coworker, but at the end with determination you still can shine and try to fulfill your dreams. The world always remind us why we can't be in technology, and in leadership role, but we have to outshine.
ASTHA BAJPAI Do you notice a lack of women in technology? If so, why do you think that’s the case?
Who are your role models for women in tech?
Of course, women is technology are less, and the one who are in technology struggle to be in leadership roles. The discrimination starts from childhood as a kid, girls are expected to learn baking and playing with Barbie but not doing coding or science experiment. I'm an air force brat and luckily my father encouraged me to participate in science and math Olympiads and I was lucky to get many scholarships throughout my education. I always excelled in math, science and technology and it was like intimidating for a lot of boys in my class.
Founder: Sheryl Sandberg, Reshma Saujani
When you go to a technology school again you face it from professors to fellow batch mates, I use to think the discrimination will end once I join the work and start being on my own feet, but alas it's not the case .One of the painful realities of being a female leader or technology professional is walking into a business meeting and realizing that you’re one of the few women (if not the only woman) in the room among your male counterparts. The stress of being the only one can be overwhelming. Have you ever been in a situation where you have felt discouraged to pursue your dreams as a woman? How did you handle it? In the business world, women leaders and technology enthusiasts are still a minority. Men outpace women in leadership roles across every sector in the world: corporate, nonprofit, government, education, and medicine, military. None of the dreams can be achieved alone had a dream to pursue technology and engineering and it was a difficult thing. While being in engineering college I wanted to participate in a technology fair and we had to submit proposals as a team. It's tough to build a support network in a “boys club” world, it was difficult to be in their team. I thought of giving up but I felt I'm accepting defeat without even fighting, so I participated on my own with no team and no “Boys club “on my side, surprisingly the panel liked my proposal and gave me the scholarship. It was something that made me believe that no matter how the world reacts and wants to pull you down you still have the power to work on your own.
What do you think companies can do to encourage more women to choose careers in tech and rectify the imbalance? Equal opportunity for projects like men,equal leadership roles, encourage to have support groups and also teach fellow co-workers to respect each other's thoughts and ideas. In your opinion, what is the biggest obstacle for women to succeed in the workplace/business? There are a lot of obstacles, the prevalent challenge women face today is gathering support from other women. I feel women worldwide need to support and empower each other, we must be just proud, show togetherness, passion, brilliance and enthusiasm for our progress through our work. To support that I’m trying to help women and little girls that have a dream to succeed in technology, by providing them mentorship and guidance. How do you find inspiration in your life? Reading and listening about women in leadership roles inspire me. Also as a mentor when I listen to a lot of immigrant women stories and their passion to succeed in spite of hardships inspire me. To what do you attribute your success? Do what you love and be fearless, Fear of the unknown is our biggest enemy and doesn't let us take big steps and be comfortable in our zone, also surrounding yourself with people who believe in you and your dreams, I met a lot of positive people who encouraged my ideas, supported my ambitions and bring out the best in me.
IF NONVIOLENCE IS THE LAW OF OUR BEING, THE FUTURE IS WITH WOMEN FAVORITE QUOTE BY GANDI ASTHA BAJPAI
ELIZABETH TWEEDALE CEO and founder of Cypher
Tell us about you, Elizabeth! At University I bridged two worlds - one foot in the computer coding society and the other in the cheerleading society. Within my career I worked as a consultant to architecture practices, including working on the coding for part of Apple’s HQ in California. I set up Cypher in 2016, born from a belief that coding is the language of the future and to encourage both boys and girls to approach tech with equal amounts of enthusiasm, helping to create a more diverse workforce of the future. A day in your business life! At the moment, as I’m sure many other businesses will relate to, the pandemic has definitely changed how we work. So, I said goodbye to the commute and prepared to run a business from home, as well as homeschooling three kids and looking after a large dog. Over the summer it was a bit of an adjustment period as the schools were shut, however I’m no stranger to juggling family life and running a company so it just took a bit of time to adapt to. As Cypher’s CEO and founder, my role is very diverse. We are a smaller company with around 15 employees, so no two days are the same, which makes my job really exciting. For the most part, I lead the strategic direction of the company, evolving our brand, sales function, technology department and recruitment. Currently, I am also heavily involved in raising capital for our next funding round, which is due to take place shortly.
What would be your message to women trying to get into technology? To any future female tech entrepreneur, I encourage you to not do it like a man, instead play to your own strengths. In this day and age people like to say men and women can all be equal and are all the same. Yes we are equal, but we are not the same. All genders have unique qualities and different ways of thinking that are helpful in business. I feel passionate about celebrating these differences, and genuinely believe that the technology industry is stronger when all genders work together. You should always be confident in your abilities, but also you should appreciate that technology is constantly evolving and changing and it’s ok to not know all the answers - no one does. What’s important is to be confident in your skills to find out what the answer is.
ELIZABETH TWEEDALE Technology is a male-dominated field. Tell us about your experience in the tech sector. For any female entrepreneur, especially one in tech, there's always obstacles to overcome. From gender bias and not being taken seriously to a lack of other female role models/coworkers and male-dominated boards are just some of the challenges women face in the workplace. Personally, one of the biggest challenges I have seen as a woman in the tech industry comes from raising investment. In the past when I was raising investment for GoSpace AI, I was overlooked by investors and/or potential partners because of my gender. People don’t give you the credit you are due, more often than not, people see you as a female first, coder second. Instead they should be seeing you as an entrepreneur or coder first, female second. On multiple occasions I would go to meetings with my (male) co-founder and I would be mistaken for a secretary. After a while I decided I’d had enough, and wanted to do something to make a change, which is when I set up Cypher. Having said this, we must avoid tokenism, embrace diversity across the board and spotlight all the great things that people achieve regardless of their gender. Do you think there is a diversity issue in the tech sector? Do you notice a lack of women in technology? Has it affected you in any way? I think when it comes to a career in tech, people automatically revert to the “male geek” stereotype. This kind of automatic thinking is incredibly damaging and closes the door to young girls, who are interested in tech. With recent stats from a Tech Nation report showing that only 19% of the tech workforce are women, I think it’s clear there’s still an issue within the tech industry and a long way to go before we can reach a point where tech is no longer viewed as a male profession. There are still so many barriers preventing women in tech succeeding and overcoming stereotypes. Among a lack of role models and still such a small percentage or women leading the way in tech companies, we have to deal with the perception that having a family limits your ability to perform in the tech industry, especially at a higher level. Shortly after Cypher was launched, I gave birth to my third child, Rose. Being a working mother and pregnant, especially as a founder, would always be a daunting prospect but I was lucky in that I had the support of my investors who had already worked with me on previous ventures and knew how capable I was at juggling a family and running a successful business. Other women I’ve spoken to have definitely not been as lucky when they got pregnant after starting a business, with investors pushing back on them. It’s hardly a surprise why female entrepreneurs, especially those in tech, find it a challenging prospect to enter the tech industry or start their own business. To change this, we need to look at diversity within the industry, people need to start viewing tech as a job for both men and women. This is why at Cypher we are scaling up in the UK, so that we can reach more children from diverse backgrounds.
ELIZABETH TWEEDALE Do you think it is getting easier for women to get into Tech? The fact that there is a gender divide within the tech industry is becoming more widely acknowledged, which is fantastic because it means that companies are actually addressing it and trying to shift the balance to be more equal. Some companies have been engaging in programmes, from working with schools to encourage girls into tech to examining their hiring processes within the workplace and putting in anti-bias measures to ensure equal opportunities from the very beginning. These measures, however, aren’t universal and although there are some great companies paving the way to ensuring a gender-diverse tech workforce, there is still so much more to be done. There are certainly fewer barriers than 20 years ago, for example, but I don’t believe we will really see a great change in the industry until the young children we’re working with enter the workforce. This is why working with schools and children now is imperative - by changing attitudes and social preconceptions that computer science subjects are only for boys, we can influence how both men and women view tech in the future. The most important work we can do at the moment is broaden their minds to view tech as intrinsic to every aspect of their lives and future careers, whether that’s in fashion, engineering or sport. Are there any particular women in tech who have inspired you? My all-time hero and constant inspiration would have to be Ada Lovelace, known as the ‘first computer programmer’. At a time when it would have been highly unusual for women to be interested in mathematics, she defied conventions to follow her passions and vision for technology. Her nickname was given after her works and sketches for early computer programmes were published. Eventually, Ada Lovelace’s notes on the ‘Analytical Engine’ were then used as an important component in inspiring Alan Turing to create the first modern computers. I view her as the original woman in tech - she saw the potential and greater uses for the machine using extraordinary problem-solving skills. Using a female perspective, she saw the world differently and could envision potentially beyond what her male peers could see. She used the advantage she had from a female brain and perspective to advance and build on what was already there, showing that you don’t need to ‘think like a man’ or shouldn’t assume that computational thinking is a characteristically male trait. By both her progress and that of her male counterparts, technology could advance to what we know nowadays. What are some of the biggest challenges that women who want to venture in the world of technology face today? Technology today surrounds us in almost every aspect of our lives, integrating into professions that we wouldn’t typically consider to be in the technology sector. Women in these industries such as marketing, social media, HR, are already in roles that use the basic understanding of tech that you would see in a more ‘typical’ technology-facing role. There are more women in tech roles that we realise, who probably wouldn’t admit or realise that they belong to this group of people. There’s a mental barrier that’s been built up over years of a lack of gender diversity, acknowledging that perhaps they may be disadvantaged if they’re a woman in tech. If we help to break down this mental block and empower them to show them that they are already women working in tech and exist within this community, we are able to help them learn and grow within their roles and professions. By embracing their existence within the technology sector, they can expand on what they know, learn new skills and ways of thinking and will have a support network to help them achieve more within their profession.
ELIZABETH TWEEDALE What do you think companies can do to encourage more women to choose careers in tech and rectify the imbalance? There’s a lot of talk about increasing diversity in the technology industry, but we’re still far away from a world where there’s an equal split between male and female technologists. Organisations need to wake up to this problem and understand that both genders play an important role in technology, and until they do this we’re not going to see equality and diversity in this industry. I genuinely believe that the technology industry is stronger when both men and women work together. The only way to overcome this is to accept men and women’s differences, by playing to each other's strengths, which will ultimately help to encourage both genders to get involved and be inspired by tech. Companies need to start from the ground up, by getting into schools and inspiring girls into tech. The first step in getting girls interested in coding begins at a young age, you have to spark their imaginations with things that they are genuinely interested in. That's why at Cypher we incorporate different themes into our teaching such as fashion, food, animals, superheroes and so much more! Our aim is to show that coding isn’t just a “boys thing” but is for everyone, you’ve just got to find your niche. Once you’ve caught their attention and they begin to enjoy coding or tech it means they’ll be more likely to take higher education courses in computing and develop technology careers. Schools and teachers need to utilise technology in every subject to not only make learning more engaging and creative for students, but also encourage everyone to develop an interest in technology. What do you think we should be doing more to encourage more girls to consider a career in tech? There’s no magic wand that will bring change overnight, but as an industry we should absolutely be trying to adapt the way we teach children to show that a tech career isn’t just for boys who are into gaming at school, which is still the overbearing stereotype. To encourage girls into tech, we need to make it relatable to them, provide role models to show them that this career trajectory is not only possible, but also a great option for them. By showing women succeeding in this type of career and a constantly evolving sector, we can get girls excited about the prospect of being tomorrow’s female technologist. Computer sciences have been typically taught in a way that only appeals to a certain type of person, often boys and men. By changing our own approach to teaching computational thinking, everyone will feel more included. We need to be able to show that technology can appeal to children with interests in a range of subjects, from medicine, architecture and fitness through to fashion and marketing. At Cypher, we recognise that children, not just the ones already interested in tech, but also those who are into sports, arts and fashion among other hobbies, can all relate to real-world examples. Tech is within every aspect of our life and if you use the right examples, you can help kids find a connection. That’s why we use creative themes and examples they can identify with to engage kids and show them how to apply coding to topics and hobbies they’re passionate about. For example, we look at issues surrounding climate change and pollution, something that we’ve found their generation feels strongly about. We show them how drones can pick plastic out of the ocean, and then teach them to code their own drone to do the same.
DO YOUR BEST AND LET THEM SAY FAVOURITE QUOTE BY HER GRANDMOTHER ELIZABETH TWEEDALE
EVA DIAZ CEO STEM WOMEN CONGRESS.
Tell us about you and your career, Eva! SWC is a platform to introduce an standard system of KPIs to measure the impact that all the STEM WOMEN initiatives are achieving. If we can not measure the impact, how are we going to reach the goal to have more girls and women in the STEM sectors? We have develop the first board in Spain, answered by 43 initiatives that allow us to compare the impact with the total population of female in every age in Spain. We present the results in our Congress, an big event with workshops, talks and different panels. A day in your business life! I start my day checking my agenda. After, I take some time to read the news, specially the ones that are related to the gender or the new achivements in the STEM fields. I check my email and manage the most important things. After that I began with my meetings. The months before the SWC, we have weekly meetings to check if everything on the planning is happening and what we need to do to make it happen. What do you think we should be doing more to encourage more girls to consider a career in tech? Talking to girls and boys in the schoolar age, to show then that the STEM careers are the future. Also breaking sterotips, showing them the amazing tech women who are changing the world now. And also, showing them that the technology is the new driver to help people and to change the world, to make a difference, and to give our society a better place to live. We need to show the tecnology as social, as something real, closer to us, to don't be scare of.
EVA DIAZ Technology is a male-dominated field. Tell us about your experience in the tech sector. I start working in the Engineers Association in Catalonia. With more than 11.000 engineers. The female where a minority. Only a 19% of the students were girls. This percentage of female representatives in the board of the Engineers Association was inferior to this 19%. All were men, except 3 women. After 25 years of experience, I realize the percentage hasn't change too much. From 19% now we are on the 21%... a 2% in 25 years is not enough. Since 2014 I started my own pr & mk agency, specialized in the STEM sectors. I realized that there was a general problem, and it hasn't been evolving in a better way that 20 years ago, and in all the STEM sectors, women were underrepresented. It was the moment that I realized I have to do something about it. And we create the STEM WOMEN CONGRESS. After searching what was done in Spain to promote the presence of the women in the STEM sectors, we realized that there was quite a lot of initiatives that were working with this purpose, but nobody was having a big picture of all the work they do. And we decide to create the first standard system to evaluate the impact that all together are doing in our society to reach this same goal. Do you think there is a diversity issue in the tech sector? Do you notice a lack of women in technology? Has it affected you in any way? Of course. Nobody can doubt it. There is a lack of women in technology. The numbers are transparent. In the best ways, we achieved a 35%, but there are careers with less than a 8% of girls. I think the tech sector is intensive in knowledge, and this can be good for women. It's not a work of physical strength. As I work on marketing in communication for the STEM sectors, is the way this sectors are. Manly they are masculine, and they try to achieve a more equal communication but sometimes you need a bigger effort to make them understand that this word or this view can be percept as masculine and not inclusive. The other thing it comes to my mind, is when you enter in a room to defend a proposal and on the table there is only men. In the first seconds I feel a bit unconfortable. But, with time and experience, I got used to this situation,. But when I was younger, sometimes I feel that being young and a women, makes me less believable than other colleagues. I remember once when I presented a project with one of my workers. He was a boy. But even I was the CEO, the men on the meeting addressed their questions to him and not to me. As a women, you have to make a bigger effort to demonstrate that you are in control or in charge of this project. The good thing in the STEM sector, as is intensive in knowledge, is when you have their respect for you knowledge and experience, you don't have to demonstrate anymore.
