Female Tech Leaders Magazine June Edition 2022

FemaleTech Leaders JUNE 2022

2022 REBRANDING Tech Best Secret: a badass community driving change for women in technology.

INTRODUCING: DR NARISA CHAUVIDUL-AW

LET'S STEP INTO A NEW DIMENSIONTHE METAVERSE

POWERED

BY WOMCY 25 MULHERES DE DESTAQUE EM AMERICA LATINA CYBERSEGURANCA

www.femaletechleaders.com

email candyce@femaletechleadersmagazine.com

SIMPLE TECH. Dear Tech Leaders

I know that the hot topic now is WHY we call ourselves Female Tech Leader if I am JUST a Tech Leader (or a founder) .... why should I put myself in this box, why should I use a label like that, why should I devalue myself and add a female if everyone knows I am a female...

The debate is open in the wild and has turned viral on social media a couple of times in the past two years - I totally get it and I agree on so many levels BUT... Statistically, women are still underrepresented in the tech and startup ecosystem. And pos Covid we are expecting to see even worse numbers from stats and reality, just google quickly and check reports from all around the world that shows local and global numbers.

We talk a lot about diversity, minorities, equality... but in reality, nothing has changed.

I wear FEMALE as a badge of honour because I know that still have so much to do and that his change is very far to be a fact and the path is going to be hard. As Kalpana Chawla (an Indian-born American astronaut and engineer who was the first woman of Indian origin to go to space) said: "The path from dreams to success does exist. May you have the vision to find it, the courage to get on to it, and the perseverance to follow it. "

Sincerely, Candyce Costa Editor-in-Chief and Disruptor

www.femaletechleaders.com

ABOUT US Female Tech Leaders Community EMPOWERING FEMALE TECH AND FOUNDERS AROUND EUROPE

3000 MEMBERS FROM 48 COUNTRIES ANOTHER 10K THROUGH OUR PARTNERS LINKEDIN CHANNEL OF MORE THAN 16K FOLLOWERS MONTHLY NEWSLETTER BIMONTHLY DIGITAL MAGAZINE

WHAT WE OFFER CONTENT IN 3 CATEGORIES: INTERVIEWS, ARTICLES AND RECOMMENDATIONS (BOOKS, GADGETS AND EVENTS).

PROFESSIONAL AND TECHNICAL CONTENT AS WELL MOTIVATION AND INSPIRING CONTENT. EVENTS - FACE TO FACE AND ONLINE (METAVERSE) PODCAST

WE FOCUS ON WOMEN IN TECH AND SUPPORTING TO CLOSE THE GAP AND BREAKING THE CEILING. CONTACT FOR PARTNERSHIP & SUPPORT OUR COMMUNITY

here

www.femaletechleaders.com

INTERVIEWS MARCH 2022 www.femaletechleaders.com

ANNA FREEMAN ZavFit CEO

Please introduce yourself and tell us more about your journey so far?

Gaining a Bachelor of Science from UCL in London, I went on to enjoy a successful career in the FinTech space, largely in the City and was lucky to work with multiple start-ups including a role in the founding leadership team at Calastone (2009-2014).

After I moved from London to Edinburgh in 2015 and having been on a personal journey myself, I identified that a healthy money mindset is a crucial dimension of health and wellbeing. However, it is a dimension that is consistently overlooked as a health issue by both the health and finance sectors. In fact, money is the #1 cause of mental health problems around the world.

I have a huge passion for wellbeing, and a desire to make an impact, which led to the creation of ZavFit. We are on a mission to help people feel happier and healthier by reducing the stress, guilt and anxiety they feel about money. As the first Health App for money stress, our vision ‘MoneyFitness’ is backed by science and designed to help people change the behaviours that cause money stress. It has been called a game-changer by the Health industry.

A day in your business life!

No two days are the same when running a start-up tech company. Being based in Edinburgh, my midweek days will consist of a lot of travelling to London and other cities for various meetings – I’ll do as many of them face-to-face as I can as I believe it’s the most cohesive way to run the business – especially after the couple of years we’ve had.

I’ll usually wake up at 6:30am and head to the gym – it gives me the perfect start to the day and helps me with my own wellbeing. A long walk between meetings and emails is also really important to keep my mind clear and working well. At the end of the day, no business is more important than family, so I’ll always close the laptop to make time for that.

Diversity issue in the tech sector: thoughts about the lack of women in technology.

I’ve worked in the tech sector for over 20 years and it’s certainly changed a lot. Back then I was only one of a few women in my job and I had very little in the way of female business role models. It’s certainly grown an enormous amount since then but we still have a long way to go. Especially when you can see first-hand the wonderful advantages that women can bring to the sector.

Education has to be the number one thing to attract more talented women into the industry. Working in tech doesn’t always mean you are techy. There are thousands of jobs within the sector that cover a wide range of topics that all have enormous value, but I think there is a real lack of understanding about what the industry is all about and what it has to offer females.

As a generalisation, women have a wonderful empathy to bring to the workplace and look at problems in completely different ways to provide innovative solutions. We must remember that quite often, the end user of a product or service is split 50/50 between men and women, so having more women involved in the design and execution phase of technology is only going to be a good thing when looking at the outcome.

More importantly, I think it’s essential we recognise that in this day and age, almost every company is a tech company. You can’t run many successful businesses without the use of clever tech and data which opens up so many new opportunities for women to take a chance and make their mark within their careers.

Advice/ Tips would you give to women who want a career in healthtech?

1. Make sure it actually interests you. Because if it does, you will excel!

2. Don’t underestimate the science. We must make sure that only evidence based, scientifically backed data in HealthTech is being used to encourage behavioural change.

3. Ask Why. You won’t be expected to know everything, but having an inquisitive mind to learn, ask why and challenge the status quo is an enormously valuable skill to have and it’s the only way we improve as an industry.

4. Never underestimate the difference you can make to any organisation. Big or small.

www.femaletechleaders.com

Biggest changes in the healthtech in the past 5 years?

My background is mostly in FinTech having worked in that sector since 1999 before starting ZavFit in recent years, so I observe these changes through a dual lens. For me, it’s about seeing the change in producing preventive HealthTech to stop problems arising in the future that require treatment.

Anna Freeman

I think that’s down to the fact we have a better understanding of our physical and mental health and the impact that our daily lives have on us. We recognise that we’re not invincible and sweeping things under the carpet is no longer the go to solution.

Instead, we have more understanding of the things that will damage us. Therefore, there is a big shift towards putting measures in place to support people from ever having to experience these problems or reduce their impact.

As we learn more about AI and have more access to data, consumers are expecting us to be more and more customised to them. It's something that has really helped when understanding that we all face different problems and there really isn’t a one size fits all method to treatment.

What are you most excited about for the future and where do you see the industry in 5 years?

It excites me that while the industry is growing and becoming very powerful, we have collectively worked hard to put the power back into the hands of consumers. By being able to collect more data and use it effectively, we are able to show consumers much more about who they are and how technology can help – that’s really powerful! Not only does this data allow us to put preventive measures in place to stop people needing to get to treatment phase, but it helps us recognise problems that have never been addressed.

For example, it’s data that showed us at ZavFit that worrying about money was the number one cause of stress. Therefore, we’re able to use data and evidence-based science to provide simple and easy to steps to help people understand the correlation between their money and their health.

www.femaletechleaders.com

Future of healthtech: How will the consumer mindset evolve given the upcoming changes in the health sector?

I believe people are excited by having more control and understanding themselves better. HealthTech has really helped us gain more data on ourselves and by bringing smart design and clear messaging, we are now able to understand and use that data to benefit our daily lives without it looking scary. Going into the pandemic with this basic level of self-data has only made us want more. As we learn more about how our daily routines affect our health, consumers are more accepting to the fact that technology can further improve the decisions we make and how we choose to live our lives.

ZavFit, for example, will use both Health data and Financial data, but from the perspective of showing an individual how they can improve their health and wellbeing by understanding how their money makes them feel. A few years ago, the idea of looking at the correlation between what you spend your money on and how it makes you feel wouldn’t have been a business opportunity. It would simply fall as someone else’s responsibility when treatment was required for stress. But we now understand more about the value placed on daily decision making and our health. Just look at how many people have made the choice to spend more time with their families, or taken up physical hobbies to improve their lives post pandemic. It’s a shift in understanding that health is freedom and it’s a very good thing.

Your opinion on the state of the healthtech industry now?

HealthTech has grown exponentially and for good reason. Society has recognised that protecting our health is more important than ever and we’re starting to take it seriously. We’ve seen how treatment systems such as the NHS are under huge strain to cope with the pressures that we as a society put it under due to our own lifestyle choices. So, while the industry is growing, we must continue to do more to build out more evidence-based solutions.

While start-ups and small businesses are building wonderful products, I can’t help but feel we need the collective power of the tech giants like Microsoft, Google and Apple to step in to support the system. Health has never been seen as the responsibility of these companies but it’s about time there was a joint responsibility to make positive behavioural change. I have a vision that the health industry can become more powerful than the finance industry. Coming from FinTech, I saw first-hand how the finance industry was placed on a pedestal – but it’s damaging to our health. If we take learnings from the pandemic that health is wealth, then there is no reason why we shouldn’t be putting more emphasis on creating culturally healthy nations that can be supported and led by tech giants and governments by offering practical and informative health care.

www.femaletechleaders.com

Women who have inspired you.

- DVF /Diana Von Fürstenberg: The well known fashion designer did more than create a wrap dress. She created empowerment to take charge. For women to express themselves and champion creativity while fighting for human rights.

- Ariana Huffington: She has an inspirational story having built Huffington Post but after an illness at work she really pioneered things in recognising that the working culture needs to change to get performance out of people. She’s inspired me to focus on health at work as the key for success.

- Edith Eger: An unknown addition to the list but a story I remind myself of constantly.

Edith is one of the oldest holocaust survivors who witnessed some of the most difficult and harrowing times in human history before going on to become a psychologist to help more people through their own trauma. Her mantra of ‘If you can survive today, tomorrow you’ll be free’ has always stayed with me and been a reminder that we can get through any difficulties.

Most rewarding experience working in the industry.

I’m lucky that I’m passionate about my work. I’m passionate about people and I’m passionate about making a difference. Working in HealthTech with ZavFit, building a platform we really believe will change people’s lives for the better, is all the motivation we need. Most people believe that making a difference in the corporate world is nearly impossible, but with the right drive, team and dedication, you can start to see those changes coming to the fore and that’s incredibly rewarding.

Favourite quote?

“Trust the journey” it’s something we say in every meeting.

Life has taught me we don’t always understand ‘why’ things happen, or what the future will hold, but we can trust the journey and that things will work out for us just as they should. The path might not always be straight as there are things outside of our control, however, I believe that if we take the right steps, put in the time and keep going, we will get there in the end. And by trusting the process it can help us be more resilient when dealing with the inevitable setbacks that will crop up.

www.femaletechleaders.com

ANURADHA CHOWDHARY Tech and Web3 Lawyer

Tell us about you and your career and business!

I am a corporate and intellectual property lawyer, specialising in tech law, and helping businesses in the emerging tech space (Web3 + NFTs + crypto + the Metaverse).

In addition to being a lawyer, I am an alumnus of the University of the Arts London (one of the World’s best art colleges), and hold a degree in filmmaking along with some experience in the film and media industry.

I’m very passionate about Web3 (which I blog about), and I’m working towards helping others understand Web3 and bringing sound advisory services to this industry. I presently sit on WICCI's (Women's Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry) Emerging Technologies Council and we are working towards recommending and enabling fundamental law and policy changes in the emerging tech sector.

How did you get into the technology sector?

Curiosity!

Curiosity drove me to filmmaking.

Curiosity turned me around and drove me to law school, after which I graduated and started practicing as a corporate and intellectual property lawyer.

Curiosity then helped me find my way to tech law and eventually to Web3!

Who are your role models for women in tech?

Reshma Saujani (founder and CEO of Girls Who Code) and Jaime Schmidt (co-founder of BFF) are two names that come to mind.

Anuradha Chowdhary

But I have something to learn from every woman in tech, so I'd call us all each others' role models.

Do you notice a lack of women in technology?

If so, why do you think that’s the case?

There is a lack of women in technology. The issue in the tech industry when it comes to female talent is that it can appear to be a bit of a 'boys club' and is therefore an intimidating space for many young and seasoned female professionals.

But now, with increasing awareness about the lack of women in tech, we're seeing these gaps being bridged by women who are reaching out to each other, guiding each other and simply being there for each other! This is creating, or rather has already created, a community of smart, talented and driven women in tech who are attracting more women to this industry and providing each other with a fantastic support system.

Do you think that women in technology careers face different challenges than men do?

I recently joined this group for women in Web3, which started off as a group of women finding each other to attend Web3 conferences and events together, because each one has felt a bit intimidated at these events. We quickly realised that it is not just the events, but rather the entire experience of being a woman in tech which is unnerving, alienating and can make one feel excluded.

We also face challenges in tech owing to the lack of female mentors, female role models and general gender biases. Women are expected to be likeable but not aggressive. To get things done but not be too assertive. To 'handle it' but not appear to be 'bossy'. To get back to work as a parent but not have lost work experience due to time away. It's a double-edged sword and a tough job to be a woman in any career.

Having said that, we must acknowledge that people of all genders face different career challenges and we must be empathetic and help the people around us, whatever their gender may be, to face and overcome these challenges.

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?

Do it! Do not be afraid to start and certainly do not be afraid to ask for help. We are all learning, and there is no better way to learn than from each other.

Talk to people from different backgrounds and careers to get perspective. I went from a career in filmmaking to a career in law - two very diverse paths. Understand that you may have multiple talents, skills and interests, so tap into them all and carve your own unique path!

"Do not be afraid to start and certainly do not be afraid to ask for help. We are all learning, and there is no better way to learn than from each other."

What do you think companies can do to encourage more women to choose careers in tech and rectify the imbalance?

Pay attention to diversity. Don’t just hire someone who ticks all the boxes, but look at passion, curiosity and potential.

Pay attention to inclusiveness. Flexible working has become a sought-after ‘perk’ in every job role and 64% of women want to see an increase in flexible working. Find a way to offer it to retain existing talent and attract more women to better positions.

Pay attention to management. We need more women in managerial and leadership positions. Including more women at the top will positively impact the way the organisation functions, and will attract and retain more female talent by offering young women the female role models that they are looking for.

Pay attention to transparency and growth. Work together to chart out a clear path right from the start. There are companies in India that are incorporating a roadmap in their employment agreements. This can be done by (a) defining the incentive terms and what one can achieve when they complete each specified milestone; (b) clarifying when one would be promoted and what promotions and titles are up for grabs in years 2, 5 and 10 of working with the company. Carving out clear paths is the surest way to retain female talent because women want to know how they can plan their futures in the organisation and balance that out with the personal journeys that they are on.

www.femaletechleaders.com

In your opinion, what is the biggest obstacle for women to succeed in the workplace/business?

The 'glass ceiling'. Yes it exists and it can be shattered.

Not just in tech, but across the board, there is always talk of a ‘glass ceiling’. Drawing from the example of Web3 and its main tenet i.e. decentralisation and the dispersion of power, it is clear that optimum functioning can be achieved by breaking traditional power barriers. It is time to work together to break stereotypes and balance out the power dynamics in the tech industry. When women work together, magical things happen.

Would you like to share some thoughts on how you’ve balanced your personal life with work?

It has been difficult. One needs to set professional boundaries with their peers, learn how to switch off and tune out when required, figure out their priorities and actively allocate some time every day and/or every weekend to their personal lives. It requires a little tact and a lot of assertiveness, but it is possible to build a balanced life.

How do you find inspiration in your life?

I read, write and listen, and somewhere along the way, inspiration always strikes. I truly believe that by taking an interest in everything, one can find inspiration in anything. I actively interact with as many people as I can, from backgrounds, industries, careers and mindsets that are different from mine. I read fiction to understand how my favourite characters think. And I turn to cinema and art when I need to stimulate my imagination.

What's your favourite quote?

"If you don't know, the thing to do is not to get scared, but to learn" - Ayn Rand.

www.femaletechleaders.com

CATIE ROMEROFINGER BABs LABs Founder & CEO

Tell us about you and your career and business!

I have always worked in tech in one way or another. I say I started in web 1 and have now moved into web3. I started out working with large tech, at engineering companies doing marketing and communications for solar and water companies.

From there I moved into SaaS and consulting firms and managed marketing and communications for what were mainly web2 companies. Then about 3 years ago I moved into web3. I took on a project that was in need of figuring out their narrative and GTM strategy for a project that was based on blockchain. It was my first run-in with blockchain at such a deep level and it became, what I refer to as my second masters as I needed to fall very deep down the rabbit hole to understand the ins and out of the tech before I could even get to the how to form the story.

After 6 months of intense sessions with the founder I was able to get to the core of the product and create a story that encapsulated where we wanted to go. After my work was done I was a forever crypto convert and knew that that is where I wanted to stay.

I formed a Web3 PR firm, Tecient, with two colleagues that I had worked with for years and with-in weeks we had several important clients. Months after that I partnered with another Web3 marketing firm and took on the role of CEO of Sinofy and Tecient together, covering the global market. In December of last year, in a strategy session with my partner at Sinofy, I said I wanted to do something bigger than what we were doing, I wanted to make my mark on women in tech and do it through art and Web3. That is where BABs was formed.

BABs LABs is on a mission to bring more diversity to Web3 via NFT collections.

We are connecting diverse led brands with diverse artists and helping brands come into Web3. We have found a hole in the market. So many big brands are coming into Web3 but no one is talking about how to help brands that have higher barriers to entry get in. That is what we want to do. Truly bring more diverse voices to the world economy.

Who are your role models for women in tech?

Lolita Taub - as a latina woman I think she has done a great job for both Latinas and Tech. Nastya Adamova - my cofounder in BABs - she is so smart, she can see the 500 different angles of everything.

Catie Romero-Finger How did you get into the technology sector?

I think I was always interested in complicated topics and tech is one of those topics, especially from a marketing and communications perspective. To be able to tell a difficult story is hard and I liked that challenge. My entrance into Web3 was by accident and again it was the classic tech story of, the product was ready but no one could figure out how to tell the story so that anyone would want to buy it. That is where I came. I had to figure out the core of the offering and understand why someone else would need or want this product and how the story would sell it.

Do you notice a lack of women in technology?

If so, why do you think that’s the case?

Yes, I think more and more there are more, but general there is a lack of women. I think that traditionally tech has been male focused and up until recently there has not been a huge push to actively push women into tech. I also think that tech moves very fast so when a women take time off to have children they can often feel they have lost too much time to be able to jump back in. And I think that projects can have this same feeling.

Do you think that women in technology careers face different challenges than men do?

Absolutely, I think that there is a feeling that you always have to be one step ahead given that women are usually balancing more external factors than men. Women are usually not only working but also caring for the home, children, etc, which means that there is a sense of trying to manage it all and that in itself is an additional challenge.

I also think that women in tech are generally seen to manage the more "creative" jobs so portions like developer and strategists etc are not as easy to enter as they tend to be more of the boys club. Our mission with BABs is to help get more women from underrepresented countries into Web3 via teaching them to code. There is a real lack of women and a real lack of women devs and we want to change that.

What do you think companies can do to encourage more women to choose careers in tech and rectify the imbalance?

I think mainly it is has to be a conscious effort to level the playing field. Companies need to literally say we want x% of women and will only look for qualified women for these roles. Then there also need to be internal programs that support women when they take time off to have children to make sure that when they are ready to come back they are able to come up to speed quickly. Mentoring programs etc.

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?

That everyone is just starting out at some point so don't be afraid to speak up and say what you think or ask questions. I don't think I would give myself any advice other than to just go for it. Web3 is so new that no matter how long someone has been in it they are relatively new so anything goes to some degree. It is also one of those sectors that is changing all the time so just read, listen and ask questions! There is so much to consume so devour all you can!

In your opinion, what is the biggest obstacle for women to succeed in the workplace/business?

I think it is what I refer to as the Lean In syndrome. The notion that one can have it all and not fail at anything, which is total BS in my opinion. Something is always going to fail a little bit. It is impossible to conquer it all. So this notion of trying to do it all then means that there is this expectation that we can do it all instead of allowing some room for error or space to have balance. So if a women needs more time off for a family related issue understanding that instead of seeing it as a barrier or hurtle.

How do you find inspiration in your life?

By truly loving what I do and feeling that what I do is making a difference. Also by feeling that we are at the brink of something and that to me is inspiring and life giving.

There is this ability in Web3 to define your path and that is inspiring to me. To truly have control over your future and to define what that future looks like. I think so many people don't feel they control their path or their destiny and this work give me that and that is inspiring.

Would you like to share some thoughts on how you’ve balanced your personal life with work?

LOL. I don't think I have! I think this is a constant struggle of feeling like one thing has to give. Sometimes it's my role as a mother and sometimes its my work, but balance is such a relative word. The best balance I have is that the weekends, 90% of the time I don't work. Maybe a quick answer here or there, but no calls, no meetings and no time consuming work that will take away from my kids. I am still looking to find that balance and truth be told I am not sure I ever will, but as long as the work doesn't feel like work and my kids are happy I consider it a win.

What's your favourite quote?

I have so many! I live by quotes, they truly give me strength. One that I am using lately is this: Sometimes things have to fall apart to make way for better things.

By Greta Thunberg

You are never too small to make a difference.

LEILA HURSTEL AllStarsWomen NFT Club and DAO, Co-founder

Tell us about you and your career and business!

I come from a family of entrepreneurs, my father has an investment firm in Dubai, we mainly invest in late-stage pre-ipo tech companies and we have a crypto fund as well.

All our contacts, and friends partners are either tech Entrepreneur, founders or investors.. So that's how I got involved in the tech space and chose the entrepreneurial path. During my studies at University College London, I joined the entrepreneurs' society and co-founded OnAndCo, a fintech platform leveraging blockchain technology to digitise the alternative investments. Throughout my journey with OnAndCo startup I discovered that there is a funding gap crisis for women that is not only a moral crisis but an economic one as well and a missed opportunity worth trillions of dollars.

Crunchbase data shows that less 10% of all funds deployed to technology startups went to teams including Women founders. So I decided to create The AllStarsWomen NFT Club and DAO initiative to help close the funding gap for women by shaping a more diverse and inclusive entrepreneurial ecosystem. AllStarsWomen is an NFT membership based Club, a collaborative community where female founders and entrepreneurs from various backgrounds can get together and access to capital, network and resources they need to succeed. AllStarsWomen ia a Decentralized Autonomous Organization, which means that the community makes decisions about the direction of AllStarsWomen. Rules are hardcoded into the DAO using smart contracts, so the code automatically carries out tasks in certain conditions.

The key characteristic of a DAO is that there is no hierarchy and the stakeholders make the decisions. The AllStarsWomen will be using a DAO to allow the community to choose which companies they want to fund. Within the community, educational events around start-up investing will take place so individuals can learn about the process. And in order to help the community make the right decision we will hold accelerator program, companies who qualify will be allowed to pitch on demo days to the community. The AllStarsWomen team will only be taking 100 NFT’s which means the management team will own a small proportion of the votes available, this is to remove any biases and offer fair voting.

The minting proceeds will back our own $ALL Token. So all our NFT holders will act as investors and benefit from the profits generated.

Leila Hurstel

To prevent the depletion of the DAO fund we will reinvest part of the gains generated into the community fund. We intend as well to generate passive income from low risk defi investment strategies.

We created within the club: The AllStarsWomen Crypto Academy, to help more women get involved in the crypto space and profit from one of the most important opportunities for wealth creation of our generation. The AllStarsWomen Diversity recruitment agency, to avoid replicating the same mistakes in the crypto space that we face in traditional institutions. We want to help as much talented women to find job opportunities across the tech, crypto and blockchain sectors.

The AllStarsWomen Startup Factory : Our educational programs will provide earlystage startup teams with the knowledge, insights, tools and support to refine their ideas, develop a business model, set up their business, take it to market, and create the foundations and conditions to scale for sustainable growth. We will be holding regular workshops, bootcamps webinars and podcasts, some in collaboration with Female tech leaders magazine. Alongside AllStarsWomen, I am passionate about the Metaverse, I think it s the future of how we will connect work and live. I am cofounding a VR Gaming Metaverse that will launch in a few months. And I will do all my best to contribute into building an inclusive Metaverse and help more women get involved in the gaming industry, specifically the play to earn games that can make a difference in the lives of many women around the world, if they can generate income to support their families from gaming.

Have you ever been in a situation where you have felt discouraged to pursue your career as a woman? How did you handle it?

Not really, I am a very determined person and selfdriven. I usually tend to embrace the challenges and I always keep a positive mindset. When I face criticism for example, I try to be open minded to requestion myself to research and adjust my strategy and take the decisions accordingly, I don't stop on a failure, I always find a way to improve myself and move foarward. I think it is very important and crucial to build a good network and surround yourself with like minded people with who you can explore ways of collaboration and find support.

What do you wish to know before starting your career/business in tech?

Nothing in particular really. I just wish that school and Uni included more coding courses and taught us more about emerging technologies and how to invest in general and particularly in crypto.