Do you think it is getting easier for women to get into Tech?
EVA DIAZ
I think, little by little yes. But it will get some years to see the results. In the STEM WOMEN CONGRESS - ANNUAL REPPORT we could demostrate that the impacts of the initiatives are achieving only a 1% of the population of the girls. And the results of this impacts we will see it in 6 or 8 years. This has to be quicker and reach a major number of girls. Because the world will be more technological and if we don't promote the Tech careers between the girls, the women in the future will be relegated to the jobs with low salaries and less opportunities. The world is your oyster when you have a STEM degree, since demand for these hard skills is increasing globally. STEM employers also have a history of providing employees with perks and competitive pay in return for expertise. Who doesn't want this benefits for their daughters and the women in the future generations? Are there any particular women in tech who have inspired you? I can tell you that there are lots of women who has inspired me. Sometimes they are in the tech sectors, but sometimes they are not. My mum has not a tech career, but she is my closer referent for the women rights. She is a fighter. She always teach me the importance of being independent financially from a husband. "That gives you independence on whom do you want to love or live". In the technological sector there are lots of women that inspires me. Not only the most famous, but sometimes women who I had the pleasure to know during my career. I think we need more real tech women as role models. They are closer to us and can have a deeper impact in our careers. Mireia Furriols, from HP; NĂşria SalĂĄn, UPC; Judit PalmĂŠs, from Accenture; they are smart, kind, generous, and I'm grateful to have it in my professional network. What are some of the biggest challenges that women who want to venture in the world of technology face today? I think they have lots of opportunities. The world will be facing a lot of changes that we couldn't imagine yet. And I think the next generations with the tecnology can can do a better world for everyone. But we need to count with the diversity in the dessign of the products, in the fase of the brainstroming. If you don't count with the diversity of approachs, someone is going to feel that they don't fit. But one of the most important challenges, and not only for the women in tech, is to share the responsability of the maternity. I think men and women have to face the challenge of creating and raising a family as a challenge that affect us all. It's not an only women thing. It's about sharing responsability. it's a community challenge. The states, the companies, have to be involved in not penalize the woman for being mother. And this is a responsability of all the society. The ODS affects all the challenges that as world we are facing and we have to face in the next years. I think the technology have the chance to transform the future and our world, and make it a better place to live, more fair. And women has demonstrate a better capacity of empathy and this will give the tecnology a twist to work in the good direction.
EVA DIAZ What do you think companies can do to encourage more women to choose careers in tech and rectify the imbalance? Of course. The companies are the first interested in having women in their boards. The diversity makes more profit. Is a fact. Why then they will give up on this? No way. The companies are faster in acting than the public governments, they see the needs in the future, and they can work from now to get results in shorter time. I think companies has to work with diversity plans, with goals that can be achieved and this will rectify the imbalance. And what the facts demonstrate us, is when a company begins to work in the gender gap, this affects also to other drivers in the diversity as age, race, etc. And as I told before, there are some studies that demonstrate that companies with diversity have better profits than the ones who don't. What would be your message to women trying to get into technology? You can, and you know it. That is our message for all the women than are trying to get into technology. The lack of confidence is the main problem in women to choose a STEM career. It's not more difficult for you than a man. It's the same. You are not less smart than him. The studies demonstrate that the girls who study a STEM career have best perfomance during the career and have better job opportunities because they are less in this field, and the companies are willing to hire them.
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YOU CAN, AND YOU KNOW IT. DON'T LET THE FEAR STOP YOU. FAVORITE QUOTE EVA DIAZ
Laurie Wang ARTICLES
Why Knowing Yourself Is The First Step To Becoming An Inclusive Leader This article was written by Marissa Ellis and was originally published on the www.diversily.com blog as part of an Inclusive Leadership Series.
With the outbreak of COVID-19 many of us will have had time to think. Self-isolation is an opportunity for self-improvement. We have had time to reflect on who we are, how we lead and who we want to become. The uncertainly of the global pandemic has made many of us think deeply about where our priorities lie, what our purpose is and what impact we want to have on the world.
"Your job is not to live forever, but to create an impact that will.” Marissa Leadership is a skill. It’s a muscle that needs to be worked and trained. The command and control style of leadership is no longer effective in today’s increasingly diverse and complex world. Leaders need to build authentic connections. As a leader this requires exposing a little more of who you are. You’ll need to inspire and assemble diverse teams, as your success is not about having all of the answers yourself but in creating synergies in others. When people are treated as people, and not simply resources to get the job done, productivity soars.
My mantra for inclusive leadership is ‘Become myself. Lead everyone’. In this series on Inclusive Leadership we’ll explore what this means. In Part 1 we’ll focus on the first part of this mantra, ‘Become myself.’ You may be thinking, ‘just tell me what I can do to build diverse teams and lead inclusively’. In this series of articles we’ll definitely get to that. I’ll share lots of actionable insights and practical tips. However, for true success you have to start with yourself, and that is what, this article, Part 1 of this series is all about. Behaviours that have brought you success in the past may no longer bring you success in the future. Unlearning is a lot harder than learning. Your first step is making a commitment to change. A commitment to be honest with yourself. A commitment to challenge yourself and be open minded about what you might discover in the process.Becoming yourself is a lifelong mission. Becoming your best future self requires you to do the work to understand who you are, what your greater purpose is and what is holding you back. In Maslow’s famous hierarchy of needs, right at the top of the pyramid is self-actualisation. Many rich and famous people suffer from depression, unhappiness or anxiety. They may have found riches, but they haven’t found themselves. Their lives are still lacking meaning and purpose. “Today, too many leaders use their leadership roles not to lead but rather to strip others of their identity. They think it makes them look strong. But true strength in today’s business environment demands authenticity, inclusion, and vulnerability.” Glenn Llopis, Author, Speaker, Business Consultant and former C-suite corporate executive. Leaders who are able to be their authentic selves, doing work that they believe is their greater calling and making a difference, are more fulfilled. Relatable, authentic leaders build trust and empower others to also show up as their true and authentic selves. It is infectious. If we all try to become our best selves, rather than mould ourselves into a single definition of what success looks like, we create more opportunities for everyone. Over time, our current limited image of success will morph into a diverse range of different possibilities. We will inspire a greater range of different people, and together we create an inclusive environment where people who are different from each other can thrive together. Diversity in visible role models is needed to inspire diverse future leaders to believe in themselves. Taking an inclusive approach to the way you lead, is how to get results. Leaders need to have understanding, compassion & kindness. We don’t all need to agree. In fact, we’ll probably have greater collective success, if we don’t always agree. We need to be able to listen, to understand and to accept our differences. Inclusive leaders use a combination of deep selfawareness and empathy to drive team performance and group success. By becoming a more inclusive leader you can also make a positive difference in the world. Before we go deeper, let me share a little about myself. I want you to feel a connection to the real person behind these words. I want to role model authenticity, and not just talk about it. You can look on LinkedIn to find out what I do — I am Marissa Ellis, the founder of Diversily and a strategy and change consultant. However what people do, just touches the surface. What is really important is who we are, and why we do what we do. I believe that if you understand who I am, and why I do what I do, these words will have more meaning. Exposing the ‘why’, sharing your personal motivations is something that inclusive leaders do to build stronger relationships and more authentic connections.
I have always been deeply aware of social injustice. Postcode influences life expectancy.As a white, female mother I see both sides of the ‘privilege coin’. People who have never met me, make sweeping assumptions about me. Like, she probably won’t understand the technical detail, or she won’t be able to do that if she has children. People face discrimination due to race, religion, sexual orientation and other factors often outside of their control. From the moment you are born so much is already defined about who you are, that will influence your life path before you have taken your first breath. I hadn’t really deeply connected this societal injustice to my professional world until I was made redundant when I was pregnant with my first child. I became acutely aware that we do not live in a meritocracy and that the lack of diversity in the tech sector (my industry), and beyond is a huge issue. I had found my calling and the inspiration to create Diversily. You can read more about inspiration to start Diversily in this blog. My mission is to challenge normality. I believe we can all aim higher, achieve more together and drive continuous positive change by changing mindsets. Inclusive thinking is a critical skill that is simply not being taught or developed in people. It was certainly a critical missing chapter in my professional upbringing. My deep ambition is to get more people thinking and acting inclusively. This is why I started Diversily and have built various tools and workshops, such as The Diversily Inclusive Leadership Workshop, The Change Canvasand The Inclusive Experience Design Process. They all help build in diversity by design and create intentional inclusion. The common thread and what truly motivates me, is inspiring people to take positive action. Not accepting the status quo but reflecting deeply on how things can be better, setting ambitious goals and ultimately making it happen, celebrating results along the way. As an introvert talking about myself is not high on my list of things I enjoy. So, I don’t do this for personal satisfaction. I do it because inclusive leaders share a little of who they are. They form authentic connections and they share their own vulnerabilities for the benefit of others, to inspire greater success. Brene Brown talks about the ‘vulnerability hangover’. The feeling, afterwards, that you shared too much. As a leader it is important to know where your line is, to find the balance that is right for you. You may think you are self-aware. You may think you understand others. However, no matter where you are you can always go deeper, you can always understand more. You need to be brave, as challenging your own preconceptions can be hard. However, if you are open minded enough, you will discover things about yourself and others that will benefit you tremendously in the future. The act of ‘becoming yourself’ can be hugely liberating as it frees you from the separate compartments of your life, each of them placing different expectations on you, and restricting your ability to simply be you. For example, as an executive you may feel expectations around professional conduct mean that your love of music is simply not relevant in the office. However, it is the nuance and richness that comes from all aspects of your life that together make you the person that you. Inclusive leaders, like Lana Tahirly Abdullayeva, don’t just know this, they embrace it.
“In 2019 at one of the conferences, I was asked how it’s possible that I seems to embrace this big data and Open Finance revolution so naturally and organically. I think it’s all thanks to the Azerbaijani jazz, food from different cultures and music in general, that I grew up with. It taught me how to embrace diverse flavours and made me so forward looking.I proactively look to build diversity of thoughts, expertise and characters in my team, establishing common goals and values to drive forward together. Team success always makes me feel proud and it’s the best reward.” Lana Tahirly Abdullayeva — Strategic Advisor, Digital Thinking inclusively is a fundamental building block of leadership. Inclusive intelligence is an underused superpower. If you are not thinking about the full range of needs and considering all perspectives, your actions will be likely to exclude people, limit your potential results or have negative consequences. Have you thought about the people that you may be excluding by only having team socials as after work drinks? Have you thought about who isn’t applying to work in your company because everyone on your website is white, male and between 25 and 45? Once you start thinking inclusively it is impossible to stop. Inclusive Leadership is not a new strand of leadership, it is about building inclusion into everything you do. The systems are broken, and they need fixing. The best way to fix the systems is to inspire more leaders to think inclusively. This means joining the collaborative movement for change by stepping up, making a difference and following my mantra, “Become myself. Lead everyone.” There are so many P’s in business. Profit. Promotion. Pricing. Product. Process. Practice. Policy. But the most important one is people. Success is all about people, people and people. This means looking beyond the role and the job at hand to the individuals. People have their own agency. Successful leaders are those that inspire others to support their mission — they don’t just tell them what to do. As an inclusive leader this means exposing a little of who you are and why you do what you do. Exposing some vulnerability and showing we are all fallible, can demonstrate great strength and courage. It can help you show your team that they are allowed to be human and you will support them. Exploring your own ‘why’ can also help you find greater purpose and lead you to take a path that leads to greater fulfilment. The first step to becoming an inclusive leader is to know yourself. By knowing yourself you can give yourself permission to be yourself. Being an inclusive leader isn’t just about taking inclusive action. There is an element of selfdiscovery that is needed to become the best version of yourself, to help others to thrive and to drive team success. An inclusive culture is one where people can show up as themselves, feel like they belong and thrive together. To create an authentic inclusive culture, you have to know who your authentic self is.
The person that you will show up as. The person that you will share. The person that will inspire your team. The person that will excel and feel fulfilled. I was told a story recently of a senior executive who came out to thousands of people in a company meeting. With a tear in his eye, he told the attentive listeners that he was gay, a fact that he had be hiding for 40 years. He shared the liberation he felt for being able to speak his truth, and he went on to talk about the culture of belonging he wanted to create in the organisation. By sharing his vulnerability, he built trust and the audience felt instantly connected to his vision for the company. As a leader you can’t expect others to be their authentic self if you are masking who you really are. I work with leaders to help them map out their own personal inclusive leadership development journey. We use The Change Canvas to do this. By navigating through the boards of The Change Canvas we answer three key questions: Reflection — Who you are? Vision — What do you want to achieve? Progress — How you are going to get there? Often there is a pull to focus on immediate operational matters but taking the time for personal reflection will pay dividends in the end. Leaders that work on their own personal Change Canvas go on to drive inclusive action. I have noticed the following trends with the leaders I have worked with: As they learn more about themselves and connect to a deeper purpose, they feel more confident to create change. They realise the importance of belonging and catering for difference, prompting them to raise the topic and drive for more action. By building a deeper awareness of their own privileges and lack thereof, they develop a deeper understanding of how privilege affects opportunity, the systemic bias in so many ‘systems’ and their responsibility to create equity. They connect diversity and inclusion to business strategy. They no longer think of it as a side-line or one-off activity and realise the need for ongoing, relentless inclusive action. Now, let’s turn our attention to you. A deep and honest understanding of your own identity, strengths limiting beliefs and privileges and how these have influenced your own experiences will enable you to better serve and support others. First you have to give yourself permission to be you. To accept who you are, and who you are not. Then you can start your journey to become the best version of yourself, and a leader who serves everyone, and not just people like you. Imagine yourself climbing the metaphorical ladder of success. Instead of blindly climbing to the top, chasing more money, that next promotion, more responsibility, I want you to pause and consider two things:
Where is the ladder heading? The top of the ladder is the definition of ultimate success. But what is success for you? What is your true calling? What legacy will you leave in terms of the difference you made? True success is about finding your perfect balance of power, purpose and passion. Often, we climb the ladder blindly rather than moving it to a new place that will serve us better. What is stopping you from climbing the ladder? Self-reflection is needed to see the invisible glass ceilings that prevent us from progressing. What are your self-imposed limiting beliefs that are holding you back? What are more general societal blockers that you face? What false assumptions do people make about you? Often, we feel stuck and we don’t know how to progress. Understanding why can help you smash through those glass ceilings and create opportunities, not just for yourself but for others too. Knowing yourself is the first step to becoming a more inclusive leader. Take some time to reflect on your identity, and what has shaped the person you are today. The Inclusive Leadership Change Canvas is filled with questions to help you do exactly this. It can be downloaded for free here. Use this deeper self-awareness to define the leader you want to become, build empathy for others who are different to you and step up as an advocate for diversity and inclusion. You can choose to do nothing, or you can choose to use your power and influence to give unheard voices a seat at the table and drive systemic inclusive change. “Become myself. Lead everyone. Becoming an inclusive leader is precisely this simple and also this difficult.�Marissa Ellis, Founder & CEO, Diversily About Marissa Ellis Marissa Ellis is an advisor, strategist, speaker and best selling author. She is the founder of www.diversily.com and the creator of The Change Canvas, and other visual, business frameworks that are used around the world by global brands and start ups alike to drive positive change. She helps business leaders, entrepreneurs and change makers do better business; business that is purpose-led, human-centred with diversity and inclusion at the core. Her highly rated strategic management methodology, uses The Change Canvas to connect strategy to execution and empowers high performing, inclusive teams that deliver continuous value.
She has over 20 years of experience driving transformational change in the tech sector, from well-known names such as Reuters, Barclays, lastminute.com to high growth start-ups and accelerators.
WHERE IS THE ACCOUNTABILITY FOR AI ETHICS GATEKEEPERS? Elite institutions, the self-appointed arbiters of ethics are guilty of racism and unethical behavior but have zero accountability. In July 2020, MIT took a frequently cited and widely used dataset offline when two researchers found that the ‘80 Million Tiny Images’ dataset used racist, misogynistic terms to describe images of Black and Asian people. According to The Register, Vinay Prabhu, a data scientist of Indian origin working at a startup in California, and Abeba Birhane, an Ethiopian PhD candidate at University College Dublin, who made the discovery that thousands of images in the MIT database were “labeled with racist slurs for Black and Asian people, and derogatory terms used to describe women.” This problematic dataset was created back in 2008 and if left unchecked, it would have continued to spawn biased algorithms and introduce prejudice into AI models that used it as training dataset. This incident also highlights a pervasive tendency in this space to put the onus of solving ethical problems created by questionable technologies back on the marginalized groups negatively impacted by them. IBM’s recent decision to exit the Facial Recognition industry, followed by similar measures by other tech giants, was in no small part due to the foundational work of Timnit Gebru, Joy Buolamwini, and other Black women scholars. These are many instances where Black women and POCs have led the way in holding the technoelites accountable for these ethical missteps.
Last year, Gizmodo reported that ImageNet also removed 600,000 photos from its system after an art project called ImageNet Roulette demonstrated systemic bias in the dataset. Imagenet is the brainchild of Dr. Fei Fei Li at Stanford University and the work product of ghost workers at Mechanical Turk, Amazon’s infamous on-demand micro-task platform. Authors Mary L. Gray and Siddharth Suri in their book, “Ghost Work: How to Stop Silicon Valley from Building a New Global Underclass” describe a global underclass of invisible workers who make AI seem “smart” while making less than legal minimum wage and who can be fired at will. As a society, we too often use elite status as a substitute for ethical practice. In a society that is unethical, success and corresponding attainment of status can hardly be assumed to correlate with anything amounting to ethical behavior. MIT is the latest in a growing list of elite universities who have positioned themselves as experts and arbiters of ethical AI, while glossing over their own ethical lapses without ever being held accountable.
Whose Ethics are These? Given the long history of prejudice within elite institutions, and the degree to which they have continuously served to uphold systemic oppression, it’s hardly surprising that they have been implicated in or are at the center of a wave of ethical and racist scandals. In March 2019, Stanford launched the Institute for Human-Centered AI with an advisory council glittering with Silicon Valley’s brightest names, a noble objective of “to learn, build, invent and scale with purpose, intention and a human-centered approach,” and an ambitious fundraising goal of over $1 billion. This new institute kicked off with glowing media and industry reviews, when someone noticed a glaring omission. Chad Loder pointed out that the 121 faculty members listed were overwhelmingly white and male, and not one was Black. Rather than acknowledging the existence of algorithmic racism as a consequence of antiBlackness at the elite universities that receive much of the funding and investment for computer science education and innovation, or the racism at tech companies that focus their college recruitment at these schools, we act as though these technological outcomes are somehow separate from the environments in which technology is built. Stanford University by its own admission is a $6.8 billion enterprise and has a $27.7 billion endowment fund with 79 percent of the endowment restricted by donors for a specific purpose. After being at the center of the college admissions bribery scandal last year, it was again in the hot seat recently because of its callous response to the global pandemic, which has left many alumni disappointed. MIT and Stanford are not alone in their inability to confront their structural racism and classism. Another elite university that has also been the recipient of generous donations from ethically problematic sources is the venerated University of Oxford. Back in 2018, U.S. billionaire Stephen Schwarzman, founder of Blackstone finance group, endowed Oxford with $188M (equivalent of £150M) to establish an AI Ethics Institute. The newly minted Ethics institute sits within the Humanities Center with the intent to “bring together academics from across the university to study the ethical implications of AI.” Given Blackstone Group’s well-documented ethical misdeeds, this funding source was of dubious provenance at best. Schwarzman also donated $350M to MIT for AI research but the decision to name a new computing center at the school after him sparked an outcry by faculty, students mainly because of his role as ex-advisor and vocal support for President Donald Trump, who has been criticized for his overtures to white supremacists and embrace of racist policies.
Endowments are an insidious way for wealthy benefactors to exert influence on universities, guide their research including policy proposals, and it is not realistic to expect donors to fund any academic initiatives to reform a system that directly or indirectly benefits them. This wasn’t the first high-profile donor scandal for MIT either. It had also accepted funding from the late Jeffrey Epstein, notorious sex offender who was arrested for federal sex trafficking in 2019. The MIT-Epstein reveal led to public disavowals and resignations by leading researchers like Ethan Zuckerman, who stated publicly on his blog, “the work my group does focuses on social justice and on the inclusion of marginalized individuals and points of view. It’s hard to do that work with a straight face in a place that violated its own values so clearly in working with Epstein and in disguising that relationship.” Evgeny Morozov, a visiting scholar at Stanford University, in a scathing indictment called it “the prostitution of intellectual activity” and demanded that MIT shut down the Media Lab, disband Ted Talks, and refuse tech billionaires’ money. He went on to say, “This, however, is not only a story of individuals gone rogue. The ugly collective picture of the techno-elites that emerges from the Epstein scandal reveals them as a bunch of morally bankrupt opportunists.” We have a reasonable expectation for elite schools to behave ethically and not use their enormous privilege to whitewash their own and the sins of their wealthy donors. It is also not entirely outrageous to require them to use their enormous endowments during times of unprecedented crisis to support marginalized groups, especially those who have been historically left out of the whitewashed elite circles, rather than some billionaire’s pet project. It’s not enough to stop looking to institutions that thrive and profit off deeply unequal, fundamentally racist systems to act as experts in ethical AI, we must also move beyond excusing unethical behavior simply because it is linked to a wealthy, successful institution. By shifting power to these institutions and away from marginalized groups, we are implicitly condoning and fueling the same unethical behaviors that we supposedly oppose. Unless we fully confront and address racial prejudice within the institutions responsible for much of the research and development of AI and our own role in enabling it, our quest for ethical and responsible AI will continue to fall short. This article was originally published on Grit Daily and is reproduced with permission Grit Daily. https://gritdaily.com/where-is-the-accountability-for-ai-ethics-gatekeepers/
About Mia Dand Mia Shah-Dand is CEO of Lighthouse3, a research & advisory firm focused on responsible innovation with emerging technologies. She is also the founder of Women in AI Ethics initiative and creator of 100 Brilliant Women in AI Ethics list.
Co-author: Ian Moura is a researcher with an academic background in cognitive psychology and Human-Computer Interactions (HCI). His research interests include autism, disability, social policy, and algorithmic bias.
HOW TO LET GO OF A FAILED BUSINESS BUT NOT ON ENTREPRENEURSHIP BY SUSANNE BIRGERSDOTTER
Failure is a business reality. It happens to everyone and it can happen anytime. It is also a part of life. We are all bound to face failure at some point in our lives. Failure is not the opposite of success, rather, it is what defines success. What separates the winners from the losers is the ability to overcome failure.Every successful entrepreneur has faced and overcame failure, at least once. They are successful because they were able to let go of the failure and moved on with their entrepreneurial journey. They are proud of their failures and much as they are of their victories. There will always be a section in their memoirs that will feature their business challenges and how they overcome them. The losers, on the other hand, have either stuck on the failure or have quit the business for good.A failed business will not define you as an entrepreneur. How you treat it will. Closing down a business is one of the hardest tasks an entrepreneur will ever have to face. But it is a must if one must go on with one’s journey to success. Step 1 – Accept the Failure The first and hardest step is accepting the reality that your business is failing. It will be a bitter pill to swallow. Stop denying what the numbers or your business reports are saying. Stop painting the future with bright colors. Accept the fact that the best years or months of your enterprise is over and that now is the time to end it. Step 2 – Make the most of what is left If you act now, not all is lost. Take stock of your failing business and make a list of its salvageable assets. The sooner you liquidate, the better for you and your financial wellness. Sell what you can. Finally, take extra steps to ensure that you retain good relationships with the people – your customers or clients, the investors and financiers, suppliers, contractors, and your employees. You will be dealing with them again.
Step 3 – Take a Breather Give yourself a break. You deserve it. Running a business is a tiring endeavor that comes with massive responsibilities and endless tasks. Take a breather and take this opportunity to enjoy some time with the people you love, do what you love, practice self-care, and just relish what life has to offer. You may never get this chance again for a long time. Step 4 – Learn from the Experience Before you make another attempt to starting a business, make sure you’ve dug deep into what happened to your last one. Every failure is a lesson. Grab the opportunity to learn and improve yourself as an entrepreneur. What were the missed opportunities? What worked for the business? What didn’t? Do you need to learn more skills? Do you have the right people in your business circle? Step 5 – Start Again After a good respite and business introspection, you are good to go at it again. Your body and mind are rested and refreshed. You’ve learned a valuable lesson in business and you’re a notch smarter and wiser. It is time to put the failure behind, take up courage, recoup your resources, and start again. Letting go of a failed business is a step towards your success goals. It is not a failure, rather, it is your first step towards recovery. You are letting go of a weight that is pulling you down and holding you back from advancing. With the burden out of the way, you can now focus your attention, efforts, and resources to new and better endeavours. If you are facing failure or business closure for the first time, take courage. This might not be your last, but you can make this one the hardest. Many successful entrepreneurs are hardened and polished through failures. They got better and wiser. They used the knowledge and experience from the failures to make better decisions. If you’re failing right now, you’re in good company. You are about to join the sisterhood of successful businesswomen. You just need to pass the initiation rites.I welcome your thoughts and comments. Send me a message here. I will read them all. I invite you to join me on my entrepreneurial and success journey, and for you to let me join yours. You can get the paperback copy of my business inspirational book, Pivotal Moments, here. It is also available in Kindle from this link.
About Susanne Birgersdotter Susanne is a Swedish self made entrepreneur and investor, has gone from designing her first app from her kitchen table to becoming one of the most influential entrepreneurs and brand builder within 7 years. Susanne’s strong instincts and intuition has helped her grow her companies including designing a #1 ranked app and founding IGOTCHA, SthlmAppLab, SBDM & Birgersdotter Innovate. Susannes biggest passion in life when she's not building business is Female Entrepreneurship, Health, Fashion - Tech and food.
GLOBAL RANKINGS: THE TOP 10 FEMALE FOUNDERS Lucy Peng - China Lucy Peng is the co-founder of Ant Group and Alibaba and tops the list with $22 billion in funding. Peng taught economics for five years before co-founding Alibaba with 18 others in 1999. Today, she is worth over $1 billion.
Rebekah Neumann - USA Rebekah Neumann co-founded WeWork and The We Company and is in the list with $19 billion in funding. Until September 2019, she served as WeWork's chief brand and CEO of WeGrow.
Tan Hooi Ling - Singapore Tan Hooi Ling is a Malaysian internet entrepreneur and it is in the list with $9.9 billion in funding. She is best known as the co-founder and Chief Operating Officer of Singaporean ride-hailing company, Grab Holdings Inc.
Kate Keenan - Australia Kate Keenan is a Co-Founder and Chief Marketing Officer at Judo Bank, a specialist lender, purpose built to provide Australia's small to medium enterprise's with the funding. She is in the list with $1.4 billion in funding. Victoria van Lennep - United Kingdom Victoria van Lennep is a Co-Founder of Lendable, an online consumer lending platform in the United Kingdom. She is in the list with $1.2 billion in funding.. Cristina Junqueira - Brazil Cristina Junqueira is the co-founder and also VP of Branding and Business Development at Nubank, the largest independent digital bank in the world. She is in the list with $1.1 billion in funding.
Frances Kang - Hong Kong Frances Kang is a Co Founder of WeLab. Founded in 2013 in Hong Kong, WeLab is reinventing traditional financial services by creating seamless mobile lending. She is in the list with $581M in funding. Sophie Kim - South Korea Sophie Kim is the founder of Market Kurly, a fast-growing grocery delivery startup in Korea. She is in the list with $282M in funding.
Ilise Lombardo - Switerland Ilise Lombardo is a Founder and the Chief Medical Officer of Arvelle, is an emerging biopharmaceutical company focused on bringing innovative treatments to patients suffering from CNS disorders She is in the list with $278M in funding.
Milda Mitkute - Lithuania Milda Mitkute is the co-founder of the online marketplace Vinted, where people sell and buy second-hand clothes. With more than 13+ million users it has become a worldwide phenomenon. She is in the list with $260M in funding.
INTERVIEW
KATE BAUCHEREL Galia Digital Speaker, Blockchain Explainer, Writer
Tell us about you and your career, Kate. I’m a speaker and consultant working to make the complexities of blockchain and cryptocurrency simple. I deliver clear and engaging virtual keynotes for business professionals locally, nationally and worldwide. I work with clients from blue chip multinationals to startups on blockchain applications in innovative projects, and over my 30-year career I’ve held senior technical and financial roles in multiple sectors. My books include Blockchain Hurricane (BEP) and the SimCavalier scifi series. A day in your business life! My working day starts when the kids leave for school. I'm lucky to have worked on and off from home for many years, and when Covid hit I already had my office set up and plenty of experience of Zoom meetings and virtual collaboration. Before the UK even locked down I had my first international live-stream online event, as emcee for HATCH Pitch, usually held during SXSW in Austin. Since then barely a day has gone by without attending or delivering online events. I've filled two notebooks with insights from panels and conferences, and I've lost count of the different platforms I've used. The big match feeling of bringing a livestream talk in on time with seconds to spare is fantastic. I love the flexibility which has emerged in this virtual world. Rigid structures have loosened, which is a real boon when juggling professional and family life. The downside, though, has been the very real challenge of making economic headway. The months of lockdown were tough, and it's only now that work is bearing fruit again. I'm currently keeping track of several early stage consultancy projects which are waiting for funding decisions to move forward. I'm talking to professional bodies and universities about blockchain education. I'm planning talks, tailoring them to my audience, and writing articles both for my own blog and for client publications. I also have to keep up to date myself on new developments in what is a rapidly changing industry. Right now I'm deep into Fintech, the landscape of blockchain in banking, decentralised finance, and central bank digital currencies, and also keeping a close eye on regulation and taxation (I'm a Chartered Management Accountant, under all the tech). I'm spinning a lot of different plates and I rely on Trello to keep me straight. Not only does this give me a clear to-do list, but it reminds me week by week what I've achieved. That's a big factor in switching off and relaxing at the end of the day.