The lack of women in the technology sector is a fact. Why do you think/opinion about this tendency?

Despite plenty of focus on the issue, women remain outnumbered in technology and hard to retain. According to the TrustRadius 2021 Women in Tech Report, 72% of women in tech say they are outnumbered by men 2-to-1 or more; 26% (more than a fourth) report being outnumbered by 5-to-1 or more. A study from Accenture and Girls Who Code found that half of the young women who go into tech jobs leave the field by age 35. Tech and business leaders need to do more across many areas, from recruitment and training to culture building. Most importantly tech leaders should make reducing the gender gap an important and shared business goal so that the entire organization will share the challenge of getting more women into tech — and keeping them there.

What do you suggest the tech industry could do to encourage more women to choose tech and make it more attractive improving the lack of balance in the industry?

Industry and employers of IT talent can attract, retain and nurture more women technologists by acting on 5 main areas: The company culture / The recruitment process / Provide women-centric training / Increase Communications Training / Reward women's achievements in tech.

A-Company leaders who are the face and voice of the tech companies play a role in attracting more women into tech.They need to elevate the company profile through speaking engagements, publications and media to attract candidates. By supporting, following and joining groups and associations that empower women and other diverse talent pools they can attract more women to join the tevh companies.

B-Recruitment level Every business today needs to broaden its recruitment networks to attract diverse talent. Ensure HR and recruitment teams are constantly curious and flexible when it comes to pursuing talent sources.

C-Build Women-Centric Mentoring And Training Programs With women out numbered in technology workplaces, training and mentorship programs that focus on the needs of women can be a way to create more support and recognition of women’s career goals and potential and help in retaining women in tech jobs.

D-Increase Communications Training The technology industry is not known for high emotional intelligence or sophisticated communications soft skills. Good communications training for all employees can improve the overall work environment, reducing the likelihood of harassment and misunderstandings and improving collaboration and understanding.

E. Reward Women Achievements Let women and the business know how important their contributions are to the company’s success. Showcase their work and achievements with awards and recognition that demonstrate to the entire organization that women are valued and that their efforts matter.

Who are your role models for women in tech?

I am fascinated by the Metaverse, we are building a new world: new services, our own identity and our digital twin in the metaverse. The metaverse is going to be a place where people exchange and interact on a daily basis for their subsistence. I am especially interested to see how it will help us shape a better world. I am shareholder at Verse Estate, a real estate agency in the Metaverse specializing in hyper-realistic designs, I partner with brands and celebrities to help them extend their businesses into virtual worlds and better connect with their audience.

My Role Model is naturally Mrs Cathy Hackl who is a pioneer in the space and who has been delivering consulting services to top brands. She is considered to be The GodMother of the Metaverse. I am patiently waiting for her new book to be released: Navigating the Metaverse: A Guide to Limitless Possibilities in a Web 3.0 World an exciting guide to uncovering opportunities in this fast-moving, new, digital universe.

From understanding metaverse basics to commercial strategy and even launching your first metaverse project, you'll find practical and hands-on insight into this cutting-edge technology.

Facing the biggest obstacles to succeed in the workplace/business: what is your advice to face the challenge?

The best advice is to keep a positive attitude an open mind and a flexible approach to be able to quickly adapt your approach, and be creative which will allow you to see things from a different perspective. Good communication is key as well to be able to collaborate effectively with others around you and move in the right direction.

What is success to you?

The ultimate success to me is being able to do what I love every day and being able to make a living out of it, to help others and make a positive impact before I leave this world.

Ten years from now: future of technology.

What are your thoughts and wishes for the next age of the internet and technology?

Blockchain technologies are breaking through in interesting ways, allowing for a secure (and yet open) form of digital transaction. These networks represent a powerful drive toward a new type of community building — one where creators can get paid without having to rely on corporate sponsorships.

The Metaverse, this new world of virtual reality and augmented reality will replace the internet as we know it. It is important to wisely examine the business model for the metaverse to avoid replicating the same problems that we have today in our social media networks.

What role do you think ‘network’ has in empowering a woman in her tech journey and important is your network?

Coming from a family of entrepreneurs, I learned that to succeed in business you need 3 things: Perseverance, patience and most importantly network.

Not any networking, you need strategic contacts.

Choosing the right community and the right people to surround yourself with opens up a lot of opportunities to explore synergies and ways of collaboration. Although women are typically seen as more "social" than men overall, according to the 2018 Women in the Workplace report by LeanIn.org and McKinsey, women actually network less than men.

So, what is preventing women from successfully networking?

According to a study by SAGE Publishing that appeared in the Journal of Human Relations, this problem is rooted in the fact that most women tend to fall victim to self-imposed barriers -- including gendered modesty, the tendency to undersell their value and strengths and reluctance to leverage their connections as a means to get ahead in their careers.

It’s time to push past these roadblocks and focus on the benefits. To be successful, you must be intentional about the way you network. It’s not enough to simply be sociable if your goal is to have a seat at the table where your ideas can be heard. Instead, you must deliberately network. Done right, networking lets women identify role models, find mentors and sponsors and expand their business opportunities. it’s about creating relationships and genuine connections that are mutually interesting and beneficial. As they rise in their careers, women can also pay it forward by helping others coming up behind them.

Leave your favourite phrase.

“I believe in working with high ethics and empathy towards others in pursuit of impactful success".

SASHA STERNIK Peri Tech Founder & CEO

Tell us about you and your career and business!

I graduated from the University of Westminster in the UK, then spent a year and a half in IT Park Uzbekistan, helping develop the IT and Venture industry of the country (and launching the first large scale incubator for female-founded startups under IT Park and USAID), came back to Moscow, and started working as an individual consultant – both with small startups and international organisations such as OSCE. I have also founded Peri Tech, dedicated to supporting women in tech in Central Asia.

Do you notice a lack of women in technology?

If so, why do you think that’s the case?

Girl, don't even get me started.

I am working in the Central Asian region to support women in technological entrepreneurship, which is, sadly, still male-dominated. In some countries, there has been considerable progress over the last few years, but there is still so much work to be done. The reasons are aplenty, but honestly, the core reason is patriarchal culture.

And I need to highlight that it is true not only for Central Asia but for the world.

Essentially, the problem is that we, as women, are often brought up in the way when we are told that we are secondary to men. Or that technology is too complicated for us, or it is generally not a place for women. And if we don't see enough role models, we might believe in that, which creates a vicious circle. And that makes me very, very sad.

Have you ever been in a situation where you have felt discouraged to pursue your dreams in technology as a woman? How did you handle it?

Sasha Sternik

I think I am pretty privileged – I only had maybe two situations? And both happened already when I was quite sure that I was an established specialist, so it did not affect me as much.

Both times it was in meetings, both it was two men and me, and I was ignored completely. I did not handle the situation well for the first time – I was just quiet and, to be honest, shocked. It was a meeting with my colleague and someone from a customer's side. After the meeting, we discussed it with a colleague, figured out what was wrong, and learned my lesson.

The second time the situation repeated itself, I decided to be more proactive since I actually had something to contribute to the discussion. I did interrupt the conversation; I got stared at, I did not care, I did contribute to the conversation, a few minutes later – I am an actual proper member of a party. Ideally, I would have preferred not to get stared at, but oh well.

Did you always know that working in technology was what you wanted to do and how did you decide to go into it?

Oh, definitely no. In all fairness, my first job was in a startup. I was a junior analyst, preparing presentations and excel spreadsheets. After that, I had my own little place with a coffee to go, and then, already in the university, I was working in a startup. I started as a courier but quite quickly grew up to be a general assistant manager. It was a part-time job. I was doing everything – from answering client calls to sometimes analysing marketing strategies.

But actually, back then, I wanted to perceive a career in international development and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in International Relations and Development. In my second year, I saw an ad for a policy-related cybersecurity competition, decided that it was fun, asked my best friend to go with me, and we went. Somehow, we went to the semi-finals and got "the most creative policy response" award, and I still think this weekend in Geneva changed my life kind of forever. After I came back, I changed my perspective to digital policy and decided to write my dissertation on Uzbekistan's e-government and digital economy (the geographical choice is an entirely different story), went there to get my data, and got an offer that I could not refuse. And I just moved to Uzbekistan! And it started from there.

(The competition is called Cyber 9/12 Strategy Challenge, and I would highly suggest it for every interested student out there. Gender balance was quite sad when we were there, but it is your chance to fix things!)

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?

While my business is an incubator, and my career is a mix between policymaking and being a startup consultant, I think I can find some patterns here.

As a CEO – of a business, or yourself, really, you will be underestimated by virtually anyone, especially when you will be starting and will have no reputation whatsoever. And also because you are a woman, yay! You will have to work extra hard to get through that period, but if you do not give up, people will actually start to respect you and recognise your name.

Another fun activity will be if (or rather when) you will get to manage people.

While I am pretty sure that younger people enlarge, do not care about the gender of their boss, you might find it difficult if you are young and you have to work with people who are twice your age.

Or more, for that matter. You will have to work on your people skills and balance being an actually decent person and being a boss. This will probably take some practice, but you must figure it out sooner rather than later; otherwise, you will be doomed.

Finally, learn how to negotiate your pay.

Honestly, it is something I struggle with sometimes. Do you market research, figure out the standard price or salary for your services, and do not be afraid to ask as much. Yes, you may be rejected. But are you sure that you want to work with people who do not want to pay you your worth? If in doubt, ask a friend. Or a mentor. Or just bluff!

Who are your role models for women in tech?

I really like Whitney Wolfe Herd, the founder and CEO of Bumble (and a cofounder of Tinder!) – she is only 32! And I think she is the youngest female ever to take the company public – my personal favourite picture of her is when she took Bumble public with her 1-year-old son in her arms. And honestly, that who I want to be when I grow up? I have some years before I am 32, but it's not really about the age; it is about the mindset. And from what I have picked from various interviews I read, she seems like a very nice person with whom I could've easily aligned myself. And to meet with her is one of my biggest dreams. I do like one particular quote from her interview for Time in March 2021 "Why am I cleaning up somebody else's drama? Women are always cleaning up somebody else's mess." And honestly – I can't agree more.

I also really respect Anne Ravanona, Founder & CEO of Global Invest Her. She is a women's advocate specialising in funding, which I find very important, as this area is often overlooked. I really appreciate the work she is doing – both as a personality and as a CEO of a company, and I would love to work with her in the future – hopefully, both as the head of the accelerator and somehow from the venture side of my career.

What do you think companies can do to encourage more women to choose careers in tech and rectify the imbalance?

I have written several policy documents on this issue, so this question is dear to my heart. I could have given you a million answers right now, but I think there are three most important ones.

First, promote role models that are already working for you. We do lack female role models, even now, when we are talking about women in tech. We need to see more female developers, CTOs, CIOs, etc., who would speak with people in universities and on a pre-university level. You can't want to become someone you do not know about.

We learn about professions when we are little, and it is time to introduce modern jobs to children. Do speak in schools. Do show girls that there are female CTOs. It is possible. Give them role models!

Secondly, funding. Higher education, which is a common prerequisite to going into technology, is often expensive. In many cultures, daughters are less likely to get funds from the family to a university than sons. Sponsor a scholarship for women, show your support. You might not get an immediate return on your investment (besides fulfilling your corporate social responsibility goal), but you will see an improvement in the long run.

Finally, internships and skill-sharing. It is terrifying to change your area if you know nothing about the new one, and it is tough to get into your first job. Especially if you have been told that you do not belong in this new area. Please make sure that women are welcomed; if you can – offer them an internship or share something useful (which is not under NDA, of course) from your company. If you can do a one day job shadowing – it is excellent! Never underestimate what are you doing – you never know how it might change someone's life.

In your opinion, what is the biggest obstacle for women to succeed in the workplace/business?

The mindset. Yes, we do have to through discrimination based on our gender (among other things), but I believe that the glass ceiling can be broken in most cases. We have to push at it as much as we can, if not for us, then for future generations, so that those who come after us would not have to learn this term.

If we, as women, do believe that we can't succeed, we will not. We need to ask ourselves why we think we can't do it? And it may be hard and painful at first, and you may need to go into therapy to figure the answer out. But when you do, it is easier to just leave it behind and change how you perceive yourself and the world.

We are often told that tech is not for women, that we are either too stupid, or too weak, or both, and it is very easy to start believing in it. You need to figure out what was it in your case and fight it. And I know you will succeed.

How do you find inspiration in your life?

For me, inspiration equals passion. And at some point, I just figured it out – I can't do stuff I am not passionate about. I know I need to change the world, at least in some way, shape, or form. For example, if I will help at least one woman with my accelerator, I will be very happy and will count this as a success. Won't stop, though.