KATE BAUCHEREL Technology is a male-dominated field. Tell us about your experience in the tech sector. Having been educated at a single sex school, and having no brothers, it was only as an adult that I began to appreciate that some sectors were male dominated. We generally followed our skills and interests without any peer pressure to do otherwise. I noticed very quickly that there was a difference in the way male finance professionals expected to be treated, particularly with salary negotiations, and it came as a surprise. I switched fully into tech after a successful finance career so I was already at a high rung on the corporate ladder, and when I looked around me it was clear there were much fewer women at that level in this industry. I've always been confident but the need to prove yourself more completely and the lack of day to day role models was a knock that I hadn't expected. I also discovered that investors did not seem to consider that a senior woman brought enough strength to a board. It seems to be changing, which can only be a good thing. Do you think there is a diversity issue in the tech sector? Do you notice a lack of women in technology? Has it affected you in any way? When I first entered the tech sector I believe it was more diverse than it is now. I worked for an IBM business partner in Denver in the late 1980s and there were women at every level in the business from the board through the technical team. That has changed. There is a pervading attitude among younger people that tech is for boys. I mentored at a sixth form event for girls two years ago, and asked them whether they had learned to code. "Why would we do that?" they asked. "That's something my brother would do," said one. My daughter chose to study an engineering BTEC alongside her eBac, one of six girls in a year group of 300. This has all made me more determined to shout out for women in tech, and I've been doing that consciously and subconsciously in my fiction writing as well. A reviewer wrote to me last week about one of my scifi novels, saying "I particularly liked how you had so many female defenders and CIOs in it." The male perspective was good to hear! Do you think it is getting easier for women to get into Tech? I feel that women have to prove themselves more completely than men to be taken equally seriously. There is also a feeling that soft skills in tech are trumped by coding, and that's absolutely not right. It's possible that Covid has turned in our favour, as any culture of presenteeism is difficult to sustain, but there is still evidence that, for instance, code on a Github repository with a gender-neutral or male handle will attract less criticism than the same code posted with a female handle. Attitudes die hard. Are there any particular women in tech who have inspired you? There are some extraordinary women emerging and owning the blockchain and cryptocurrency space - and they are definitely technical without all being coders. Caitlin Long, Joshua Ashley Klayman, Marguerite deCourcelles, Tonya Evans, Sarah-Diane Eck, Genevieve Leveille to name but a few. In the wider world of tech, Sue Black is inspirational and a champion of women's success.
KATE BAUCHEREL What are some of the biggest challenges that women who want to venture in the world of technology face today? Self belief is the biggest challenge. Women have a habit of comparing themselves to others. Imposter syndrome is real. If you don't do the pool and beers to become one of the lads, or you don't believe you can reach the heights of the few women trailblazers, it can be easy to persuade yourself you're not in the right place. We have to own our space and be confident of our worth. Easier said than done. What do you think companies can do to encourage more women to choose careers in tech and rectify the imbalance? The one-size-fits all model of full time employment has to end. Companies must recognise that diversity in a team is essential to deliver products and services which work for society as a whole. Once that message gets through - and I mean all aspects of diversity, not simply gender - then businesses will realise that diversity means success. Then, adapting business culture and working practices to allow everyone to contribute to the company's success in their own way is the next step. What would be your message to women trying to get into technology? Tech is fascinating, rewarding, ever changing, innovative, varied and exciting. Just do it. What do you think we should be doing more to encourage more girls to consider a career in tech? There has to be active recruitment from organisations. Girls present themselves differently, they use less forcefully positive language in applications, and they still generally have the burden of care. Make sure any AI screening is not discriminating on these points. Mentor girls to present themselves confidently. Make the environment attractive. We have a responsibility to encourage others. I have seen some senior women, who are used to fighting their corner as a minority, view upcoming female colleagues as competition. That really does not help. Showcasing the achievements of women in tech, as you do, also makes a big difference.
KRISTINA MARIA BRANDSTETTER Head of Marketing and Communications
Tell us about you and your career, Kristina. Full time working mom with classical corporate com background, payed own MBA, changed industries to IT per chance, now tries to empower women starting a career there
Did you always know that working in technology was what you wanted to do and how did you decide to go into it? Always had a love for technology (sci-fi/Trekkie), tried to combine it with journalism to get "close" and be able to use my talent for writing as well. Got deeply fascinated and try to teach myself as much as possible.
Do you notice a lack of women in technology? If so, why do you think that’s the case? Difference in education and socialization starting in toddler age. We need to create a safe and welcoming environment for finding one's talents and interests - whether for boys and girls, they need to be treated equally to be able to feel equally. School is to late for beginning, but should focus on showing real role models and career opportunities. Diversity is a key factor for success, we can convince even the biggest doubters with it. Have you ever been in a situation where you have felt discouraged to pursue your dreams as a woman? How did you handle it? Yes, was the only female teamlead and would not get paid and treated equally. Found nobody would take up this fight for me, so it was my turn to rise and shine and inspire others to fight for equality.
KRISTINA MARIA BRANDSTETTER What advice would you give to a woman considering a career in your industry or what you wish to know before starting your career/business? Get connected, find mentor, be visible and proud. Don't overthink everything, be courageous, if you don't know everything from the start, guess what, nobody does and you can learn everything along the way. Build your network, empower others, it will come back to you. Never ever think you are less worthy than anyone, you are unique, your path is your path. Who are your role models for women in tech? Fellow #thenewitgirls and #womenintech, everyone is unique and a role model we desperately need. In your opinion, what is the biggest obstacle for women to succeed in the workplace/business? Gender bias, lack of networks.
What do you think companies can do to encourage more women to choose careers in tech and rectify the imbalance? Take "bring your kid to work# and" girls day" seriously. Go to schools, show role models and career paths. Offer job opportunities, get more women into leadership roles, mentoring programsbuild flexible structures with remote work, shared leadership and paternity leave models and and and. There's much to do, but we have to start somewhere!
How do you find inspiration in your life? My daughter, I fight for creating a better world for her and her likes. In nature and in my job, whenever I am able to give other people the courage to follow their dreams. To what do you attribute your success? Perseverance. Without losing empathy or compassion, you need to build resilience, it might be hard at the beginning, but you have to stay focused.
WANNA BE MY GUEST
I CHEER FOR PEOPLE. I WAS RAISED TO BELIEVE THERE IS SUN FOR EVERYONE. FAVORITE QUOTE KRISTINA MARIA BRANDSTETTER
LEONOR FURTADO AI Consultant Accenture
Tell us about you and your career, Leonor. I'm from a small town called Evora in Portugal, when I was 16 I moved to England to do my Alevels and have been living in London since the first year of University. After graduating from LSE with a degree in Economics, I started my carreer at Accenture as a Data Analyst mainly for Financial Services companies. However I quickly realised that crunching numbers on Excel and presenting them in pretty PowerPoint decks wasn't enough for me. I was hungry to learn more and dive deeper into the world of coding and data science. So after a year of selflearning on the side, I transfered to our Applied Intelligence department, here I learned how to code in python and SQL, how to interact with databases, build predictive models and do all of this in the cloud. Now 3 years down the line,I am one thesis away from completing my Master's degree in Data Science. A day in your business life! A typical day starts like I bet many of yours does, going through any emails that have come in and setting my tasks and goals for the day. Most of the projects I work in follow an Agile framework, therefore we have a daily standup first thing in the morning where every member of the team goes through what they got done yesterday and what they are going to do today. Everyday I have a good few hours of meetings aligning with stakeholders on architectures, designs or solutions we are building and then I do some fair amount of development work or architecture myself, depending on whether I'm in a more hands-on or design role. I also lead the team organising Health & Wellbeing activities as part of my department's People agenda, so some days I have meetings and tasks on this topic, which I really enjoy being a part of. Technology is a male-dominated field. Tell us about your experience in the tech sector. I've had overall a very positive experience, as I have always had very strong role models, both female and male, as well as, people who have supported me and helped me navigate the tech sector.
LEONOR FURTADO Do you think there is a diversity issue in the tech sector? Do you notice a lack of women in technology? Has it affected you in any way? I think it has definitely gotten better in the last couple of years, it was a much bigger problem at the beginning of my career. There have been many circumstances when I am the only woman in a meeting room or in a Team's call and very often the youngest person there as well which also doesn't make it any easier to be taken seriously. In my experience, after a couple of meetings and once people understand the quality and nature of my work the tension fades away and I don't even notice that anymore, but it is definitely quite daunting when having those initial interactions. Do you think it is getting easier for women to get into Tech? I think so, I know more and more companies are setting themselves targets and sometimes even quotas to achieve gender parity. Are there any particular women in tech who have inspired you? Yes, Dr. Athina Kanioura, who until very recently was the Chief Analytics Officer at Accenture. I had the pleasure of meeting her a couple of times and hearing her chat about her journey and how hard she had to work to be heard and to be where she is today is very inspiring. She also always gave us solid advice on how to be successful in a business world who has historically been run by men. What are some of the biggest challenges that women who want to venture in the world of technology face today? Competition. The fact that the gender imbalance actually starts when we are young and when school subjects are deemed by society to be more male than female. Which is what has happened with tech related subjects. What do you think companies can do to encourage more women to choose careers in tech and rectify the imbalance? I think championing women in tech and engaging young girls from early ages to consider a career in tech. As well as hosting special recruitment events to attract women in particular are all good initiatives. I have run a couple of these myself showing school girls and prospective grads how easy it is to learn how to code. I myself got recruited into Accenture through a Women in Tech recruitment event at the National History Museum. What would be your message to women trying to get into technology? Work hard, be yourself and don't take no as an answer What do you think we should be doing more to encourage more girls to consider a career in tech? I think we should be raising awareness of Tech from early ages and demystifying some of the preconceptions associated with Technology and the role women play within this sector.
THE FUTURE IS LIKE A CORRIDOR INTO WHICH WE CAN SEE ONLY BY THE LIGHT COMING FROM BEHIND FAVORITE QUOTE BY EDWARD WEYER JR. LEONOR FURTADO
MONICA SINGER Consensys South Africa Lead
Tell us about you and your career. Monica was the first CEO of South Africa’s Central Securities Depository (CSD), Strate (Pty) Ltd which she set up in 1998 until she resigned in August 2017. In October 2017, Monica was appointed as South Africa Lead for Consensys, being the biggest blockchain company in the world. Monica lives in Cape Town and works remotely. Monica also participates as: • Board member of the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA) • Board member of the Global Legal Identifier Foundation (GLEIF) based in Switzerland. • Professor of Practice in the School of Accounting in the University of Johannesburg specialising in blockchain for the accounting and auditing profession. • Board member of the Accounting Blockchain Coalition which is defining market practices for accounting, auditing and taxes of crypto assets. • Member and first board member in 2014 of the 30% Club which aims to ensure that more than 30% of boards are represented by women. Monica previously worked at the World Bank in Washington DC in 1995/96 and was the Technical Director of the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA) from 1990 to 1996. Monica completed her articles with the audit firm Arthur Young in 1987. Monica has been recognised over the last 20 years with many awards, the most notable being the first winner of the Conscious Company award in South Africa in 2017. Do you notice a lack of women in technology? If so, why do you think that’s the case? There are not enough role models in this industry so women do not know that they can succeed in this industry. There is also an unconscious bias against women starting from the parents and the way they raise girls different to boys then the teachers that assume that boys are more suited for maths and science than girls. All of this leads to girls not even realising that they could also be anything they would like to be including being part of the technology revolution that the 4th Industrial revolution is bringing to the world. We need more publications to showcase women in technology so that we can create the ability for more girls to go into STEM and be part of the technology revolution.
MONICA SINGER Did you always know that working in technology was what you wanted to do and how did you decide to go into (your career)? I always knew that technology could bring positive change, if used properly, to society. In particular in 2015 I read Satoshi Nakamoto white paper creating Bitcoin and I knew that the world of finance with so much corruption and failures, will have to transform into a decentralised record keeping where the citizens had the power to keep their own data. In 1996 I was asked to convert the paper based clearing and settlement of South African financial markets into a electronic digital market. I created the Central Securities Depository, Strate (PTY) Ltd in 1998 and run it for 20 years bringing huge efficiencies to the financial markets in South Africa. We were categorised as the worst emerging market in 1996 for operational and settlement risk. Around 2002 the same survey showed South Africa amongst the best financial markets in the world. The World Economic Forum categorised South Africa then as the top 3 in efficiencies. All of this was due to technology that we implemented. The new wave of disruption has started and I am part of that new wave working for the biggest blockchain company in the world, Consensys. This is the beginning of the end of fraud and corruption going undetected in financial markets and many other industries. Have you ever been in a situation where you have felt discouraged to pursue your dreams as a woman? How did you handle it?
What advice would you give to a woman considering a career in your industry or what you wish to know before starting your career/business? This is one of the best careers for woman in particular as it gives you the freedom to work remotely (even before the pandemic). You can work from any country in the world for the best companies in the world. You will always be challenged to learn more all the time as this industry is constantly transforming so you won't ever be bored. The innovation and freedom to think and create will be in your hands and you will be working with the most fascinating people in the world from all cultures and backgrounds. This is my experience working for Consensys. What do you think companies can do to encourage more women to choose careers in tech and rectify the imbalance? Allocate a mentor or even a coach that will help them see the opportunity that this space brings to them. Pay for courses. Give them projects where they can be exposed to this space. In your opinion, what is the biggest obstacle for women to succeed in the workplace/business Either they don't believe in themselves or they allow other people's perception of what they can or cannot do to influence them. How do you find inspiration in your life?
Many times. My Dad had very little respect for women abilities so he always dismissed my potential. the more I get underestimated, the more it ignites in me the possibility that I can do it. Who are your role models for women in tech? Caitlin Long who combines her knowledge of financial markets, law and technology and uses it to improve the financial markets. Sheryl Sandberg the COO of Facebook.
I had a difficult childhood and I survived abuse by knowing that one day I would leave home and be free. This came to pass and I draw inspiration from many people that came before me that had to survive more difficult situations than me. One of the books that has always inspired me is Man search for meaning by Victor Frankel who survived the concentration camp and wrote what inspired him to survive and I have applied that philosophy all through my life.
IF I CAN DREAM IT I CAN DO IT. WHEN LIFE THROWS LEMONS I MAKE LEMONADE. YOU ONLY FAIL WHEN YOU STOP TRYING TO SUCCEED. FAVORITE QUOTE PROFESSOR MONICA SINGER
SRIPARNA CHAKRABORTY Masters student in CS
Tell us about you. I am currently a Masters student in CS at the University at Buffalo New York. My area of specialisation is AI and I also have almost 3 years of industrial experience as a Quality Assurance Engineer. I am a data enthusiast with interest in query optimisation, backend and middleware application, data visualisation and privatisation using automation strategies. Did you always know that working in technology was what you wanted to do and how did you decide to go into tech? I have always been an ardent lover of Mathematics and so logic is something that has always intrigued me since my childhood. This instilled in me the urge to be in technology and Computer Science field. I was always the highest scorer in Mathematics in my school and later on when I planned to pursue my undergrad in CS, I learnt how I can use that sense of logic in me to design more complex real world problem in code and find its solution too. I started off my career in the industry as a System engineer and then as a Quality assurance engineer. I worked as an automation expert in my team and single-handedly built automation tools and designed automated scripts that earned me a lot of appreciation. My next plan was to learn more and not stagnant in one technology. So I pursued Masters and learnt ML which was new to me and hence specialised in it. Do you notice a lack of women in technology? If so, why do you think that’s the case? Compared to what it was a decade back, women have started joining more the world of technology but there is still a lot of room for more women to come and be in it together. Even I had to face a lot of discrimination at my workplace being a woman excelling in my work as a technical expert. I think women often fail to voice their opinion only being in a fear to be judged is what hinders them to come to this field. Women have mustered the art of problem solving since ages. So I feel they need to be heard of and they should be resilient enough to get to stand their ground. Have you ever been in a situation where you have felt discouraged to pursue your dreams as a woman? How did you handle it? Yes. At my previous workplace I did face difficulties in proving my mettle. Discrimination is something that women have to face at some point of their lives. I was often discouraged and my work was often under appreciated because I was a woman and preference always went to someone of the opposite sex.
SRIPARNA CHAKRABORTY What advice would you give to a woman considering a career in your industry or what you wish to know before starting your career/business? Firstly, women should be bold enough to voice their opinion. It is very important to work in a team who recognises your merit and if it is not the case, women need to learn to deal with it by expressing their thoughts and ideas, influencing more people around with the right set of words and opinions. Women are all superheroes, we just need to find our superpower to win over the world! Who are your role models for women in tech? Right now, almost all top positions are being filled by women. Be it Susan Wojcicki, the CEO of YouTube or Sheryl Sandberg, the COO of Facebook. I thing it doesn’t end in a list. I get inspired by so many women everyday. My roommate inspires me to code better, my professor inspires me to have a strong determination even when it seems very difficult. So I think I cannot name only a few women. What do you think companies can do to encourage more women to choose careers in tech and rectify the imbalance? Companies should start accepting the fact that women are no lesser than men when it comes to creativity, innovation and technology. The discrimination lies in our prejudices and the shackles of extreme sexism can be broken only by believing in women’s capabilities as technical heroes! Companies should have a 1:1 ratio when considering recruitment of employees which is not often the case. In your opinion, what workplace/business?
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One of the biggest obstacle is in a room full of men, women often hesitate to voice their opinion and ideas. They often fear that they will be judged and perhaps pulled down. But this is not always the case. There are men out there who encourage women to work along with them and prove their merit. So every woman need to come out her niche and stand her ground. She needs to be heard! How do you find inspiration in your life? My mother is my biggest inspiration. She has always been my support system and has never asked me not to do something only because I am a woman. I have always been given the liberty to do what I like the most. I find inspiration in Michelle Obama, she is one lady I really look upto. I want to be like her someday! An elegant personality and a woman of substance, yet so humble. To what do you attribute your success? I attribute part of my success to my mother, my mentor, my professors and the remaining to my hard work, my resilience, my attitude of not putting something down unless it is solved. I work best when I am challenged I cannot do it. That’s probably what drives me always!
POWERED BY
ARISE, AWAKE, AND STOP NOT TILL THE GOAL IS REACHED FAVOURITE QUOTE BY SWAMI VIVEKANANDA SRIPARNA CHAKRABORTY
ARTICLES
Laurie Wang
A FUTURE OF WORK – DECENTRALISED The future of work against a backdrop of accelerating technological advances has been the subject of discussion for years, and the debate has intensified in the last few months. Our recent experience has focused on technology and best practice which enables effective communication and collaboration in a distanced setting. There is another dimension which is becoming relevant, however. What are the new ways of earning a living in an economy which has been damaged by measures aimed at limited coronavirus spread. How could blockchain and cryptoassets play their part? Value in the real world is created through selling your skills, your time or your assets. To be clear, this is not about speculating on tokens, activity which has historically thrown a lot of shade over the blockchain industry. The value of such assets can rise and fall, as the world’s stock markets can attest. Economic conditions and human error can wipe out an investment overnight, and consumer protection is at the forefront of regulation that is being brought to bear across multiple jurisdictions. I’m far more interested in the pathways to real economic value creation and reward. How could blockchain help us to earn from our skills, time and assets? Creators Create Value How can you be sure that a digital copy of any work is authentic, and that the creator will be rewarded if you buy or rent it? Artworks in the real world, once sold, can attract higher and higher prices as they change hands without the artist seeing any benefit. Music has been pirated since the days of recording the Top 40 from the radio on a Sunday night, and the technology which enables sampling and mixing of original works to produce new music complicates things still further. Illicit copies of films and TV productions, however well controlled, are still found on sites the world over. As an author, any mention of ‘free ebook’ websites fills me with horror. How can you be sure that these are legitimate copies of a book, for which the author will receive royalties? The goal is to help people to earn a real living from the creative skills they have and the time they spend. Culturally we have to recognise the value of the art we consume, of course, but once money is flowing then emerging technologies hold the key to a new future of work. Blockchain is already being used to confirm that content is authentic. The ARCHANGEL project run by the UK’s National Archives, in association with the University of Surrey and the Open Data Institute, uses content-aware hashing to verify original video recordings across multiple formats. The next challenge is to ensure that the creator is rewarded for your
consumption of their artwork, tune, movie or book. Oddly, a bête noire of the early 2000s had the solution to this, but not the technology at the time to make good on royalties. Napster, which appeared in 1999 and was firmly closed down in 2001, and Pirate Bay which followed in 2003, had something of a cavalier attitude to music and film copyright which rightly triggered legal action, but they were pioneers in peer to peer sharing. Users of these and of BitTorrent, launched in 2005, circumvented centralised subscription services. A lot of our current viewing is still siloed in an effort to cling on to intellectual property. That model may not be sustainable in the long term, as peer to peer sharing and customised consumption rises. Blockchains, and the cryptocurrencies which flow on them, offer a way for copyright to be protected in a peer to peer environment, and for money to reach the right people. Playing with Purpose The skills honed through hours on a games console are already starting to deliver transferable real-world value at the highest level. We are seeing the rise of e-sports with the English e-soccer competition, the ePremier League (ePL). Among the new generation of Formula 1 racing drivers, 20 year old Lando Norris ascribed some of his success and his ability to read other drivers on the track to his years of sim racing and participation in the McLaren Shadow Esports competition. Even Fortnite has stepped into the arena with its 2019 World Cup Finals in New York streamed to millions of fans. However, deriving value directly within a gaming platform is an entirely new opportunity. If this can be harnessed – and blockchain offers the means to achieve it – the subsequent creation of value could kickstart a sustainable, democratised economy. One aspect that is growing rapidly is ownership of the assets players create and win in a game. When you have walked miles to catch or hatch a rare Pokémon, earned or paid good money to buy special outfits for characters in anything from Angry Birds to Fortnite, or mined the materials to construct your diamond castle, it feels as if you should own something – but you don’t. Marketplaces already exist for the exchange of items in many role-playing games (RPGs), but the assets themselves do not belong to the players who are trading them. Shifting to a state where there is individual ownership means that the skills and time invested in building up game assets are rewarded when the assets are sold. Trading in assets from virtual land to battle-hardened game characters is already established and active in a growing gaming community, and the current crisis has created conditions for the model to be proven. In the Philippines, trading activity on popular blockchain game Axie Infinity is netting enough for its players to provide pathways out of poverty, supplementing incomes through the COVID crisis. Their skills, time and assets are creating value. This is a real world blueprint for our decentralised future of work. You can read more about how blockchain and cryptocurrency are changing the world in Blockchain Hurricane: Origins, Applications and Future of Blockchain and Cryptocurrency. Signed copies on sale from this website, international shipping and ebooks available from Amazon. Image shows gameplay from Axie Infinity – yes, this is my own battle team.
About Kate Baucherel Read more about Kate on page XX where you can find her interview and buy her book, “Blockchain Hurricane: Origins, Applications and Future of Blockchain and Cryptocurrency” at Amazon.
For the second year Female Tech Leaders joined the biggest tech event in Scandinavia - TechBBQ! During the 2 days at TechBBQ (it was a Digital Online event due to the Covid19 pandemic), the community had access to 4 stages and more than 60 speakers, experts insight into the most pressing topics for startup ecosystems, virtual booths with sponsors and startups, an AI powered Tech Talent matchmaking to connect international talents and startups and a networking tool.
Highlight of the First Day On Stage 1, we have the opportunity to hear from Frederikke Schmidt Founder of Roccamore, Tommy Andersen Managing Partner at ByFounders and Jakob Jonck Co founder of Simple Feast about "Resilience in the Danish Eco-System"
On Stage 2, we have the opportunity to hear from Wai Foong Ng Founder of Matchable and Christian Vintergaard CEO at Entreprenørskab & Teknologipagten about "The Skills of the Future". https://kzclip.com/video/xQWqB1VYbTY/theskills-of-the-future-techbbq-digital-2020.html
Highlight of the First Day On Stage 3, we had "Born to be Digital - What Gen Z wants from new tech & social media" with Mette Louise Schmidt, Service Designer at Falcon.io, Yannick Blättler Managing Director & Owner at Neoviso and Lore Oxford, Global Head of Cultural Insights at We Are Social.
On Stage 4, we had "Leadership Through Times of Crisis" with Jacob Bratting Pedersen VC, Erdem Ovacik CEO of Donkey Republic and Søren Gammelgaard CEO of OrderYOYO. https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=MvSX7qZ26-Q
Highlight of the Second Day On Stage 1, we have the opportunity to hear from Ian Hathaway Exec Director at Techstars and Brad Feld MD at Foundry Group talking about "Resilient Eco-Systems, the startup community way"
On Stage 2, we have the opportunity to hear from Jimmy Fussing Nielsen Partner at Heartcore capital and Anton Norrman Associate at Kinnevik about "The Future of VC Platforms".
On Stage 3, we had "Building the next generation Humanitarian Blockchain" with Sofie Blakstad CEO at Hiveonline
On Stage 4, we had "An inclusive startup narrative – if you can see it, you can be it!" with Lisbeth Odgaard Madsen Founder of Potential Co. and Nanna Ulsoe Founder of Canvas Planner. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gKcjBaT9hLM
THE STATE OF WOMEN IN TECH 2020 This is a big year — for a lot of reasons. A fresh decade means advancements in science, tech, entertainment, and politics. And women have a significant role to play in all of that. Take politics, for example. With the rise of female candidates and advocacy, it’s clear that women are intent on making their voices heard. In fact, women have outvoted men in every midterm election since 1998. And that stats holds for presidential elections since 1980. But it hasn’t been that long since women got the right to vote in the United States. This August marks the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th amendment, which made it unconstitutional to restrict the right to vote on the basis of sex. First introduced in 1878, the amendment required decades of aggressive campaigning, countless protests, and the unlawful imprisonment of suffragists to gather enough votes. A century later, our society has made huge strides toward equality. But there’s still a gender gap. Women — especially minorities and LGBTQ women — continue to face massive obstacles in advancement and quality of life as they are outnumbered, underpaid, and overlooked in the workplace. One of the sectors where gender disparity is easiest to spot: the tech industry. In this report, we’ll explain the historical background of women in the workplace before taking a look at women’s gains in academia and the role bias plays in the tech industry. Finally, we’ll outline action items that can be implemented by both individuals and organizations — things we all can actually do — to make the future more inclusive. History of Women in the Workplace Education for Women Gender Makeup in Tech Today Perceptions of Women in the Workplace Women of Color in Tech
Queer Women in Tech Revealing the Wage Gap How is This Affecting the Tech Industry? Companies Working to Mind the Gender Gap How You Can Close the Gender Gap Looking Toward the Future
Women in the Workforce In the rearview mirror of history, it’s easy to pinpoint exactly what brought an unprecedented number of women into the workforce for the first time: World War II. As the U.S. entered the conflict, the need for industrial production on the homefront skyrocketed. But with men on the front lines, the responsibilities for filling the gaps in the domestic labor force fell to the women — who answered the calling in true Rosie-the-Riveter fashion. While their contributions were essential to the war effort, these pioneering women faced unmeasurable bias without the benefit of legal protections. Take the first computer, for example. Six women programmed the first electronic computer — the Electrical Numerical Integrator and Computer (ENIAC) — during WWII but weren’t given credit for their work. They were even identified in photos as “refrigerator ladies,” models used to make products appear more alluring. Their groundbreaking work went unrecognized and unlauded for years. What’s more, it has taken years for women to earn equalizing legal rights to protect them in the workplace, with most of the milestones happening in the last 50 years. Here’s a sampling: The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission of 1968 determined that it was unlawful to continue separating job listings and help wanted ads by sex. According to the Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978, employers cannot legally fire or pass on (for jobs or promotions) otherwise qualified female applications because they are or might become pregnant. Previous to the enactment of this law, women were often let go to spare employers the costs of healthcare and maternity leave. Sexual harassment is a huge part of the national conversation today. It wasn’t always this way, however. In 1991, Anita Hill accused Clarence Thomas of workplace harassment, a pre-#MeToo spotlight on sexual harassment that was, in many ways, the first of its kind. In the 1986 Supreme Court case, Meritor Savings Bank v. Vinson, it was determined that the making of repeated sexual references or advances in the workplace amount to a hostile work environment. In 2009, President Obama signed into law the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Restoration Act, legislation that allows employees to file a complaint of pay discrimination within six months of receiving their last paycheck. The act also confirmed that discrimination occurs every time a woman is paid less for equal work. Education for Women Now for some good news: Women are doing better than ever, where education is concerned. According to a recently-released report, women are more likely than men to be enrolled in college, at a rate of nearly 72%. And women are more likely to earn those diplomas with college completion rates now reaching 58%! These on-the-rise figures don’t reach many tech fields, however. Some numbers seem to be spiraling backward. In the mid-1980s, 37% of computer science majors were women. Now? It’s dipped to 18%. Today, women make up only 20% of engineering graduates, and an even smaller number — 16% — of the engineering workforce is made up of women. In addition, a Google survey reported that many girls don’t know what computer science actually means. They aren’t encouraged to study it and allocate words like “boring” and “difficult” to its meaning. The perpetuated influence of this retrograde thinking has a significant (and alarming) impact on future generations of young women in tech.
Gender Makeup in Tech Today Step inside any office, and it’s easy to see that most aren’t staffed to be gender-equal. Only 26% of computing jobs are held by women. This number has been on a steady decline for years. The turnover rate is more than twice as high for women than it is for men in tech industry jobs — 41% versus 17%. Fifty-six percent of women in tech are leaving their employers mid-career. Of the women who leave, 24% off-ramp and take a non-technical job in a different company; 22% become selfemployed in a tech field; 20% take time out of the workforce; and 10% go to work with a startup company. From 1980 to 2010, 88% of all information technology patents were by male-only invention teams, while 2% were by female-only invention teams. So essentially, the technology being created for a widely varying and diverse population has historically been formed by a homogeneous group. Not ideal. Plus, patentholders are more likely to receive VC funding, perpetuating future male-dominated businesses. 12% of engineers at Silicon Valley startups are women. Only 11% of executive positions in Silicon Valley companies are held by women. Women are being passed over at the top too. Only 5% of leadership positions in the tech sector are held by women; they make up only 9% of partners at the top 100 venture capital firms. And their growth is stunted; more than 20% of women over the age of 35 are still in junior positions. In fact, women are far more likely to be in junior positions than men — regardless of age. Men make up significantly more than half of the job applicant pool in tech, while women are still underrepresented 16% of the time. Perceptions of Women in the Workplace It’s not just the lower numbers of women in tech that poses a problem. Another issue? How they’re perceived. For example, merely knowing the gender of a programmer considerably affects perceptions of work quality and success. This kind of bias is pervasive. In a study of GitHub users, code written by women was accepted 78.6% of the time — 4% more than code written by men. This trend, however, only worked when the programmer’s gender was kept secret. So women were better coders when their gender was left unknown. And that’s barely a start. While everyone is subject to failings and mistakes in the workplace, when women in high places fail in the public eye, it’s perceived as a harder fall — viewed as a reason why women shouldn’t lead — with more intense media scrutiny and criticism.