I don't know the mechanism behind it – I just found something that one day made me very-very angry, and it has worked like coffee ever since.

To what do you attribute your success?

I am, undoubtedly, very fortunate – I had (and still have) the support of my mum all the way! She is also in tech – which means I am cheating because I have a mum and a mentor in one person. She helped with my first job at the age of 15, and she still proofreads my cover letters sometimes, especially when I am having an impostor syndrome attack.

Other than that – a string of luck and hard work. But honestly, mostly me being either incredibly reckless or just jumping on an opportunity and then thinking. So yeah. Recklessness.

What's your favourite quote?

“I have to study politics and war so that my sons can study mathematics, commerce and agriculture, so their sons can study poetry, painting and music” John Quincy Adams

"I have to study politics and war so that my sons can study mathematics, commerce and agriculture, so their sons can study poetry, painting and music”

*This interview has been conducted prior to the 24th of February 2022.

SARA-LOUISE ACKRILL Wired Differently CEO

Please introduce yourself and tell us more about your journey so far?

I am a Neurodiversity therapist and coach and I became a social impact entrepreneur during the pandemic. We are a team of 8 now at Wired Differently and we have, as our main projects, a support and community app, a VA service and a clothing range in development. There are nine projects in total and they are all focused on neurodiversity. I am autistic with ADHD myself.

A day in your business life!

Mon to Wed I work 8-8 with 2-4 off to have a nap. Naps are my secret weapon.

Mon-Wed I also work holistically; on Thursdays and Fridays I do more creative work. I don't spend much time on social media but I value it enormously and LinkedIN brings in a huge amount of our work.

Working in hourly slots (which is so normal with the advent of 'zooming' but also in therapy generally) really suits me as an autistic person who likes order and to compartmentalize.

Being autistic, I see patterns across the projects which means we can move three or four projects forward at once everytime we do anything... there is enormous crossover despite the projects being so diverse.

There is a definite method to the madness :)

www.femaletechleaders.com

Women who have inspired you.

Sara-Louise Ackrill

Emma Sayle at Sistr and Killing Kittens. Georgia di Mattos and Bianca Dunne at iplaysafe.app and Gill Kirkman at the University of Huddersfield and None in Three. Heather Morrison at Bump'n. Akua Opong at the London Stock Exchange Group is a great role model. There will be lots of others but these women come to mind immediately.

Diversity issue in the tech sector: thoughts about the lack of women in technology.

I am in a bit of a bubble with my work, but I know there is a shortage of women in tech from the people I am fortunate to know in this space and the initiatives I see around me. If we can promote the fact that all kinds of people , with different skill sets, can get into tech then this would help. I know people from architectural, social work, finance and medical backgrounds who are now in tech.

Personally, I am not actually a tech person; I have personal and professional neurodiversity insight and I have the vision of an entrepreneurial person. But my proof of concept for the app happened over the past ten years via an innovative use of WhatsApp with my holistic clients and I am essentially a therapist with great tech collaborators.

What are you most excited about for the future and where do you see the industry in 5 years?

I’m excited about our ‘Support and Community’ app because it’s truly unique and I had to go down a very unique path in life for it to come together. It’s meaningful and relatively hard to replicate. ‘Support’ and ‘Community’ are the two things my clients tend to crave the most in their lives. I definitely spent decades lacking both in my own life. But there are other examples of fantastic social initiatives that I get very excited about. For example, None in Three (www.noneinthree.org) are developing a VR game that puts people in the role of both victim and perpetrator in abusive relationships... to teach young people what healthy relationships look like and what abuse looks like.

This is very exciting to me as someone trained in Domestic Abuse survivor support and who has known coercive, emotional and financial abuse. I am also excited about selling the licence agreement to our app in India in around 3 years time.

Neurodiversity is very little known there currently and this will create India based jobs, supporting India based people living with Western (and self) diagnoses and who have little recognition and support currently in India itself. We will roll this out into other developing countries following the same model; creating local jobs and relevant support for people with conditions that are little understood in that cultural context.

www.femaletechleaders.com

Biggest changes in the healthtech in the past 5 years?

I can’t comment on the past 5 years because 5 years ago I wasn’t in tech. But given how many housebound people I have supported over the years and the fact neurodivergent people (and people from lots of minority groups) are often more comfortable communicating through tech anyway, then the fact healthtech is thriving is great news for accessibility.

Main challenges and opportunities for the next generation of women in tech?

Well we know that women have less money as a group. We have less influence. We have more care responsibilities. We are expected not just to organise ourselves but other people around us. We give birth. We have career gaps. Our neurodiversity gets picked up late if at all. We tend to get told we have mental health issues instead of being neurodivergent. We have to communicate in a less assertive style to be seen as 'attractive and nice to work with'. Combine all this generic stuff with being in a sector that is traditionally male and we have it all working against us.

But It's important to see the social context and the economic system and to locate tech within that I think. It is hardly a tech specific issue.

Most rewarding experience working in the industry.

Being offered investment from major tech players who are neurodivergent, respectful and great to communicate with... with all the validation and relief (and luck) this represents for us at Wired Differently. These people give me a voice as an entrepreneur and therapist in tech... so we can give other people a voice - and a space in the world they may not otherwise have found - through our app. And just as importantly, so we can create jobs for neurodivergent people of all ages and backgrounds wanting to get into both the holistic side and the tech side of the business.

Advice/ Tips would you give to women who want a career in healthtech?

To not be intimidated when you are not from healthtech. To stick to your skillset and find the best collaborators who work within theirs. To bring money in from your skillset so you arent solely reliant on external money ans you aren’t spending your savings. And to remember you only truly know what someone thinks of you when you say no to them. This helped me stop being a people pleaser and this is quite a feminine trait unfortunately.

You find out what a person truly thinks of you when you say no to them.

SOH WAN WEI IKIGUIDE Metaverse Collective CEO and Founder

Tell us about you and your career and business!

Thank you for having me!

This is Wan Wei, founder of IKIGUIDE Metaverse Collective (www.ikiguide.com), brand owner of IKItty and one of the founding team members of the dWeb Southeast Asian node. I also have a keen interest in open source movements and virtual humans, and has spoken at more than more than 50 reputable blockchain and A.I. industry conferences globally. We have also organized blockchain hackathons and moderated panels over the last few years.

IKIGUIDE Metaverse Collective is a growth collective set to serve 4 distinct groups: Group #1: Brand owners/ agencies who want to increase brand presence and explore storytelling in the metaverse; Group #2: Existing business owners/ aspiring entrepreneurs who want to explore and leverage on opportunities in the metaverse; Group #3: Working professionals poised to lead metaverse departments or interested in making a career switch into the metaverse space; and Group #4: Current students who want to start their careers in the metaverse space IKItty is the official mascot of IKIGUIDE Metaverse Collective, and we have our own IKItty NFT Collection too.😊 It's an exciting space out there- let's accelerate the open metaverse together! 😊 How did you get into the technology sector?

I learnt about bitcoin in 2014 and started IKIGUIDE in the same year. IKIGUIDE then was a startup media portal- we pivoted it to become a blockchain portal later in 2017 and the rest is history!

www.femaletechleaders.com

Do you think that women in technology careers face different challenges than men do?

Yes! Web3.0 and the blockchain space are still very male (and alcohol) dominated. Some people think they can do anything to insult or demean the integrity of women because, in their view, women can’t and won’t fight back.

I've gotten a lot of unsolicited advances from men when they are drunk for example! Women have to learn to be firm in the boundaries and stand up for ourselves!

Soh Wan Wei

Do you notice a lack of women in technology?

If so, why do you think that’s the case?

Definitely so! I think it's a combination of both nature and nurture.

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?

It's not me to offer advice or preach- I'm happy to share learnings from my own journey though!

Learning #1: Be yourself – know that you are always enough. Even when you *feel* that you are not enough, that sort of honesty about your flaws will get you places as long as you are crystal clear about the market value you bring to the table. It's okay to be vulnerable sometimes too!

Learning #2: Be present and actively listen. People almost always never say what they want. Learn to suss out the unseen- is it money, fame, power, attention, ego that someone wants? Paying attention to the unseen and unsaid has served me well, over the alternative of engaging someone in logical arguments and “being right”.

Learning #3: Negotiate well. Always think about how you can put more value on the table and ask for more rewards. Usually, when people don’t negotiate well, it is because they don’t know what others are getting as a market value and/ or they haven’t really understood the business model and their contribution to it yet. … and bonus takeaway: DO NOT MISREPRESENT. It might sometimes be quite intimidating in tech, especially when it comes to not knowing technical details!

Don't let that hold you back though. In general, you can propose or ask however audaciously, and thou shalt not misrepresent or lie. People respect honesty, hustling spirit, guts and ambition.

Who are your role models for women in tech?

To be honest, I don't have a role model.

The reason is because every individual's journey is different. It might be more helpful to instead strive to be a better version of yourself!

Soh Wan Wei

What do you think companies can do to encourage more women to choose careers in tech and rectify the imbalance?

I personally think more companies can learn from Salesforce SFDC 😊 There is transparency in salaries and equality is a key value in Salesforce. They enhance employee experience by introducing new and expanded programs, policies, and benefits to ensure that all employees feel valued and empowered to succeed.

In your opinion, what is the biggest obstacle for women to succeed in the workplace/business?

It's our mindset and subconscious gender biases. 😊 Would you like to share some thoughts on how you’ve balanced your personal life with work?

I don't think I lead a very balanced life to be honest- work is play for me! 😊 How do you find inspiration in your life?

I go to nature- forests, beaches and beautiful gardens are great places to rejuvenate!

What's your favourite quote?

"People who ask for stock tips aren’t really serious about investing. People who ask for book recommendations aren’t serious about reading. People who ask, “What, what business should I build?” aren’t really serious about entrepreneurship." - Naval

www.femaletechleaders.com

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EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW 2022 www.femaletechleaders.com

SILVIYA IVANOVA Co-founder and creative director of the P2E gaming project Rogue Fox Guild Owner and producer at Studio Opus - Bulgaria based visual development studio Please talk about your background.

Hello to all readers from sunny Sofia city – Silviya here!

I am a digital artist of 10+ years behind my back, animation director by trade and a producer of visual content. I have been involved with art my whole life and now view this as a natural state of being. Throughout the years I have explored different creative outlets – making board games, creating comics, illustrating books, directing films, developing visual solutions for startups and working in the film industry.

Most of all I like to tell engaging stories, solve problems through art and explore new ways to do so. This initially drove me towards animation – as a mix of art, cinema, movement and music. Now my exploration has moved into NFTs/gaming and further into tech as I explore ideas of generative art and merging traditional art with algorithms.

In 2019 I created the studio Opus where I function as a producer and director.

Building a sustainable business and working with other creators is a challenge I deeply enjoy.

Do you have a favourite (s) artists?

I have always admired the intricate works of M. C. Escher – a mathematician, artist and explorer of the human mind. Also, a very admirable human being. Illustrators I follow are Yuko Shimizu, Loish, Ben Bauchau and many more. In film - I enjoy the works of Michael Dudok de Wit and David Fincher.

Why do you choose to make this type of art and what does this represent to you as an artist?

I don’t have a specific “type of art” that I do. I am constantly changing, fluid and open to exploring new ways to express my ideas and reach out to people. It can be through characters, stories, visual identity, film or installation. Currently, I am immersed in the world of gaming – linking art and functionality to tell a grander story through player interaction.

What I love are strong and impactful pieces that leave a lasting impression. Art that connects to people and takes them on a journey, makes them feel and think.

This is why I also enjoy working with brands in enhancing their message through visual solutions – art as a tool for making connections.

In terms of execution - I have a life-long obsession with ladybugs and mushrooms as they summarize my favorite things - a limited and impactful color palette and gorgeous textures. These, almost religious terms, transfer into my creative work through the use of bold lines, hard shadows, textures and patterns for a more organic yet memorable look.

Did you ever find obstacles for being a female artist? Are there concepts you do feel more comfortable approaching while delivering a project?

I have never had obstacles in my artistic endeavors…or maybe...have had the usual (but just blew past them). I do think nowadays women are pushing the boundaries of art even further and to me they seem to be more open and expressive compared to men. And more libated in their topics – never shy from self-expression and diving deep into the tightest corners of the human mind and soul. Also delivering fresh ideas into the field of tech and research. We need this to grow!

One thing I do notice is more men at gatekeeper and decision-making positions.

Especially in art and animation – we have so many women coming into the profession but somehow most of the times the “leader” is a male - even in female dominated projects.