Women of Color in Tech For marginalized groups, prejudice can amplify underrepresentation. Perhaps more than gender bias, racial discrimination is a critical concern for women in tech. In 2013, women of Black, Latino, and Native American descent made up 18% of the collegeaged population, yet they only earned 6% of computing degrees and 3% of engineering degrees. The underrepresentation of women in tech is a huge liability for the industry. Diverse companies are more likely to report growth, perform better, and have an increased competitive edge. Companies are often tight-lipped about the breakdown of intersectional ethnicities represented in their female employees. However, Slack stepped up in 2016 and other companies have followed suit. Pinterest currently leads other tech firms for its percentage of underrepresented minority groups at management and executive levels. That winning number is only 8%. Queer Women in Tech LGBTQ women in technology are also craving representation. An estimated 10 million Americans identify as LGBTQ, and in thriving tech-centric cities, these populations are higher than the national average. Facebook released diversity stats in 2016 that included LGBTQ data. Of its workforce, 7% of workers identified as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or asexual. Even with many companies earning the Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s rainbow seal of approval (meaning they have LGBTQ inclusion policies), few numbers in this group are reaching the top levels of these companies. Additionally, LGBTQ women have reported discriminating workplace environments in the tech industry and often struggle to overcome deep-set stereotypes and eliminate haunting “don’t ask, don’t tell” mentalities.
About Kasee Bailey Kasee Bailey has been crafting copy for DreamHost since the ye’ ol’ yesteryear of 2017. She’s on a valiant quest to discover what makes a great website — and then share those secrets with DreamHost users. Her specialty: relating tech to pop culture (the Kardashians and payments gateways, anyone?).
BLACK HISTORY MONTH 2020 MEET 25 SUPERSTARS Deborah Okenla - UK Deborah Okenla is the Founder and CEO of YSYS (Your Startup, Your Story); a startup community for founders, developers, creatives, and investors on a mission to open doors of opportunity for diverse talent within the startup ecosystem. Sarah Kunst - USA Sarah Kunst is the MD of Cleo Capital, is an investor and entrepreneur who has worked at Apple, Red Bull, Chanel & Mohr Davidow Ventures. She was the founder of LA Dodgers backed Proday. She is also a contributing editor at Marie Claire Magazine.
Sharmadean Reid - UK Sharmadean Reid is the founder ans CEO of Beautystack is a visual market network for next generation beauty professionals.
Erika Brodnock - UK Erika Brodnock is the founder of Karisma Kidz, a digital resources covering emotional and social learning, digital safety, and digital parenting
Nana Addison - Germany Nana Addison, the self-titled Afropean and tech entrepreneur has founded two companies: CURL, the creative agency and Stylindi, a booking and product shopping platform for the independent hair and beauty communityy. Deborah Choi - Germany Victoria van Lennep is a Co-Founder of Lendable, an online consumer lending platform in the United Kingdom. She is in the list with $1.2 billion in funding..
Wendy Oke - Ireland Wendy Oke is founder of TeachKloud, a cloud-based management and compliance platform for preschools and further education colleges.
Melissa Hanna - USA Melissa Hanna is cofounder of Mahmee is revolutionizing maternal and child healthcare with a patient-centric care management platform.
Cecilia Harvey - UK Cecilia Harvey is the founder and chair of, Tech Women Today, the global platform which showcases women in technology also CEO of Hyve Dynamics.
Yvonne Bajela - UK Yvone Bajela is a Founding Member and Principal at Impact X Capital, a UK based venture capital fund founded to invest in companies predominately led by black and female entrepreneurs.
Rachael Palmer - UK Rachael Palmer is the Head of VC and Startup Partnerships, EMEA at Google
Trinity Mouzon Wofford - USA Co-Founder at Golde
Karen Bradford - USA Karen Bradford is the Director, Strategic Partnerships at NASA Ames Research Center
Jasmine Gilliam - USA Jasmine Gilliam is a Project Manager at United States Department of Defense.
Candice Hatcher-Solis - USA Candice Hatcher-Solis is Team Leader, Neurobiology of Cognitive Performance711th Human Performance Wing, Air Force Research Laboratory.
Cecilia Harvey - UK Dr. Stacey A. Dixon is the eighth Deputy Director of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA). In this role, she assists the director in leading the agency and in managing the National System for Geospatial Intelligence
Louise Broni-Mensah - UK Louise Broni-Mensah is the founder of UK start-up Shoobs, an event discovery and booking platform with an emphasis on music pioneered by Black people,
Izzy Obeng - UK Izzy Obeng is the founder of Foundervine, an award-winning social enterprise specialising in digital start-up and scale-up acceleration programs.
Monique Woodard - USA Monique Woodard is the co-founder of Black Founders and Cake Ventures - she is also an angel investor and has invested in notable startups founded by women of color Arielle Loren - USA Arielle Loren is the founder of 100K Incubator—the first business funding mobile app for women.
Kathryn Finney - USA Kathryn Finney is the founder of digitalundivided—the only space and program dedicated to the growth of high-growth tech businesses founded by Black and Latinx women through the startup pipeline from idea to exit.
Arlan Hamilton - USA Arlan Hamilton is the founder of Backstage Capital. Hamilton has raised more than $10 million and invested in more than 130 startups led by women, POC, and LGBTQ founders.
Arian Simone - USA Arian Simone is the co-founder and investor in the Fearless Fund, Simone invests in WOC led businesses seeking pre-seed, seed or series A financing. It’s also the first VC Fund built by women of color for women of color.
Priscila Gama - Brazil Priscila Gama is the founder of Malalai, a Brazilian startup that develops tech for female safeness.
Maitê Lourenço - Brazil Maitê Lourença is the founder of BlackRocks Startups, which encourages black people to access innovative and tech ecosystems.
BRASIL ENTREVISTAS
ADALCI RIGHI Co-founder Logpyx
Conte-nos sobre você e sua carreira. Adalci Righi é psicóloga formada pela UFMG com Mestrado em Educação Tecnológica pelo CEFET-MG. Toda sua carreira seja acadêmica ou profissional esteve ligada há pesquisa. São mais de 15 anos fazendo pesquisa científica e de mercado. Há 6 anos topou o desafio de usar seu conhecimento para iniciar uma startup de tecnologia: A Logpyx. De lá para cá vem atuando junto a clientes, fornecedores e ao ecosistema de inovação para alavancar novos produtos e formas de lidar com a logística corporativa, a logística da indústria 4.0. Um dia na sua vida profissional! Inicio meu dia de trabalho olhando a agenda, verificando os compromissos do dia. Na sequência converso com o meu time sobre urgências e passo a olhar email e whatsapp para ver se há algum pedido ou comunicação importante. Dou tratativa para o que for rápido e agendo o que for mais demorado. Minha semana tem ritos: as segundas fazemos um alinhamento com toda a empresa: Segunda é dia de ver gráficos, tabelas, apresentações de resultados, entender o desempenho x estratégia. Combinar os entregáveis da semana... repensar pontos que não estão funcionando tão bem... Alinhar administrativo com operação, comercial e financeiro. De terça a quinta são dias de execução (sim eu também tenho entregáveis) e alinhamento com clientes, stackeholders e time... Sexta é dia de arremantar os entregáveis e também de sentar com o time e se preparar para os entregáveis de segunda... Enfim, meu dia envolve planejamento, execução, alinhamento e acompanhamento.
ADALCI RIGHI O setor de tecnologia ainda é um campo dominado pelos homens, mas de acordo com dados levantados pela Pesquisa Game Brasil de 2020, 54% do público gamer no Brasil é formado por mulheres. Mas o que acontece com o ambiente nos games em relação a toxicidade? Você pode me falar como os gamers aceitam as mulheres jogando? Quando eu comecei era bem difícil. Há 6 anos atrás não existiam muitas mulheres na logística. Eu era vista como uma estranha no ninho. Os gerentes, 99% homens, não sentiam confiança no que eu dizia, antes mesmo de abrir a boca. Em algumas ocasiões, mesmo em grandes empresas, o que o meu estagiário falava tinha mais peso e era mais ouvido do que eu que dizia. Por algumas vezes, as reuniões eram tão constrangedoras que os meus funcionários me olhavam como que pedindo auxílio... Houveram momentos em que eles chegaram a verbalizar que eu era a diretora da empresa e que eles estavam ainda aprendendo. No mundo tecnológico também existe muito preconceito, já cheguei a ouvir de vários homens em cargo de liderança que a preferência em algumas vagas de TI era para homens pois as mulheres eram mais lentas de raciocínio. Fico feliz em falar que já percebo uma mudança nesse cenário. Esse tipo de atitude não é mais tão frequente e quando ocorre há um movimento de correção, de pedido de reposicionamento e uma atitude de repensar. Você acha que o problema de diversidade no setor de tecnologia existe? Em caso positivo, você percebe a falta de mulheres e como Isso afetou você (se afetou de alguma forma)? Em caso negativo, compartilhe a sua jornada com a gente. Sim existe e é bem notório! Um dos indicativos de que essa é uma realidade é a quase inexistente presença do público LGBT em atividades ligadas a TI. As mulheres sobrem um preconceito extra pois são percebidas como pessoas que tem um raciocínio mais lento. No meu caso, eu sinto que me afetou já na pré adolescência. Com 10 anos de idade eu fiz meus primeiros cursos de informática. Tirei alguns diplomas como DOS, Lottus, Cobol. Esses cursos foram feitos em 1986, antes até do Windows! Naquela época eu programava usando o DOS. Só que como eu não era um menino, meu pai não pensou em me incentivar a seguir uma carreira em TI. Acabei fazendo só esses cursos e ficando com um desejo bem grande de seguir, na faculdade uma carreira ligada a computação. Você acha que está ficando mais fácil para as mulheres entrarem na área de tecnologia? Sim! Digo com alegria que hoje é muito mais fácil! Existem comunidades de incentivo. Existem várias mulheres já inclusive em cargos de direção que também dão apoio e oferecem crescimento para as mulheres em TI. A relação ainda não é de igualdade mas já há um espaço para ser ocupado. Há alguma pessoa específica em tecnologia que te inspira? Meu marido! O meu pai pagou o curso que eu escolhi de computação em 1986 e hoje em dia meu marido é o meu maior incentivador! Foi ele quem me chamou para ir trabalhar com ele já em duas ocasiões. Sinto que ele é meu maior incentivador e mentor. Recentemente conheci a carreira da Tânia Cosentino, presidente da Microsoft. Ela também me deixou bastante inspirada.
ADALCI RIGHI Quais são os maiores desafios que as mulheres que desejam se aventurar no mundo da tecnologia enfrentam hoje? Com certeza é dupla jornada de trabalho. O homem ainda não foi educado para ocupar um lugar ao lado da mulher no que tange a família e as questões do dia a dia de uma casa. Nós mulheres ensinamos nossos filhos que a meninA tem que arrumar a cozinha, limpar o chão, a cuidar dos filhos e fazer comida. Nós não ensinamos nossos filhos a fazerem as mesmas tarefas. Ai quando casamos o homem não aceita e não se enxerga nesse lugar. Acaba que a mulher tem que dividir com o homem o sustento da família e ainda arcar com a maior parte das tarefas domésticas e do dia a dia dos filhos. O que as empresas podem e devem fazer para incluir nao somente na atração de talentos mais mulheres para o sector de tech e para posiçoes de liderança? Acredito que o principal é dar oportunidade! Não sou a favor de favorecer quem quer que seja por que é homem, ou porque é mulher, ou porque é azul, ou branco, ou cor de rosa com bolinhas (rs)... Acredito que todas as pessoas nasceram com dons e que a todos deve ser dado de igual maneira a oportunidade de colocá-los em prática em prol da comunidade e da sociedade. Independente de cor, credo, raça, sexo... Qual seria sua mensagem para as mulheres que estão tentando entrar na tecnologia? Não tentem! Quem tenta, não faz... Façam! Entrem! Sejam as mulheres na TI. Mostrem que somos capazes! Se a oportunidade não vier de mão beijada... cavem a oportunidade... Quando uma luta é justa, sempre vai existir alguém para estender uma mão... Se uma mão não se estendeu é porque algo tem que ser repensado. Vamos ocupar o lugar! Se eu consegui, todas nós podemos conseguir... Não sou melhor que ninguém! O que você acha que devemos fazer para encorajar mais meninas a considerarem uma carreira em tecnologia? Em primeiro lugar nós somos mulheres, somos mães! Temos ensinar a nossos filhos que os lugares são para os melhores... e que os melhores não tem sexo, não tem cor e não tem credo! Temos que preparar nossos filhOs para aceitarem as mulheres como pares, sejam elas em cargos superiores aos deles ou como subalternas... o que importa é que a oportunidade seja oferecida, que as mulheres sejam reconhecidas por suas competências...
DO OR DO NOT, THERE IS NO TRY FAVORITE QUOTE BY MESTRE YODA ADALCI RIGHI
DENISE MENONCELLO Consultora Sênior de Segurança da Informação, Riscos e Privacidade na CMS Brazil.
Conte-nos sobre você e a sua carreira, Denise. Sou empreendedora e Consultora Sr de Segurança da Informação da CMS Brasil, com 34 anos de carreira e 23 anos de atuação exclusiva em SI. Me formei em Matemática, tenho MBA e as certificações CRISC, BS7799 LA e Lead Implementer em Gestão de Privacidade de Dados. Sou Vice Coordenadora do Comitê “CE 021 000 027 - Segurança da Informação, cibersegurança e proteção da privacidade” da ABNT, responsável no Brasil pelas normas da família ISO 27000, Vice Líder da WOMCY Brasil e Líder Brasil do programa Womcy Girls. Fala sobre a WOMCY: seu papel e o adicionou a sua vida e carreira. Estou na WOMCY desde seu início aqui no Brasil, em Outubro de 2019. A proposta da WOMCY de fomentar mais mulheres para o mercado de Cibersegurança é fantástica e me conquistou imediatamente. Trabalho com segurança e TI há muitos anos e precisamos de mais mulheres na área. Para mim é super gratificante poder contribuir com meu tempo e conhecimento em SI para incentivar outras mulheres para essa profissão. E para atingir esse objetivo, já começamos com as meninas. No programa que sou líder, o WOMCY Girls, compartilhamos informações e experiências com meninas de 14 a 17 anos e mostramos que carreiras STEM e cibersegurança são sim profissões de e para mulheres e que elas podem trilhar esse caminho com sucesso. Além disso, como Vice Líder Brasil tenho a oportunidade de acompanhar de perto e contribuir com outros importantes programas da WOMCY. Estou aprendendo muito com essa troca!