We have long passed the times where the male is the money maker in the house, sets the goals and controls the budget. I believe that women should have access to positions where they manage teams and make budget decisions – and I think we are damn good at it! We need our voice to be heard loud and clear! Especially in arts – female artists should also know to produce, strategize and work with money…not just “do art”.

www.femaletechleaders.com

What are your expectations as an artist - can you make a brief comparison between a world before and after NFTs. I truly believe blockchain is the future and the technology will be massively implemented in everyday use, it will be invisible to the eye of the user and drive our online world, purchases and communication! And I think we will see even more innovative uses of NFTs that link the digital and real world together. Also I believe a wave of AI generated art is to come – of course with artists at the helm!

And the concept of “art” is about to change – we are seeing this shift happening.

Some people did not even consider digital art having the status of “true” art, something to own and auction off. We have seen a massive change in that direction – “art ownership” has been redefined with a new generation of collectors emerging who have the power to establish the worth of everything around them through blockchain and a simple decision. And power is in the hands of artist – to make decisions, build and expand with innovative and new ideas.

How do you see the arts industry now with the possibility of reaching wider audiences due to the NFT market boom?

Here it would be good to, of course, ask the troubling question - “What is art?

Humanity has yet to give this answer, but in my opinion, it is linked with the creation process and the answer to “Who is actually an artist?” And this is where we are seeing the biggest change – artists who are technically well educated, selfmotivated and switched-on are not only exploring new paths of art creation but also building communities, coding, creating VR exhibitions in the Metaverse and effectively eliminating the need for a mediator. Auction houses, agents and art establishments are losing ground as art is spilling directly into the hands of collectors. This gives huge opportunity to many. Done in the right way (of course) I feel we are seeing the second coming of the Renaissance man!

I believe NFTs will be widely implemented and become a common-knowledge word with the development and their link to blockchain technology. This also comes with the awareness for ownership and true identity. In my opinion our main mission now should be to make art and NFT projects that are of high quality, with sustainable economies, with devoted communities and based on understanding and truth. These good examples are what can lead the way – as a stepping stone for generations of NFTs to come where collectors see value, authenticity and talent.

Where did you go to bring art, excitement and creativity to your NFT pieces?

I find inspiration and feel energized when hiking, looking at the sea, doing occasional swing dancing and engaging myself with charity work in support of animals. I also closely follow news on new technologies and the NFT market as I try to keep myself open to new ideas.

www.femaletechleaders.com

Tell us about your first collection.

I am the creator of 10 000 unique foxy characters – the main heroes of the play to earn gaming project The Rogue Fox Guild! My team and I set out to build a fun to play, memorable RPG game set on the blockchain, where you play a scruffy little fox – the underdog with great capacity to become a true hero and earn big rewards! Motivation behind this is to tell our story as well and prove that even a little foxy is capable of great deeds! Our team is female led – quite a rare sight in the NFT gaming (not only) industry, so we are more motivated than ever to show what we can do!

"I like works that bring a twist to the traditional, that play with the emotion of the viewer and narrate a deeper story of selfunderstanding."

Please let us know your most influences that made possible creating your art?

For the Foxy collection and the game I wanted to build memorable characters that tell a story, unique visuals that stand out and a style that is purely unique to the project. Most of the time people can see collections filled with cool characters with neon lights, gold chains and bitcoin symbols. I find that quite shallow. I wanted to stray from these overused visuals. The slick loneliness of the digital world is not appealing to me. Another thing that we see in the fastmoving web3 space is people building games and maybe due to lack of time they just blow past the idea of having high quality art, especially 2D ones.

So the building blocks of Rogue Fox Guild were to have an edgy, sharp, handdrawn style combined with popping colours and the smoothness and imperfection of textures for an organic feel and deeper human appeal. We want to be edgy and rough, but fun at the same time so you will see our characters being weird, crazy and goofy at times. The idea of bringing an indie aesthetic to the project really resonated with me and the goals of the project.

What is next?

I like works that bring a twist to the traditional, that play with the emotion of the viewer and narrate a deeper story of self-understanding. So, I would love to make something similar – maybe a bit surreal…and definitely animated! I have a few ideas I am currently working on in the little free time that I have! (laughing) I continue working with other people – on collaborations and in solving problems linked to their projects – I would love to expand on that as well!

Please tell us anything that you would like to leave to our community…

Stay open-minded, explore and have fun! People being true and honest to themselves will always be seen and respected!

You can follow me at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/silviya-ivanova-15055a40/ https://www.instagram.com/sil_ivanova/ And check out our cunning hero foxes here: https://www.roguefoxguild.com/

ENTREVISTA JUNHO 2022

VALÉRIA CARRETE Chief Revenue Officer at R2U and Chief Metaverse Officer at Converge

Conte-nos sobre você e a sua carreira.

Como executiva de marketing sempre fui curiosa e direcionei minha carreira para poder ter experiência em vários segmentos – financeiro, telefonia, varejo... Mais recentemente foquei em tecnologia e em start-up, que é um mundo encantador.

E ainda como desafio maior, me prontifiquei a tentar entender esse tal de metaverso e hoje desenvolvo projeto para empresas e palestro a respeito. Acredito que desafiarnos constantemente é fundamental para nos manter atualizados e com brilho nos olhos.

Conte-nos sobre um dia na sua vida profissional!

Meus dias são sempre focados em apoiar o meu time e em entender em maior profundidade o que os nossos clientes esperam de nossos projetos. Assim, minha manhã começa com uma revisão de minha agenda seguida da leitura das principais matérias de interesse e as notícias. Passando depois as sessões semanais de 1:1 com integrantes do time.

A parte da tarde já é focada em desenvolvimento de projetos e reuniões com clientes e prospects, principalmente apoiando integrantes do time. Finalizo o dia revisando a agenda do dia seguinte e entendendo preparações necessárias.

O sector de tecnologia ainda é um campo dominado pelos homens.

Qual seriam os seus conselhos e dicas para as mulheres superarem os obstáculos enfrentados?

Primeira coisa – não se boicote!

Vejo com muita frequência mulheres extremamente competentes sofrendo de síndrome de impostora. Resista, cerque-se de mulheres apoiadoras que sinalizem quando isso eventualmente estiver acontecendo. Acredito que a educação é o melhor caminho para inclusão feminina no setor de tecnologia. Investir em programas, cursos, palestras e orientações desde o ensino médio, fará com que mais mulheres se interessem pelo mercado de tecnologia, já que muitas desistem da formação porque a grande maioria da turma é composta por homens. Já os homens são incentivados desde pequenos nesse sentido, através de brincadeiras e jogos. Mas fico feliz em perceber que aos poucos essa realidade está se alterando.

No Websummit de 2021, um dos maiores eventos mundiais de inovação, 50% dos participantes eram mulheres.

O problema de diversidade (não somente o baixo número de mulheres) no setor de tecnologia existe, fato. Você poderia compartilhar a sua jornada pessoal com a gente?

Minha jornada é um tanto diferente ou, talvez, inusitada.

Iniciei minha carreira como secretária, quando trabalhei em uma multinacional que era incentivadora do crescimento profissional de seus colaboradores (American Express). Nesse momento me apaixonei pelo marketing e resolvi investir toda a minha energia nessa área – me graduei, pós-graduei, cursei o MBA, além de um sem-número de palestras, seminários e cursos. Fui subindo hierarquicamente na empresa chegando à Diretoria América Latina, mas não sem antes ser preterida por outros profissionais do sexo masculino. Tive que me provar muito mais capaz que os demais profissionais homens, para que pudesse ser vista e reconhecida.

Fui então convidada para participar do start-up da TIM GSM e depois para o turnaround do Ponto Frio, a segunda maior rede de varejo de eletroeletrônicos do país.

Depois disso, passei realmente a me dedicar mais às startups, tecnologia e, recentemente, ao metaverso.

Vejo neste momento um movimento positivo de mais mulheres no mundo da tecnologia, mas ainda temos um longo caminho a percorrer.

Precisamos de mais mulheres e também de mais mulheres negras nesse setor.

Diversidade gera criatividade, melhores negócios e negócios mais saudáveis.

Segundo Maria Klawe (Presidente do Harvey Mudd College) existem 3 motivos alegados pelas próprias mulheres para que elas não entrem no mercado de tecnologia: falta de interesse, não acreditarem serem boas em tecnologia e não acharem que irão trabalhar com pessoas com as quais se sentiriam confortáveis ou felizes. O que podemos fazer para inverter esta realidade?

A indústria de tecnologia é uma das áreas mais promissoras para os jovens profissionais. A cada ano podemos ver seu forte crescimento, tornando-se facilmente um dos setores mais relevantes para o desenvolvimento econômico das sociedades ao redor do mundo. No entanto, hoje, as mulheres que atuam nessa área representam 20% do total, de acordo com o Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística (IBGE). Esse problema se origina nos alicerces de nossa sociedade e começa muito antes do que pensamos. Embora haja poucas mulheres na indústria de TI, há ainda menos jovens interessados em carreiras relacionadas à ciência, tecnologia e matemática. Segundo o IBGE, no Brasil, as mulheres representam 13,3% dos alunos de Computação e Tecnologia da Informação e Comunicação (TIC) e 21,6% dos cursos de engenharia e profissões correlatas. Então, como incentivamos as jovens a se interessarem pelas áreas de exatas?

1. Devemos dar mais visibilidade a mulheres que alcançaram sucesso nessa área.

Através do efeito “espelho”, podemos trazer mais jovens a se interessarem por essa área. Referências são muito importantes - conhecer mulheres que trilham caminhos parecidos cria identificação e dá coragem. E então cria-se um ciclo virtuoso: mais mulheres nestas áreas trazem maior representatividade, o que, por sua vez incentiva mais mulheres a se juntarem a elas.

2. As escolas e os professores devem ser mais apoiadores e incentivadores. Muitas mulheres relatam que abandonaram os cursos relativos a tecnologia por serem a única mulher na sala; 3. Grupos de apoio específicos para mulheres ajudam a criar a consciência de que a tecnologia também é para elas. Conheço vários grupos fantásticos nesse sentido como o “Mulheres no Ecommerce” e “Eve NFT” que tem como missão justamente a sororidade e a alavancagem através do apoio feminino; 4. Por fim, vem a conexão com o mercado de trabalho. Parcerias entre as universidades e as empresas permitem às mulheres experimentar uma atuação profissional nestes ambientes contando com o suporte acadêmico. E aqui há espaço para uma série de ações propositivas e coletivas.

As empresas – ou, pelo menos, as mais inovadoras – já descobriram os inúmeros benefícios de times diversos. Equipes que contam com pessoas de diferentes gêneros, raças, orientações sexuais, formações e histórias de vida, quando trabalham juntas, têm um potencial muito ampliado. São mais criativas e têm maior capacidade de encontrar soluções inovadoras.

Quais são os maiores desafios que as mulheres que desejam se aventurar no mundo da tecnologia enfrentam hoje?

Os principais desafios para a entrada no mercado de trabalho têm relação com a equidade em um processo de seleção, sendo isso também aplicado aos processos internos da empresa de promoção. Isso porque as mulheres continuam sendo vistas como menos capazes, menos inteligentes, fracas, submissas, fúteis e com a obrigação de agradar aos homens. Os pais de meninas precisam estar atentos a isso, a fim de evitar que a educação de suas filhas seja contaminada por esse tipo de discriminação.

Afinal, é um desperdício de potencial das novas gerações de mulheres, que poderiam dar uma importante contribuição para os campos da ciência e para a sociedade de um modo geral, mas acabam perdendo oportunidades por serem criadas sob um pensamento segregacionista e machista, sem questionar aquilo que é feito ou dito.

Há alguma pessoa específica em tecnologia que te inspira?

Umas das profissionais que hoje eu mais admiro é a Paula Bellizia, atual Presidente Global Payments na EBANX. Ela chefiou uma das maiores organizações de tecnologia do mundo no Brasil, a Microsoft. Além de mulher, ela é angolana. Junto com sua família, veio para o país quando tinha apenas 3 anos, fugindo de uma guerra civil em seu país de origem.

Paula é formada em Computação e Ciência da Informação e durante dez anos atuou na Microsoft. Depois, saiu da empresa para ocupar cargos no Facebook, Apple, retornando à Microsoft em 2015, no cargo de CEO da unidade brasileira.

Bellizia é uma profissional que estimula a diversidade e tem um comportamento de sororidade incrível, sendo altamente inspiradora para um sem número de jovens profissionais.

Qual seria sua mensagem para as mulheres que estão tentando entrar na tecnologia?

Existe um ditado em meu país que diz: foco, força e fé. Acredito que essa tríade seja muito adequada para essa situação. Foco: saiba aonde você quer chegar, o que você quer para o seu futuro profissional e planeje isso detalhadamente. O que tenho que estudar? Que tipo de network tenho que ter? Como me expor adequadamente a esse segmento? Força: nada é fácil, tudo exige determinação.

Siga em frente sempre, mesmo quando disserem que você não conseguirá.

Acredite em você, em seu potencial, e vá em frente. Fé: isso é importantíssimo, pois existirão momentos que você vai querer desistir, que você pode achar que não conseguirá. Nesses momentos é importante buscar força espiritual, independentemente de religião. Ela nos dá força interior para seguirmos em frente.

O que as empresas podem e devem fazer para atrair mais mulheres para o sector de tech e para posições de liderança (não somente na atração de talentos mas tambem na retenção destes talentos)?

As empresas precisam se aproximar do mundo acadêmico e estimular a presença feminina nos bancos escolares e em suas próprias equipes. Para isso, um ambiente de equidade, de reconhecimento pelo efetivo desempenho, de políticas mais amigáveis para mulheres: 1. Desenvolver uma linha de talentos diversificada Para começar a atrair mais profissionais do gênero feminino em tecnologia, o que pode ser difícil de encontrar, dependendo da sua localização ou setor, você precisa criar um canal confiável para a obtenção de talentos. Uma estratégia eficaz é ter suas equipes de recrutamento, funcionários ou parceiros de negócios trabalhando com uma organização local ou nacional sem fins lucrativos que apoie meninas ou mulheres. Atualmente, há uma grande variedade de organizações trabalhando para ajudar a diminuir a lacuna de talentos de gênero e proporcionar às mulheres as mesmas oportunidades de emprego e ganho disponíveis para os homens. A parceria com essas organizações sem fins lucrativos para sediar workshops ou fornecer estágios a candidatos qualificados são estratégias simples, mas incrivelmente eficazes, de como desenvolver e nutrir esse fluxo de talentos.

2. Priorizar uma cultura de trabalho inclusiva O movimento “Me too” mostra claramente quanto trabalho ainda falta para que as mulheres se sintam confortáveis e seguras no local de trabalho. Independentemente de você sentir ou não uma cultura de trabalho tóxica, considere como criar uma cultura corporativa mais inclusiva para atrair e reter melhor as mulheres profissionais de tecnologia que contratar. Comece com pequenas etapas, como garantir que você tenha pelo menos uma funcionária em comitês internos que votem em benefícios como vantagens no local de trabalho, iniciativas de diversidade e parcerias filantrópicas para mostrar à sua força de trabalho que você valoriza e considera todas as perspectivas. Olhe para o seu C-suite para dar o exemplo, reforçando a importância da diversidade da força de trabalho interna. Se for uma prioridade para os líderes, toda a força de trabalho também a considerará uma prioridade. Mas priorizar uma cultura inclusiva é apenas o primeiro passo. Para manter essa inclusão, envie pesquisas regulares aos colaboradores, onde eles podem fornecer um feedback honesto sobre problemas relacionados à cultura e contribuir com propostas de ações e soluções.

3. Promover mulheres para funções de gerência e liderança Fornecer caminhos claros para que as mulheres sejam promovidas a cargos de gerência e liderança é um elemento essencial para reter os talentos femininos. Se você deixar de ter mulheres em cargos de gerência ou liderança, os novos talentos poderão sentir que o crescimento da carreira em sua empresa só é concedido aos colegas do sexo masculino. Como líder de inúmeras equipes, sempre foquei em ter processos de avaliação de desempenho e promoção que fossem claros, justos e imparciais. Logicamente, além de estimular e fomentar a evolução profissional de todos os profissionais, sejam homens ou mulheres. Como consequência minhas equipes sempre foram muito diversas e tenho o orgulho de hoje ver grandes mulheres profissionais de mercado que passaram por elas.

4. Procure oportunidades para capacitar as mulheres no local de trabalho Melhore as taxas de retenção entre as profissionais de tecnologia procurando oportunidades para capacitá-las. Há uma variedade de estratégias que você pode implementar com base no que é realista para o seu negócio. Para melhorar o engajamento de longo prazo dentro de uma função, considere o desenvolvimento de grupos para funcionários ou programas de orientação específicos para mulheres.

Associe profissionais do sexo feminino com líderes mulheres da sua empresa, para que elas tenham mentoras para aprender, confiar e se sentir apoiadas.

Se a atualização do pacote de benefícios for uma opção, considere expandir a cobertura de maternidade e assistência à infância para atender melhor as profissionais. Oferecer um arranjo de trabalho flexível para as novas mães pode ser um fator decisivo entre a escolha de retornar ao trabalho após a licença maternidade, e também pode fornecer a flexibilidade que muitas funcionárias podem exigir por conta do aumento do custo dos cuidados com as crianças.

O que você acha que devemos fazer para encorajar mais meninas a considerarem uma carreira em tecnologia?

Sororidade, sororidade, sororidade.

O que cada uma de nós está fazendo para inspirar, gerar empatia e auxiliar outras mulheres a entrarem nesse segmento com igualdade de condições? Como podemos utilizar nosso poder de influência junto a academia, aos líderes de segmento e de empresas para que esse gap seja fechado? Você já pensou em ser mentora de estudantes ou de novas profissionais para guiá-las nesse caminho? Ou participar dos grupos femininos de apoio em diferentes segmentos?

Doar-se, compartilhar sua experiência e o seu saber com outras é fundamental.

Qual é a sua frase favorita?

Good girls go to heaven, bad girls go anywhere including ruling the tech world.

SUELI NASCIMENTO Services and Solution Advisor

Conte-nos sobre você e a sua carreira.

Minha carreira dual se iniciou com a faculdade de Educação Artística, em seguida cursei Processamento de Dados. Fui auditora de sistemas e como saímos da auditoria mas os conceitos não saem da nossa vida, trouxe esta experiência para a empresa que trabalho há quase 25 anos na área de desenvolvimento de software.

Somos o lado que se preocupa em preparar sistemas de informação seguros e não vulneráveis. Hoje atuo na comercialização de software e serviços de educação. Sou também professora e coach.

Fale sobre a WOMCY: seu papel e o que adicionou a sua vida e carreira.

A WOMCY tem sido uma experiência ímpar, uma rede de mulheres engajadas, competentes e inspiradoras. A convite de uma ex-colega de trabalho, e amiga, a Andrea Thomé, participo dos trabalhos no Brasil desde seu lançamento. Tenho certeza do impacto que estamos fazendo no mundo desde o primeiro ano. São várias pessoas e várias áreas trabalhando em sintonia para mostrar a importância da cybersecurity neste mundo cuja organização depende cada vez mais de computadores e tecnologia. Ao mesmo tempo que tenho oportunidade de contribuir com palestras, mentoria e gestão considero o networking um pilar de trocas fundamental para o desenvolvimento de pessoas.

Conte-nos sobre a sua experiência pessoal em Cybersecurity.

Cada profissional na auditoria de sistemas é também um vendedor atendo às necessidades dos clientes. Durante o trabalho de auditoria elaborava e vendia planos de contingência e de segurança, atividade que me encantava, procurar pontos de vulnerabilidades em ambientes digitais e criar proteções contra eles, antecipar e reforçar a segurança das informações e a redundância dos processos e sistemas para evitar problemas futuros. Quando entrei na atual empresa comercializei software de auditoria (Audit Information System) que trazia embarcado a cybersecurity.

Trabalhava com desenvolvimento de software e também trabalhava lecionando por dez anos a disciplina de Auditoria de Sistemas em cursos de pós-graduação. É uma vivência plural pela troca de informações entre a professora e os alunos que trazem suas experiências, são casos que enriquecem a aula e todos aprendem de uma maneira colaborativa.

Ao longo da minha carreira, e com a dependência cada vez maior de tecnologias, pude ver a necessidade de segurança crescer e a conscientização das pessoas para o tema também. Como Gerente de Produto vi a chegada da LGPD (Lei Geral de Proteção de Dados Pessoais) no mundo e como as empresas ainda hoje possuem projetos internos na tentativa de atendê-la. Nossos sistemas, cada vez mais robustos, devem prever riscos e diminuir as possibilidades de ataques, detectar tentativas indevidas de acesso, implementar e atualizar parâmetros de segurança, dentre outras atividades. Além disso é preciso manter atualizadas as políticas e planos de acesso, capacitar os colaboradores para que estejam atentos aos erros e tentativas não autorizadas de acesso bem como falhas de software e hardware.

São muitas possibilidades de atividades em cybersecurity, o mercado não para de crescer, cada vez mais há necessidade de profissionais capacitados e preparados para atender a demanda crescente. Assim como pude trabalhar desde a elaboração de planos, desenvolvimento de software, aulas até comercialização de software, acredito que existem cenários positivos para quem deseja entrar nesta área de segurança.

O sector de Cybersecurity ainda é um campo dominado por homens.

Como vocês encaram este desafio?

Nem sempre foi assim, há muitas mulheres que trouxeram o patamar de excelência que tem a tecnologia de hoje. Fui líder de Diversidade, Equidade e Inclusão na rede de mulheres da empresa onde trabalho e tanto mulheres quanto homens tem papel fundamental no mundo do trabalho, em casa, na vida, enfim. Ao chegar na WOMCY vi que os homens logo foram chamados para a conversa. Inspiradas pelo HeforShe criado pela ONU, aqui também os homens participam das atividades. Não queremos competição, queremos colaboração. Há espaço para todas as pessoas.

www.femaletechleaders.com

Qual seria a sua mensagem para as mulheres que estão entrando na área de tech e por que elas deveriam se especializar em cyber?

Minha mensagem se mistura um pouco com os versos que a Elis Regina cantou: “... é preciso ter força, é preciso ter raça, é preciso ter gana sempre...mas é preciso ter manha, é preciso ter graça, é preciso ter sonho sempre. Quem traz na pele essa marca possui a estranha mania de ter fé na vida”.

Eu acho estes versos maravilhosos, foi sonhando e acreditando que comecei a carreira em tecnologia e venho caminhando com muita fé na vida e muitos amigos comigo. Ela menciona um conjunto de habilidades que a maioria das mulheres já tem.

Gostaria que mais mulheres sonhassem em trabalhar com TI porque faltam profissionais capacitados no mercado sendo que as oportunidades são inúmeras, o salário é atraente e a carreira pode ser exercida por um longo tempo.

Os dados e as informações são cada vez mais abundantes e a proteção destes dados requer profissional com conhecimento. Das muitas possibilidades em TI, Cybersecurity é um diferencial competitivo muito interessante para as mulheres.

Se a profissional não conhece este universo, vale a pena se informar, uma possibilidade é se tornar uma mentorada da WOMCY para dar o primeiro passo, procurar fazer uma boa formação nesta área com certificação e buscar prestar serviço para empresas que dele necessitam, e todas precisam tratar seus dados com segurança. É uma questão de buscar aquelas empresas que a pessoa tenha mais afinidade e estejam alinhadas ao seu propósito.

Quais são os maiores desafios que as mulheres enfrentam hoje?

O mundo requer atenção. O maior desafio que as mulheres enfrentam hoje é a distração, principalmente a distração com elas mesmas. Pense no setor financeiro.

Quantas mulheres existem que estão, não só preocupadas em ter dinheiro, mas estão realmente fazendo algo para poupar e investir o dinheiro. Apenas trabalhar não garante prosperidade financeira. É preciso cuidar do dinheiro.

E a distração vai além: algumas mulheres não se conhecem, a estima das mulheres muitas vezes é baixa, elas acreditam naquilo que dizem mas ignoram o que pensam e sentem. Mulheres se sabotam, a Síndrome da Impostora existe e precisa ser trabalhada. Aprendi tardiamente que mulheres competiam entre si e não se ajudavam.

Eu não tive irmãs, minha mãe ocupava o papel de mãe e cada uma das minhas amigas próximas tinha seu próprio “paquera” ou namorado. Além disso, nos meus dois primeiros empregos eu tive excelentes gerentes que eram mulheres. Eu achava que competição entre mulheres era coisa de novela. Bem mais tarde descobri, não sem um tanto de sofrimento, que mulheres podem prejudicar outras mulheres.

Do meu ponto de vista é preciso estar atenta aos estudos, com conhecimento podemos ganhar o mundo. Saber quem somos, nos colocarmos nos lugares que desejamos e sobretudo ajudarmos umas às outras. Cada mulher que galga um degrau pode sim apoiar várias outras para subirem juntas e trilharem os caminhos que desejam.

Na sua opinião, o que as referências e iniciativas dedicadas a mulheres podem fazer em parcerias com as empresas para trazer mais diversidade?

Creio que, para dar um salto no sentido de aumentar o número de mulheres no mercado de trabalho como um todo e mais especificamente na área de tecnologia, incluindo cybersecurity, três peças são fundamentais: o indivíduo, o setor público e o setor privado. Não podemos prescindir de nenhum pilar, cada um dos três precisa fazer a sua parte.