DENISE MENONCELLO Conte-nos sobre a sua experiência pessoal em Cybersecurity! Iniciei minha carreira em Tecnologia da Informação como Trainee na Camargo Correia, num programa espetacular que me deu uma visão geral de tecnologia e me ensinou desde fundamentos de programação até conceitos de Bancos de Dados e Sistemas Operacionais. Comecei trabalhando com mainframes IBM, na área de Suporte e Infraestrutura, área que escolhi no final do programa. Lá pude aprender e trabalhar com processadores de transações online, redes, outros sistemas operacionais como Unix, Novell e Windows e com um software chamado RACF, que é o sistema de segurança do mainframe. Foi ai que tudo começou. Em 1997, em preparação para o famoso “Bug do Milênio” a Camargo Correia fez um outsourcing das suas operações “não core” e eu fui junto, “transferida” como especialista em RACF para a área de Segurança de Dados da Origin, bureau de processamento de dados da Philips. Aí comecei meu trabalho exclusivo com segurança. Fiquei na Origin por 2 anos dando suporte e implementando segurança em diversos clientes e em seguida fui trabalhar na Serasa, já como líder da área, na época chamada de Segurança de Sistemas. Na Serasa tive a oportunidade de trabalhar com vários “domínios” de Segurança e Ciber. Tive sob minha responsabilidade as áreas de Governança de SI, Arquitetura de SI, Operações, Fraudes e Continuidade de Negócios, com times no Brasil e América Latina. Junto à minhas equipes, desenvolvi e implementei políticas, processos e ferramentas como IDM, firewalls de última geração, Data Loss Prevention, Programa de Desenvolvimento Seguro, Programas de Treinamento e Conscientização e Certificação ISO 27001, entre outros. Posso dizer que já fiz de tudo um pouco. Quando sai da Serasa, resolvi abrir minha própria consultoria e ajudar outras empresas a implementar segurança. E aqui estou. O sector de Cybersecurity ainda eh um campo dominado por homens. Como vcs encaram este desafio? Ainda hoje, em 2020, existe a ideia equivocada de que tecnologia e todos os assuntos relacionados a essas áreas são coisas de homens e com isso, muitas mulheres não são incentivadas ou até mesmo não consideram estudar ou trabalhar em carreiras de tecnologia. Hoje as mulheres são cerca de 55% da força de trabalho do Brasil, mas em ciber e tecnologia, não somos nem a metade. A desinformação sobre o que é cibersegurança e que existem outros caminhos para trilhar que não são técnicos dentro da profissão são pontos importantes a serem trabalhados juntos à jovens e mulheres. Acho que o desafio aqui é fazer com que mais e mais mulheres se interessem e entrem para a área, e esse é o papel da WOMCY. Quais são os maiores desafios que as mulheres enfrentam hoje? Primeiro de tudo é desfazer o tabu que mulher não trabalha com tecnologia e em carreiras STEM. Isso é coisa do passado. Somos capazes de atuar em qualquer campo que escolhermos. Pesquisas mostram que as mulheres, por não se considerarem capazes, estudam por mais tempo e se certificam mais para poder competir no mercado de trabalho. Daí vem o outro desafio que é trabalhar o complexo de inferioridade e acreditar mais e mais que podemos fazer tudo o que quisermos! O limitante não é o seu sexo e sim o seu pensamento. Valorizar-se e acreditar em si própria é muito importante para vencer os obstáculos e construir uma carreira de sucesso. Por fim, a falta de recursos financeiros é um fator limitante e muito desafiante para as mulheres, principalmente no Brasil.
DENISE MENONCELLO Qual seria a sua mensagem para as mulheres que estão entrando na area de tech e por que elas deveriam se especializar em cyber? Na minha opinião, existem muitas oportunidades profissionais na área de segurança cibernética. Estamos falando de uma área carente de mão de obra, seja ela feminina ou masculina, no Brasil e no mundo. Pesquisas mostram que só nos EUA existem mais de 300.000 posições abertas e, em 2021, haverá mais de 5 milhões em todo o mundo. E é uma carreira em alta e continuará a ser, é só ver que a cada dia temos mais e mais notícias de ataques e vazamentos de informações. Além disso, as possibilidades de atuação em ciber são muitas e o profissional que ingressar na carreira pode escolher entre vários domínios para trabalhar, que podem ser ou não técnicos, possibilitando que pessoas com vários tipos de conhecimento possam atuar. Minha mensagem: capacite-se e acredite no seu potencial! O que pode ser feito para que mais mulheres entrem na area de tech? Na minha opinião trabalhar em todas as faixas etárias para divulgar e fomentar, começando com as meninas, mostrando referências e exemplos de mulheres em carreiras bem sucedidas de tecnologia e também cibersegurança, é um das ações mais importantes a serem feitas. Além disso, ter disponíveis programas educativos de hard e soft skills para preparar as mulheres para o mercado de trabalho em tecnologia e seus desafios. Lembrando que a Womcy tem programas que levam essas informações e conhecimentos para as mulheres. Na sua opiniao, o que as referencias e iniciativas dedicadas a mulheres podem fazer em parcerias com as empresas para trazer mais diversidade? A parceria de ONG’s com empresas para aumentar a diversidade e mais mulheres nas equipes é importantíssima na minha opinião. Algumas empresas, principalmente as grandes, já tem em sua pauta esses programas de incentivo, até por conta de cumprimento de leis, mas precisamos atingir todos os níveis de empresas e não ser só uma obrigação. E organizações com iniciativas dedicadas para mulheres, como a Womcy, podem e vão colaborar cada vez mais para que isso ocorra. Uma das ações que considero essencial é apresentar mulheres como referências de sucesso de carreira, como exemplo para incentivar e trazer mais mulheres para os diversos setores da economia, sejam eles de tecnologia ou não.
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PERSISTIR SEMPRE, DESISTIR JAMAIS! FAVOURITE QUOTE DENISE MENONCELLO
JANETE RIBEIRO Consultora estratégica em Governança de Dados e IA
Conte-nos sobre você e sua carreira. Sempre atuando com tecnologias inovadoras há 30 anos para o setor financeiro e de varejo, tive a oportunidade de trabalhar nos EUA, Canadá e Espanha, em empresas como Unisys, Teradata, Santander, Everis, IBM dentre outras. Atualmente possuo uma consultoria estratégica em Governança de dados e Inteligência Artificial e dou aulas na pós graduação em Big Data e Analytics do SENAC. Também publiquei dois livros de temas da área e atuo em comunidades digitais para disseminar a transformação digital. Um dia na vida da Janete! Nestes tempos de pandemia eles tem sido longos. Mas eu por hábito acordo cedo, pratico meus esportes, tomo um super café da manhã e a partir das 09:00 começo meu dia me atualizando através das redes sociais e algumas newsletters que recebo. Contato minha equipe, que já antes da pandemia trabalhávamos remoto. Com reuniões periódicas presenciais normalmente demandadas pelos clientes. Fazemos nossa daily de no máximo 30 minutos e todos já sabem o que fazer. Aí começam minhas reuniões com clientes e ou parceiros. Preparo material das aulas, participo de algumas Lives nas comunidades digitais que faço parte. As aulas no SENAC são normalmente aos sábados (das 08:00am às 04:00pm). Procuro sempre encerrar as atividades às 06:00pm. A sector de tecnologia ainda é um campo dominado pelos homens. Conte-nos sobre a sua experiência pessoal no setor. Quando comecei minha carreira creio que era mesmo um ambiente bem masculino, ainda mais no setor financeiro que sempre foi e é bem masculino. Atualmente há mais mulheres, mas ainda somos poucas. Há um fator cultural que as mulheres veem a tecnologia como uma área com muita matemática e uma lenda de que mulher não deve gostar de matemática. Por isso a maioria nem se candidata a cursos de exatas. As poucas de entram na área muitas vezes sentem-se intimidadas por ser minoria. Mas se não nos atrevermos sempre seremos minoria.
JANETE RIBEIRO Você acha que o problema de diversidade no setor de tecnologia existe? Em caso positivo, você percebe a falta de mulheres e como Isso afetou você (se afetou de alguma forma)? Em caso negativo, compartilhe a sua jornada com a gente. Bom, como comentei o problema na área de exatas é diferente do que vemos por exemplo nos esportes, onde o futebol, o automobilismo tem uma caracterização de que são profissões masculinas e muito preconceito pra afastar as mulheres dessas áreas. Na tecnologia na década de 70 e 80 a maioria eram mulheres, e muitas das invenções da área foram feitos por mulheres. O que eu e colegas professoras da área percebemos é que culturalmente as meninas perdem o interesse na área de exatas durante a adolescência, na primeira infância não há a necessidade de aceitação pelo grupo, na adolescência as meninas "nerds" não fazem sucesso. Eu particularmente não me senti discriminada na área, quando decidi atuar nesta área, por ser tudo muito novo, minha família achou esquisito mas tudo bem. Em meu primeiro trabalho na área eu era a única mulher da equipe por uns 3 anos. O que não me impediu de entrar como analista de suporte e ao final migrar para outro departamento do banco já como Gerente de projetos. Ao longo da carreira muitas vezes fui mais discriminada por colegas mulheres do que pelos pares homens. Mas isso não quer dizer que tudo são flores, é obvio que igual a outras profissões a mulher tem que provar que é 110% qualificada para receber salário 70% do salário, que seu colega homem, menos qualificado, vai receber. São as politicas de recursos humanos das empresas. Uma experiência estranha que tive, foi em uma entrevista de emprego que a selecionadora me perguntou se eu queria ter filhos. Eu achei estranho, pois com certeza ela não perguntaria isso a um candidato homem. Quando perguntam isso e você responde sim, você é desqualificada na hora. Você acha que está ficando mais fácil para as mulheres entrarem na área de tecnologia? Sim, não só para mulheres como para qualquer pessoa. A tecnologia hoje não é mais apenas uma ferramenta de gestão mas tornou-se uma geradora de novos serviços dentro da economia digital. Há oportunidades para todos, seja no campo com a agricultura de precisão, ou na medicina, com a telemedicina. Ou simplesmente gerando conteúdo digital. Todas as pessoas de todas as áreas hoje atuam direta ou indiretamente com tecnologia. Enfim, a pandemia tornou viável o trabalho remoto, que ajuda a mulheres com filhos poderem conciliar vida pessoal e trabalho. Eu acredito que o cenário será cada vez mais inclusivo. Há alguma pessoa específica em tecnologia que te inspira? Meus ídolos desde o inicio da carreira eram Steve Jobs e Bill Gates. E até hoje ainda são lendários. Mas na minha carreira tive a oportunidade de ter como minha gestora uma mulher incrível, que atualmente tenho a honra de chamar de amiga. Foi minha primeira "Diretora" em 1990, ela já liderava a área de tecnologia do extinto Banco Nacional. Trabalhamos juntas novamente na IBM e sempre foi um exemplo para mim de profissional sempre a frente do seu tempo e a gestora que sabia reconhecer talentos brutos, como eu! Ela chama-se Miriam Magalhães.
JANETE RIBEIRO Quais são os maiores desafios que as mulheres que desejam se aventurar no mundo da tecnologia enfrentam hoje? Creio que o primeiro deles é vencer os estereótipos e as lendas de que em tecnologia só magos da matemática podem atuar. Dentro da área há sim funções que necessitam alto nível de conhecimento em estatística, como um especialista em inteligência artificial, mas o especialista de UX(User Experience) precisa ter é empatia e entender de processos, de relacionamento com clientes e design. Uma vez vencendo esse medo, é não se auto amedrontar se a maioria dos seus colegas são homens. Para mudar isso alguém tem que começar. Há menos de 50 anos atrás não havia nenhuma mulher médica, operária. Alguém começou e hoje isso não é mais estranho. O que as empresas podem e devem fazer para incluir não somente na atração de talentos mais mulheres para o sector de tech e para posições de liderança? Várias empresas como as Big techs (IBM, Amazon, Microsoft, Google) tem criado cursos online de capacitação voltados para mulheres. Muitas comunidades digitais de mulheres da área tem feito parcerias com empresas para servir de ponte entre a acadêmia e o mercado. Essa parceria entre universidades, empresas e ONGs (organizações não governamentais) é fundamental para fazer a ponte entre as comunidades carentes e a alta tecnologia. No Brasil temos um problema grave que vai além do gênero. A pobreza e o nível do ensino são um desafio para todos. Não há como fazer um curso de capacitação em tecnologia se você não tem acesso a conectividade, se você é um analfabeto funcional. Qual seria sua mensagem para as mulheres que estão tentando entrar na tecnologia? Eu digo que esta é uma área incrível onde você terá novidades todos os dias. E o "long life learning" sempre foi nossa filosofia. Ou seja, nunca saberemos tudo, sempre teremos que estudar e aprender mais e mais. Quem gosta de inovação, de estudar e de resolver problemas, esta é a área dos seus sonhos. E quando trabalhamos naquilo que amamos, nós não trabalhamos nenhum dia. Todos os dias serão diversão, quando você faz o que gosta. E não há nada melhor do que não ficar a semana toda esperando a sexta-feira. Quando fazemos o que gostamos, parece que todo dia é sexta-feira. O que você acha que devemos fazer para encorajar mais meninas a considerarem uma carreira em tecnologia? O que algumas iniciativas locais tem feito é a aproximação no ensino fundamental, como comentei naquela fase da pré-adolescência, levar mais conhecimento e contato com as ferramentas de tecnologia. Para que elas possam se sentir valorizadas pelo conhecimento e não rejeitadas por isso. Trabalhar a autoestima já na pré-adolescência poderá mudar os cenários futuros.
TENTE MOVER O MUNDO - O PRIMEIRO PASSO SERÁ MOVER A SI MESMO. FAVORITE QUOTE BY PLATÃO JANETE RIBEIRO
LUMA BOAVENTURA FAVARINI Co-founder AI ROBOTS
Conte-nos sobre você e sua carreira. Luma é especialista em Transformação Digital e Inovação no MIT. Membro do Time de Liderança do Capítulo de Betim da Singularity University. É Co-fundadora da empresa AI ROBOTS de Inteligência Artificial para Indústria 4.0, Consultora de AI Transformation na Kunumi e Consultora de Inovação Aberta do MOVX. Possui premiações e classificações no Braskem Labs, Conexão Indústria 4.0 da ABDI, Softlanding Lisboa do WebSummit, Global Startup Challenge de Israel, We Impact da Microsoft, Case for Startups e Fiemg Lab 4.0. Um dia na vida da Luma! O dia na vida minha profissional é repleto de reuniões por videoconferência, em média 5 a 8 reuniões diárias, envolvendo a consultoria de transformação digital e a atuação na AI ROBOTS. Interagindo com empresas do Brasil e do exterior. O setor de tecnologia ainda é um campo dominado pelos homens. Conte-nos sobre a sua experiência pessoal no setor. Atuo em diversos setores que antes eram tidos como masculinos, tais como tecnologia e indústria, e cada vez mais as empresas têm percebido que times mistos e diversos geram resultados mais consistentes e mais inovação. Minha experiência pessoal reforça isso, no nosso time fazemos questão de ter diversidade de todos os tipos. E temos colhido excelentes resultados! Você acha que está ficando mais fácil para as mulheres entrarem na área de tecnologia? As iniciativas no Brasil e no mundo estão sendo direcionadas para equilibrar esse deficit de mulheres na tecnologia, tanto em grandes empresas para recrutamento, quanto em fundos de investimento que estão incentivando o empreendedorismo feminino.