As mulheres que tem interesse na área de tecnologia precisam se conhecer, desenvolver suas potencialidades e acreditar que podem desenvolver um bom trabalho nesta área. Cuidar da sua saúde física, saúde mental e estudar, o estudo é fundamental. O tão aclamado “life-long learning” é imprescindível em uma área que está em constante mudança. Aliás, o mundo está em constante mudança, sem flexibilidade e aprendizado constantes seremos analfabetos digitais e não sobreviveremos em um mundo cada vez mais digitalizado.

O setor público precisa cumprir com sua finalidade oferecendo saúde, educação e segurança de qualidade. O setor privado e escolas precisam se aproximar e dialogar para formarem indivíduos prontos para as demandas do mercado, corporativo ou empreendedor. Os grupos de afinidades das empresas desempenham papel fundamental para internamente informar as empresas sobre as necessidades de mulheres.

Por sua vez, eles também levam para fora as demandas corporativas num ciclo que se retroalimenta. As empresas também desenvolvem programas que beneficiam as mulheres, programas estes que podem envolver todo seu ecossistema formando uma cadeia para atração e retenção de mulheres. São atividades que incentivam as mulheres e convidam-nas para o trabalho facilitando seu dia-a-dia bem como respeitando seu jeito de ser: pode ser desde palestras, cartilha informativa, uma sala de aleitamento interna, cursos e/ou programas sobre violência contra a mulher, roda de diálogo, biblioteca com autoras.

A temática feminina precisa estar na pauta da área de Comunicação das empresas e da área de RH com programas intencionais que vão desde a publicação de uma vaga até o desligamento da profissional, passando por remuneração, benefício, treinamento etc... E os três pilares também podem se unir às diversas entidades, ONGs ou não, para juntas desenharem programas que atendam as necessidades das mulheres, como Coaching e Mentoring bem como programas de capacitação em diversas áreas desde soft skills até os técnicos.

www.femaletechleaders.com

O que pode ser feito para que mais mulheres entrem na área de tech?

Esta também é mais uma das questões culturais que enfrentamos já nos lares, na infância de meninos e meninas: “tecnologia não é para mulheres” ou “meninas não gostam de matemática”. Ora, eu era uma menina que adorava matemática. Estas questões não tem fundamento mas a cultura de um povo demanda tempo para ser alterada. É preciso desde tenra idade expor as crianças à todo tipo de estímulos independente do gênero. E observar, estarmos atentos às afinidades reais por uma ou outra área do conhecimento. Existe um vídeo muito interessante de uma menina que foi questionada por uma pessoa em uma loja de brinquedos porque ela queria comprar um carrinho para sua coleção e a pessoa perguntou se ela, menina que era, não preferia uma boneca. A resposta da menina foi: “você dirige uma boneca ou um carro?”. São meninas assim que precisamos, meninas que nos tiram do lugar comum.

As iniciativas para que mulheres entrem na área de tecnologia precisam ser intencionais, é preciso querer contratar mulheres e elaborar programas para tal finalidade. Sem números não podemos garantir se a quantidade de mulheres em TI, ou em STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics) como um todo, estão aumentando ou não. Mulheres que atuam nas áreas de tecnologia também podem ter em suas pautas a atividade de inspirar e capacitar outras meninas e mulheres, muitas instituições precisam de voluntárias. É preciso que meninas e mulheres se vejam representadas. Acredito na força da informação, do conhecimento, da capacitação. De pose do conhecimento é possível escolher, se não conhecermos a área então esta deixa de ser considerada na escolha de mulheres.

Desconfiem quando disserem que esta área não é para você. Seja curiosa, vá em frente e aprenda, depois será possível decidir com segurança (e este não é um trocadilho!).

Qual é a sua frase favorita?

Era noite de entrega do Troféu Raça Negra e uma frase que ouvi do Toni Tornado foi: “Quando duas mãos se encontram refletem no chão a sombra de uma mesma cor.”

Fiquei bastante tocada com a simplicidade da frase e ao mesmo tempo com sua profundidade. Provavelmente ela foi proferida nos anos 70 e ainda hoje é preciso repeti-la porque tem pessoas que ainda não entenderam o que equidade significa.

Letras de músicas são grandes companheiras, sempre me inspiraram por isso tenho várias frases favoritas, não apenas uma. Uma letra do Toquinho que eu adapto para minha realidade sempre que preciso, a música é “Deixa acontecer”: “É feito uma estrela cadente, que risca o caminho da gente, nos enche de força e de luz”. A vida é assim cheia de momentos luminosos, eles permitem que sigamos em frente fortalecidas e sempre com pessoas incríveis ao nosso lado. Incríveis também são as mulheres WOMCY que encontrei nesta caminhada profissional.

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Introducing: Dr Narisa Chauvidul-Aw CEO & Founder of KogoPAY Group Dr Narisa Chauvidul-Aw is the CEO and founder of KogoPAY Group. This is a socially conscious Fintech start-up providing a mobile e-wallet for payments via both fiat and digital currencies. KogoPAY is based in the UK, Europe and Asia. KogoPAY provides banking services and IBAN accounts for B2B and mobile e-wallet and c -wallet for P2P customers. It enables real-time funds transfer for both domestic and cross border payments.

Narisa holds a PhD from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) and has more than 20 years of experience as a Finance Director and lecturer. She is also a short-term missionary helping the homeless in Tokyo and orphanage homes on the border between Thailand and Myanmar once a year.

Narisa is married with two sons and lives in London.

Dr. Narisa Chauvidul-Aw said: "when I first started developing the idea for an easier, friendlier payments system, I knew from the get-go that KogoPAY should be inclusive and philanthropic. Fintechs are rewriting the story of payments and banking in so many ways. KogoPAY’s unique role in the Fintech story is to facilitate payments and simple money management for everyone. We’re about universal access to payment services, both nationally and internationally, about sending money home, running a small business and keeping control of your finances."

Dr Narisa Chauvidul-Aw Money 20/20 Amsterdam: As part of the London & Partners delegation for the second time, Dr Narisa Chauvidul-Aw was the only female founder joining the delegation of 16 Fintech companies selected to join the Trade Mission trip to Money 20/20.

Money20/20 is the largest global Fintech event enabling payments and financial services innovation for connected commerce.

London & Partners is the Mayor of London’s official promotional agency.

Central Bank of Bahrain and EDB Bahrain Economic Development Board (EDB): Visiting CBB and EDB Bahrain for very valuable advice, information and assistance that is much needed to achieve KoGoPay ambitions within the Bahrain economy and beyond.

She said: I was delighted to find much common ground with CBB in many areas such as compliance, security and innovation. It was very nice to be able to meet in person and explore the country for the first time. Can’t wait to come back again and hope that we can establish our business here and contribute to Bahrain in whatever way we can.

UBSS Centre for Entrepreneurship (CFE): Dr Narisa Chauvidul-Aw has been welcome as a new UBSS fellow at the Centre for Entrepreneurship (CFE).

Fellows provide the UBSS student cohort and Alumni with integral ‘work-integrated learning’ (WIL) experiences, by sharing their expertise and business knowledge through interviews, special presentations, case studies and seminars. The value of our Fellows is clearly recognized to create a better tomorrow for today’s students.

London & Partner Trade Mission Trip to UAE: Dr Narisa Chauvidul-Aw signed a strategic partnership agreement with His Excellency Sheikh Abdulaziz bin Duaij Khalifa al Khalifa in Dubai. She said: "Words cannot express how deeply humbled and honoured I am to be partnering with His Excellency Sheikh Abdulaziz bin Duaij Khalifa al Khalifa, H.E. Sheikha Emanuela Khalifa and His Excellency’s private office team. This strategic partnership aligns with my and KogoPAY's commitment to business expansion by settling our international roots in the UAE, Bahrain and other Gulf countries."

Trade Mission Trip to UAE: As part of the London and Partners delegation organized by Dhaval Gore and David Butcher, Dr Narisa had the opportunity to meet important business partners including regulators, banks and other business networks. It was an opportunity to meet 10 other delegates, listen to each other's pitches and get to know each other. During this time Narisa expanded her knowledge and contacts useful for setting up business and obtaining licenses in the UAE.

Dr Narisa Chauvidul-Aw is featured in the official commemorative album for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Dr Narisa has appeared alongside other notable individuals, businesses and institutions from the United Kingdom and Commonwealth.

In the piece she describes her mission to ‘create an ethical and inclusive financial ecosystem that facilitates payments and simple money management for everyone’.

A key part of this inclusive approach is the ‘pay it forward’ ethos by which KogoPAY Group enables the excluded and unbanked to benefit from commerce.

Dr Narisa said: "It is one of the biggest honours of my life to be asked to feature in this very very special book. Words can't explain how grateful I am to be included in this unique publication. I will do all I can to make everyone proud. I will do my best to promote our business as well as making a positive impact and contribution to our society.’ This book celebrates a one-of-a-kind occasion that we will not see the like of again. Her Majesty The Queen becomes the first British Monarch to celebrate a Platinum Jubilee after 70 years of service. This official Platinum Jubilee album includes amazing pictures of the Queen as well as chosen individuals, businesses and institutions from the UK and Commonwealth. The book wanted to include some women who they believed are pioneers, leaders and innovators. It also focuses on the social aspect of business.

Millions of thanks to my family, friends, angel investors and our KogoPay team.

You are the wind beneath my wings.

KogoPAY is a socially conscious fintech start-up providing virtual IBANs accounts and a mobile wallet. At KogoPAY, we want to be inclusive, support the unbanked and create an ecosystem to help build a fairer society by aiding, supporting, and advancing community.

Send · Receive · Pay it Forward

Let’s strive for a world without poverty.

. Download KogoPAY today: give back, and pay it forward. www.kogopay.com

ARTICLES ENGLISH

WHY IT’S MORE COST EFFECTIVE TO RETAIN TALENT THAN IT IS TO ATTRACT NEW TALENT If you had more women executives on your team, by what percent would your profits increase? According to global management consultancy McKinsey in 2020 ‘Companies with over 30% female executives outperform others by 25%’ So if your profitability is 1M right now, you could increase that to 1.25M. Women in leadership positions can improve productivity, innovation, team dynamics, and decision-making processes. They are typically good at stakeholder understanding and engagement, building organisational sustainability and people management.

Yet there seems to be a huge disconnect between the good intentions of leaders and the progress on closing the gender gap. The loss of experienced female leaders is damaging to organisations and the global economy.

After 10 years of executive leadership coaching and developing emerging leaders to exceptional leaders, listening to the challenges and pain points of 100s of women from all over the world. I have tailored my approach to help leaders grow and build organisation succession pipelines. Succession planning can help retain talented individuals as they are aware of internal opportunities to progress their careers. It’s therefore central to the internal elements of talent management programmes.

In the age of the great resignation and covid where talent has left the building- quite literally- I wanted to find out what keeps leaders up at night.

77% said attracting and retaining their female employees.

90% said diversity, equity and inclusion are a priority in their agenda – gender diversity being the core of this and building a sustainable future.

But What Are Companies Doing About This? What Are You Doing About This?

When surveyed these are the top 3 things that keep coming up during my conversations with employees. The 3 key reasons that retention is dropping- the pressure of always being “on” and giving 110% to make it to the executive level is a challenge that all women grapple with.

With 90% of companies recruiting nationally in 2022, the war for talent is the top issue companies face right now. Lack of communication & collaboration for 90% of women working remotely is proving to be a struggle, As is communicating with teams and connecting with colleagues.

Sounds like Lucy a new recruit for an organisation and member of netwomen, working from home in a different country, alone. She was struggling with not feeling like she was good enough to be in her new role. Prior to this, she was used to working in a team, since covid she had changed jobs and she noticed the lack of interaction and communication with clients and colleagues, that feeling siloed was affecting her mental health. During the first session of being coached with me, she revealed loneliness and anxiety about job security, lack of understanding of her job in a remote environment with no support or role models and struggling to retain contracts. This is especially acute for new recruits and new roles. It’s a tough market right now.

This is a loop that most employees face. Because of the lack of communication, this leads to the fact that 90% of women wished there were more role models peer to peer support and personal development opportunities in their organisation. Lack of Community kept coming up and being able to speak to role models and ambitious women.

Women are tired of being the only one or the other and feeling like they don’t belong. It is exhausting and is a barrier to growth for only them but also for the organisation.

‘You Can’t Be What You Cant See’ The lack of diversity in leadership positions put Clare, another member, off from applying for roles. She said “leadership is dominated by men, I feel less likely to believe climbing the corporate ladder is worthwhile. Esp when I feel like I am a token or a tick box.”