LUMA BOAVENTURA FAVARINI Você acha que o problema de diversidade no setor de tecnologia existe? Em caso positivo, você percebe a falta de mulheres e como Isso afetou você (se afetou de alguma forma)? Em caso negativo, compartilhe a sua jornada com a gente. Existe sim o problema de diversidade no setor de tecnologia, assim como em diversos outros. As mulheres tendem a ir mais para a área de Humanas e seguem jornadas diferentes da área tech. Foi o que aconteceu comigo: minha primeira formação da vida, em 2011, foi em Direito. Quando iniciei a vida profissional, notei que amava mais a área de Negócios do que a atuação como advogada em si. Em 2014 iniciei de cabeça do mundo de tecnologia, convidada para assumir a Diretoria de Negócios de uma empresa da Finlândia no Brasil. Logo notei que muita coisa no Direito e outras áreas tradicionais ficaria obsoleto. Com isso fiz uma especialização EAD no MIT sobre Inovação e Transformação Digital, apaixonando cada vez mais pelos temas. Assim, comecei a ser convidada para prestar consultorias em empresas que gostariam de se transformar e aplicar novas tecnologias. Há alguma pessoa específica em tecnologia que te inspira? A Tânia Cosentino Presidente da Microsoft Brasil me inspira muito! Por ter traçado uma carreira nos dois universos bastante desafiadores para a mulher, que também atuo: indústria e tecnologia. Quais são os maiores desafios que as mulheres que desejam se aventurar no mundo da tecnologia enfrentam hoje? Os maiores desafios que visualizo as mulheres enfrentando para se aventurar no mundo da tecnologia são: poucos incentivos desde o início da criação da menina com atividades e matérias que remetem a ciências exatas e programação, além de poucos incentivos no mercado tradicional ao empreendedorismo feminino. O que as empresas podem e devem fazer para incluir não somente na atração de talentos mais mulheres para o sector de tech e para posições de liderança? As empresas podem criar programas de formação para mulheres em gestão, tecnologia, programação, automação de processos e criar benefícios para equilibrar a maternidade com a vida profissional, como home office ou para trabalhos presenciais, ter espaços para amamentação, berçário e creche. Qual seria sua mensagem para as mulheres que estão tentando entrar na tecnologia? Às mulheres que estão tentando entrar na tecnologia só tenho uma coisa a dizer: ¨entrem, de cabeça!¨ É um mercado gigantesco, com oportunidades imensas! Junto ao estudo de tecnologia, é muito importante estudar gestão, finanças, liderança, inglês e empreendedorismo. O que você acha que devemos fazer para encorajar mais meninas a considerarem uma carreira em tecnologia? Para encorajar mais mulheres a considerarem a carreira em tecnologia, é essencial tornar públicos diversos cases de sucesso de mulheres atuando como colaboradoras e líderes em empresas de base tech. Além de comunidades de mulheres, para se ajudarem com dicas para superar as barreiras existentes.
PENSAR PEQUENO E PENSAR GRANDE DÁ O MESMO TRABALHO. MAS PENSAR GRANDE TE LIBERTA DOS DETALHES INSIGNIFICANTES
FAVORITE QUOTE BY JORGE PAULO LEMANN LUMA BOAVENTURA FAVARINI
MANUELA BERNADINO Estagiária, Palestrante e Mentora.
Conte-nos sobre você. Tenho 20 anos, formada em Técnico em Administração, faço Ciência da Computação, estagio numa multinacional, atuo como embaixadora do Instituto Bold, integrante do Comitê Jovem Aprendiz e projeto Jovens do Brasil, mentora no Ela Empodera e, ocasionalmente, palestrante. Recentemente fui convidada a desenvolver um projeto voltado aos jovens infratores, ajudo no Por Você Mulher, com foco na saúde intima das adolescentes que vivem nas periferias de São Paulo, e há alguns dias fui umas das jovens premiada na London Leadership Competition com imersão em Londres em 2021. Um dia na vida da Manu! Na empresa faço parte do time developer na área de Salesforce, estou na trilha de aprendizado para realizar a prova de certificação. No momento, atuo num projeto onde faço, parcialmente, o papel de project owner e analista de negócios, além disso tenho acesso a milhares de cursos e treinamentos internos para desenvolver minhas hard e soft skills. Também na empresa, faço parte de grupos de afinidades, onde ajudo a organizar eventos e presido algumas palestras. O sector de tecnologia ainda é um campo dominado pelos homens. Conte-nos sobre a sua experiência pessoal no setor. Infelizmente, o setor de tecnologia ainda é um ambiente dominado por homens, vai desde a área educacional até o mercado de trabalho, na maioria dos cursos e eventos que frequento, que são abertos ao público, a maioria dos presentes são homens. Já frequentei uma faculdade que tinham só dez meninas matriculadas no 1º semestre, no 2º semestre, contando comigo, quatro. Troquei de faculdade, mas a diferença ainda é gritante, já pensei em desistir algumas vezes, felizmente faço parte de comunidades para mulheres em TI, tenho apoio dos meus colegas de trabalho, amigos e familiares que me incentivam e acreditam no meu potencial para a carreira em tecnologia. Há alguma pessoa específica em tecnologia que te inspira? Existem muitas mulheres que admiro no mundo da TI, entre elas tem a Camila Achutti, da MasterTech, Gabriela de Queiroz, IBM, Giovana do Nascimento, IBM, e Karen Santos, UX para minas pretas.
MANUELA BERNADINO Você acha que o problema de diversidade no setor de tecnologia existe? Em caso positivo, você percebe a falta de mulheres e como Isso afetou você (se afetou de alguma forma)? Em caso negativo, compartilhe a sua jornada com a gente. Decidi fazer tecnologia por causa de um evento que participei chamado Black In Tech, realizado pela IBM, foi só para mulheres negras e nesse evento aprendi a fazer um chatbot, nesse dia percebi que a tecnologia possibilita milhares de oportunidades, ouvir as palestrantes negras que estavam presente foi inspirador, poucas semanas depois do evento estava procurando cursos, faculdades e pesquisando sobre a área de tecnologia. Foi nesse momento que percebi que o setor da tecnologia, infelizmente, ainda precisa melhorar muito em diversidade e inclusão. Faculdades e cursos sobre tecnologia têm a grande maioria dos seus alunos homens, as mulheres geralmente desistem do curso no meio, elas se sentem excluídas e acabam acreditando que aquilo não é para elas, a maioria dos professores são homens e existem empresas que ainda possuem o pensamento machista, quando você é mulher negra todas essas pressões pioram. Felizmente, trabalho numa empresa que valoriza e defende a diversidade e inclusão, onde me sinto representada, meu trabalho é valorizado e o fato de ser mulher negra não me desqualifica em nada, espero que um dia todas as empresas tenham essa mesma mentalidade. Você acha que está ficando mais fácil para as mulheres entrarem na área de tecnologia? Sim, o mercado de trabalho está mudando e percebendo que mulheres são fundamentais para o avanço tecnológico, elas têm o potencial para assumir cargos na área tecnológica e muitas empresas começaram a oferecerem vagas exclusivas para mulheres na área. Além disso, existem vários projetos, cursos e pessoas que lutam para que as mulheres tenham maior participação na área e também oferecem suporte para elas, oferecendo desde cursos até apoio psicológico, assim elas conseguem trilhar um caminho pelo mundo tecnológico. Obviamente que nem tudo são flores, mas hoje estamos bem melhor do que há alguns anos. Quais são os maiores desafios que as mulheres que desejam se aventurar no mundo da tecnologia enfrentam hoje? Observo que ainda hoje, mesmo com os nossos avanços, o preconceito e o racismo é muito presente na área da tecnologia, quando voltamos nosso olhar para as mulheres que vivem em regiões periféricas, percebemos que faltam oportunidades, mas quando elas existem, a maioria das mulheres não tem acesso à informação. O que as empresas podem e devem fazer para incluir nao somente na atração de talentos mais mulheres para o sector de tech e para posiçoes de liderança? Fazer um processo seletivo mais humano, ter um RH que faça treinamento sobre o viés inconsciente, a empresa precisa entender que somos mais do que currículo e diploma, temos muito mais a oferecer. É necessário que a empresa invista na carreira das mulheres e incentive seu desenvolvimento em várias frentes, além disso é preciso entender que a maioria das mulheres hoje em dia quer conciliar sua carreira com a vida pessoal, é necessário ter empatia e um olhar humano para situações que ocorrem no dia a dia das funcionárias.
MANUELA BERNADINO Qual seria sua mensagem para as mulheres que estão tentando entrar na tecnologia? Não desistam! Muitas vezes é desafiador, mas você é capaz de superar qualquer obstáculo! Saiba que você não está sozinha. Existem várias comunidades e pessoas que apoiam mulheres na área de tecnologia, lembrem-se sempre de tudo o que as mulheres construíram até aqui, as mulheres foram e são fundamentais para o avanço tecnológico. Esse lugar é seu por direito, mulher! O que você acha que devemos fazer para encorajar mais meninas a considerarem uma carreira em tecnologia? Precisamos ensinar o que é a tecnologia e as inúmeras oportunidades que ela possibilita, temos de mostrar que essa área não existe só pra seguir carreira como desenvolvedora, mas sim que ela está presente em tudo o tempo todo, é necessário quebrar esse mito de que carreira em tecnologia é só para quem domina exatas, temos que mostrar que a tecnologia é nossa aliada. Precisamos criar programas que ensine tecnologia nas escolas, dar apoio aos projetos gratuitos que ensinam mulheres a programar, focar em mentorias para as meninas que querem ingressar na área e, claro, precisamos focar cada dia mais nas periferias, existem milhares de meninas com grande potencial e força de vontade, mas infelizmente com poucos recursos.
2021
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SEJA COMO FOR, A GRANDIOSA REVOLUÇÃO HUMANA DE UMA ÚNICA PESSOA IRÁ UM DIA IMPULSIONAR A MUDANÇA TOTAL DO DESTINO DE UM PAÍS E, ALÉM DISSO, SERÁ CAPAZ DE TRANSFORMAR O DESTINO DE TODA A HUMANIDADE
FAVORITE QUOTE BY DAISAKU IKEDA MANUELA BERNADINO
BOOK CLUB UNCHARTED: HOW TO MAP THE FUTURE by Margaret Heffernan
In her bold and invigorating new book, distinguished businesswoman and author Margaret Heffernan explores the people and organizations who aren’t daunted by uncertainty.We are addicted to prediction, desperate for certainty about the future. But the complexity of modern life won’t provide that; experts in forecasting are reluctant to look more than 400 days out. History doesn’t repeat itself and even genetics won’t tell you everything you want to know. Ineradicable uncertainty is now a fact of life.In complex environments, efficiency is a hazard not a help; being robust is the better, safer option. Drawing on a wide array of people and places, Margaret Heffernan looks at long-term projects developed over generations that could never have been planned the way that they have been run. Experiments, led by individuals and nations, discover new possibilities and options. Radical exercises in forging new futures with wildly diverse participants allow everyone to create outcomes together that none could do alone. Existential crises reveal the vital social component in resilience. Death is certain, but how we approach it impacts the future of those we leave behind. And preparedness – doing everything today that you might need for tomorrow – provides the antidote to passivity and prediction.Ranging freely through history and from business to science, government to friendships, this refreshing book challenges us to resist the false promises of technology and efficiency and instead to mine our own creativity and humanity for the capacity to create the futures we want and can believe in.
NO FILTER: THE INSIDE STORY OF INSTAGRAM by Sarah Frier
The extraordinary inside story of how Instagram became the world's most successful appIn just ten years, Instagram has gone from being a simple photo app to a $100-billion company. The journey has involved ground-breaking innovations, a billion-dollar takeover, and clashes between some of the biggest names in tech. But it's a story that has never been told - until now.In No Filter, Bloomberg's Sarah Frier reveals how Instagram became the hottest app in a generation, reshaping our culture and economy in the process. With astonishing access to all the key players from Instagram's co-founders to super-influencers like Kris Jenner - Frier offers behind-the-scenes glimpses of every moment in the company's life: from its launch, to its unlikely acquisition by Facebook, to its founders' dramatic disputes with their new boss, Mark Zuckerberg.But this is not just a Silicon Valley story. No Filter explores how Instagram has reshaped global business, creating a new economy of 'influencers' and pioneering a business model that sells an aspirational lifestyle to all of us. And it delves into Instagram's effects on popular culture, rewiring our understanding of celebrity and placing mounting pressure on all of us to perform online - to the point of warping our perception of reality.The resulting book connects one company's rise to a global revolution in technology, culture and business. Facebook's decision to buy Instagram was the best investment it ever made. But we're still learning about what it has cost the rest of us.
BOOK CLUB MY OWN WORDS by Ruth Bader Ginsburg
My Own Words “showcases Ruth Ginsburg’s astonishing intellectual range” (The New Republic). In this collection Justice Ginsburg discusses gender equality, the workings of the Supreme Court, being Jewish, law and lawyers in opera, and the value of looking beyond US shores when interpreting the US Constitution. Throughout her life Justice Ginsburg has been (and continues to be) a prolific writer and public speaker. This book’s sampling is selected by Justice Ginsburg and her authorized biographers Mary Hartnett and Wendy W. Williams, who introduce each chapter and provide biographical context and quotes gleaned from hundreds of interviews they have conducted. Witty, engaging, serious, and playful, My Own Words is a fascinating glimpse into the life of one of America’s most influential women and “a tonic to the current national discourse” (The Washington Post).
ALPHA GIRLS by Julian Guthrie
An unforgettable story of four women who, through grit and ingenuity, became stars in the cutthroat, high-stakes, male dominated world of venture capital in Silicon Valley, and helped build some of the foremost companies of our time.In Alpha Girls, award-winning journalist Julian Guthrie takes readers behind the closed doors of venture capital, an industry that transforms economies and shapes how we live. We follow the lives and careers of four women who were largely written out of history until now.Magdalena Yesil, who arrived in America from Turkey with $43 to her name, would go on to receive her electrical engineering degree from Stanford, found some of the first companies to commercialize internet access, and help Marc Benioff build Salesforce. Mary Jane Elmore went from the corn fields of Indiana to Stanford and on to the storied venture capital firm IVP - where she was one of the first women in the U.S. to make partner - only to be pulled back from the glass ceiling by expectations at home. Theresia Gouw, an overachieving first-generation Asian American from a working-class town, dominated the foosball tables at Brown (she would later reluctantly let Ser*Brin win to help Accel Partners court Google), before she helped land and build companies including Facebook, Trulia, Imperva, and ForeScout. Sonja Hoel, a Southerner who became the first woman investing partner at white-glove Menlo Ventures, invested in McAfee, Hotmail, Acme Packet, and F5 Networks. As her star was still rising at Menlo, a personal crisis would turn her into an activist overnight, inspiring her to found an all-women's investment group and a national nonprofit for girls.
GADGETS TAP STRAP £ 225.00 Tap strap is a device that allows you to type on any device that can work with bluetooth and to control it with your fingers.
NECKRELAX £ 59.99 NeckRelax uses a combination of cutting-edge massage technologies to stimulate your muscles and release tension held deep within your body in as little as 10 minutes! Advanced Pain Relief, Full Body Treatment and Fast & Easy Setup.
FIT TRACK £ 65.49 Understand Your Health & Body In Seconds. FitTrack is the first and only accurate and affordable way to measure, track, and trend your health data over time.Just step on the scale with your bare feet and FitTrack will do the rest. It’s patented BIA technology and innovative smartphone app provides 17 real-time measurements about your health and body – it’s like nothing you’ve ever seen! 17 Health Measurements At Your Fingertips – Weight, Body Fat Ratio, Hydration Level, Muscle Mass, Body Mass Index, Visceral Fat Index, Subcutaneous Fat, Base Metabolic Rate, Muscle Rate, Bone Mass, Protein Rate, Metabolic Age, Standard Weight, Weight Control, Fat Mass, Weight without Fat, Protein Mass.
GADGETS DODOW £ 49.90 Dodow is scientifically designed to quickly soothe your brain activity, slow your breathing and relax your body. Dodow's light metronome re-educates your brain to fall asleep.Instantly improves your natural sleep habits
ENENCE INSTANT TRANSLATOR £ 89.00 Two-way conversation in 36 languages - a revolutionary device enables you to communicate in 40+ languages around the world faster, easier and cheaper than ever before! Technological breakthrough allows translating your speech in just 1.5s.
KAILO £92.00 Kailo - Futuristic Patch That Uses Nanotech To Relieve Your Pain. Kailo is a non-invasive patch that’s embedded with billions of tiny nanocapacitors. These nanocapacitors work together like a bio-antenna (more on that later) to naturally relieve pain in seconds.
COLABORATIONS we are looking to collaborate with all digital and tech organizations focused in women, diversity and equality.