When companies lack the representation of females, leadership programmes and women’s communities have been and continue to be a huge confidence boost to help elevate females giving them the support to become exceptional leaders.

Leadership coaching, mastermind groups and global D&I meetings have proved to be successful for many organisations.

Peer to peer support and connection groups offer a diverse and inclusive space to develop and grow female leaders. Which includes role models where new recruits thrive, learn, grow and are lifted up. Sharing challenges and celebrating wins, improving communication, engagement and relationships to truly make a difference to them and the organisation.

People Don’t Leave Jobs They Leave Toxic Cultures.

Toxic culture was the biggest predictor of the great resignation. When one of our members Jess invested in herself and experienced coaches after struggling with feeling like she didn’t belong and was limited by her own inner voice. She benefited not only for herself but for all the of her colleagues around her, she said “the best investment I have ever made is in myself from the moment I have been coached, it’s taken me from feeling underconfident and like a fraud to confident and I believe in myself. It has meant that I can apply for promotions without feeling like an imposter.

I can lead my team with more confidence and I have since been promoted to senior management.”

You see, you miss 100% of the opportunities you don’t take.

Joining a global network of ambitious women and meeting people outside of an organisation that better connects and supports professionals is invaluable.

Women thrive in networks that support and champion them where they feel valued, heard and belong, with peers and coaches helping to empower them.

It’s Much More Cost-Effective And Less Time Consuming To Retain Talent Than Recruit New Talent.

Now you are probably thinking to yourself well that’s a lot of work. Well, this is where we come in. Here are the key benefits among many that we have been able to offer at netwomen.

1.Greater innovation and higher retention by elevation, through coaching and community creating an inclusive diverse culture 2. Better decision making through diversity of thought and engagement – employees feel they are valued, heard and accepted for who they are.

3. Improve company reputation and therefore make it easier to attract top talent.

4. Higher productivity and performance which increases your profitability by upto 36% It’s obvious from the great resignation that companies are struggling to bridge the gender gap.

Companies Finding It A Challenge To Attract And Retain Female Employees Will Get Left Behind.

There are women in your organisation who don’t need to struggle with imposter syndrome like I did or like you did. The easiest and fastest way to see inclusion and retention is with a community and coaching.

Netwomen.co elevates females by inspiring, supporting, including, and developing women to help organisations attract and retain talented female leaders and bridge the gender gap. Now you can act and commit to your social responsibility and sustainability.

Your women have incredible potential. With the right support, they could increase your profitability, create innovation and even become future leaders, so let’s work together to end imposter syndrome and help your women reach their full potential.

By Pinky founder and CEO netwomen and Mindset by Pinky

Recommended articles Click here to access

Fiction vs.

Non-Fiction Sexual Harassment in VR, The Proteus Effect and the phenomenology of Darth Vader — and other stories….

I recently shared my experience of sexual harassment in Facebook/Meta’s Venues.

Within 60 seconds of joining — I was verbally and sexually harassed — 3–4 male avatars, with male voices, essentially, but virtually gang raped my avatar and took photos — as I tried to get away they yelled — “don’t pretend you didn’t love it” and “go rub yourself off to the photo”.

A horrible experience that happened so fast and before I could even think about putting the safety barrier in place. I froze.

It was surreal. It was a nightmare.

Since the development of VR, developers have been working towards creating ways to engage with virtual reality for the benefit of humanity. Benefits like increased human connection, augmented empathy, and new opportunities for education are commonly listed as positive impact of VR’s potential. VR content generates patterns of stimulation, including light photons for the eyes, acoustic input for the ears, and tactile or haptic stimulators for touch. The way these stimuli are presented will give the user a sense of immersion.

The immersive features lead to a sense of verisimilitude between oneself and the programming through an all-encompassing setting created by three aspects of VR; First is immersion itself, meaning that the user feels like they are in another environment. Second, specific embodiment aspects to the technology gained by users must have a sense of active presence. Third is the concept of embodiment, feeling that the virtual body (avatar) is the physical body. Embodiment can be further expanded reconsidering the components of an experience that feels similar sensations towards a virtual body inside a virtual environment as toward the biological body (and vice versa).

Virtual reality has essentially been designed so the mind and body can’t differentiate virtual/digital experiences from real. In some capacity, my physiological and psychological response was as though it happened in reality.

The Proteus effect is the tendency for people to be affected by their digital representations, such as avatars, dating site profiles and social networking personas.

Typically, people’s behaviour shifts in accordance with their digital representatives.

A study took data from CharacTour, an app that has users take a personality quiz and matches them with the fictional characters most like them – the data allowed the researchers to see which characters people were attracted to. Whether good or bad guy, people preferred characters like themselves.

This work suggests that what makes characters or avatars in the Metaverse ie. Daffy Duck or Darth Vader – and what potentially makes these personas attractive to people, is not that they are the inverse of who we are, but that they actually might echo pieces of who we are,” Darth Vader is one of the most popular villains of all time — note that in theory, a prerogative of fiction is to provide us with the freedom to explore our dark side.

This brings me back to is it real? — is the Metaverse, or are the Metaverse(s) in current development, intended to be real or not? If the purpose of Virtual Reality (the current mode of human-computer interaction for immersive experiences) is to simulate real life — and it has essentially been designed to viscerally, with all 5 senses (yes, smell can be included), as real as technology permits — then we are designing non-fiction.

My experience of sexual harassment was, to say the least, shocking. Shocking because I am not accustomed to be spoken to in such derogatory ways, maybe back in 1996, but certainly not in 2021.The comments on my post were a plethora of opinions from — “don’t choose a female avatar, it’s a simple fix.”, to “don’t be stupid, it wasn’t real”, “a pathetic cry for attention”, “avatars don’t have lower bodies to assault”,“you’ve obviously never played fortnite”, “I’m truly sorry you had to experience this” and “this must stop”.

And I’m also sad. Sad that the current state of VR has been predominantly (and yes I know there are positives forces out there) has been heavily driven by proponents of VR is fiction — violence, sexual fantasies, and to be quite frank — hate. A world where the Proteus effect runs rampant, and people are living out the Darth Vader of their personalities. But in actual fact, VR is, was and continues to be designed to be nonfiction to human physiology and psychology.

As we invite more and more people into VR, XR, AR, MR (and other Web 3.0 tools) we need to become conscious to the fact the these are designed with “realness” as a key component.

Ultimately, the decision is made. Virtual Reality, Metaverse, and other technologies are designed for human interfacing. By design, to offer us ways to engage with the world, supported, integrated and symbiotically with technology — and no matter how we progress we will always be human and humans are real.

I like to imagine myself as an explorer. On a frontier that has yet to be explored, full of anticipation, excitement, hope and with that — fear. But I am a determined woman (with a strong community around me), not about to be deterred by 3–4 avatars to scare or intimidate me.

What are your thoughts? I’d be happy to engage in conversations and discord to bring this and similar conversations to the forefront.

To infinity and beyond, Nina xo

Nina Jane Patel Nina Jane Patel is the co-founder and VP of Metaverse Research for Kabuni. Patel is a movement psychotherapist and doctoral scholar, awarded the Wilkie Calvert Scholarship and was awarded by the Canada Council for the Arts for new research investigating the relationship of the body, movement and self-expression in the Metaverse.

Elevate Life - The Metaverse in Motion Podcast www.ninajanepatel.com

The FemTech Revolution is Digital

A dynamic and new subcategory of HealthTech, is opening new opportunities for the way they can shape technology in the healthcare sector. FemTech is helping to match capital and talent to unmet needs—with promising early results.

We are seeing great strides made in women’s healthcare to allow for better outcomes for women patients and consumers. There’s an increased awareness that women’s healthcare has been excluded from much of the research and development in the health space, and this historical error needs correcting.

This sector encompasses software, diagnostics, products and services that use technology to improve women’s health. For many years, women have adapted to technology and medicine that was not created with their genetic makeup in mind.

This is partially due to the lack of female representation in clinical research. The FemTech movement is taking a step towards focusing on women’s health.

FemTech as an inclusive sector is gender agnostic, not female founder focused, and continues find ways to address the needs of underrepresented populations. These areas will continue to grow particularly as healthcare expands in low- and middleincome countries. There will also be opportunities in places like Europe to see an expansion of FemTech products that serve needs around menopause and other age-related female health needs.

A recent report by McKinsey & Co called ‘The Dawn of the FemTech revolution” shows that we have a lot of reasons to be optimistic about this subsector. Although FemTech still accounts for only a tiny share of total funding for the wider digital health market at 3%, the management consultancy believes the opportunities it presents “are becoming increasingly evident”.

What are the opportunities in FemTech?

As an early stage sector, the opportunities for growth and innovation within FemTech are endless. According to Rock Health, a full service seed fund, the major segments are: • Fertility: $36 billion market, solutions that address health needs associated with period health/tracking and trying to conceive. The fertility industry has been projected to reach $41 billion in sales by 2026. These solutions can also help women with selfmonitoring throughout the process of conceiving.

• Pregnancy/motherhood: Solutions that focus on assisting mothers from the point of conception through birth and across the newborn period. Additionally, a variety of mobile apps can assist women throughout their pregnancy and keep them connected to their healthcare professionals.

• Sexual and gynecological health: $63 Billion Market, Solutions that encompass healthcare services related to routine gynecologic care, sexual education, sexually transmitted infections (STIs), menopause and pelvic health.

• Chronic disease: Solutions that target chronic conditions requiring ongoing care (e.g., cancer, heart disease, depression) which are not exclusive to, but prevalent among, women • Lifestyle/wellness: Solutions that center around mind and body wellbeing, as well as social factors to develop a comprehensive and multidisciplinary approach to holistic health.

Carnellia Ajasin, is CEO of Mind Katalyst - a tech & innovation venture studio. We're making the difference we want to see in the world through building humanity-centered tech products and experiences that people love applying emerging technology as an insightful medium. We love co-creating products that improve life, making access to capital equitable for scalability and creating new ecosystems. Work with Mind Katalyst to help you scale your technology products, contact us for more details www.mindkatalyst.com or support@mindkatalyst.com

LET'S STEP INTO A NEW DIMENSIONTHE METAVERSE!

I am sure most of us are aware of the recent development wherein Facebook has changed it's name to "Meta". Now me being the curious cat that I am, was very intrigued by the fact that a conglomerate like Facebook could take such a colossal risk when billions of dollars along with probable loss of customers (due to rebranding) are at stake. Upon doing some research, I found an entirely different world we are soon going to be introduced to, and to say I was fascinated will be an understatement. I am not letting my research go to waste (*wink*), so here are my two cents on what is meta(verse) and all you need to know about it.

Before diving into what Metaverse means, let's understand its origin and relevance.

When we use the word 'UNI-VERSE' , UNI therein stands for 'one' and 'universe' means 'ONE world' where we all live. Similarly, if you break the word 'META-VERSE', the word 'Meta' is a Greek word that means something that is over and above or beyond. When you hear the word Metaverse, it implies something that is beyond the universe.

At the moment you are reading this from the comfort of your home/laptop, now imagine being able to actually see me in person, touch me or maybe even shoot a hifi? Sounds absurd? Far fetched? Well, welcome to the world of Metaverse. Obviously, the person talking to you would be my digital figure/avatar. It is the imagination of a world where you can virtually create a new world for yourself.

Let's take a common example- most of us have played video games. There is a version of us in the game who is doing the actions, shooting and maybe even buying grains, guns etc.

When you are playing a game, you are in a two-dimensional world, that is you imagine the digital figure in front of you to be yourself and play that game. Now imagine you could wear a headset, you have headphones and sensors and through that experience you find yourself inside that game. 'You are not just playing the game, you are the game' and that my friends, is the basis of metaverse.

Now that we have established the meaning of Metaverse, let's take into consideration its pros and cons.

Pros Negating physical distance During the pandemic, people the world over had to conduct meetings via Zoom , Google Meet etc. Enter the world of Metaverse and wear your headset, log onto your metaverse and you'd actually be sitting together, be able to see each other in person and discuss and conduct meetings.

Increases social interaction During the pandemic , the only way to interact with other humans was through the internet. However, things are different in the metaverse with social interactions and events being way more immersive, allowing users to experience a personal connection with their friends and loved ones. Attend meetings, go to parties whilst switching your digital avatars on metaverse, right from the comfort of your couch.

Expansion of business opportunities Just like social media has helped businesses to grow multifold, Metaverse will bring in haptic technology, wherein you can see the product, hold it, and even feel it (experience of touch through vibration, forces, and motion). This type of interaction will benefit both the consumer and business, as both parties will receive a better user experience thus expanding the business multifold.

Cons Losing connection People who are exposed to the metaverse for too long might lose their sense of reality and after a while it could worsen to the extent of not wanting to acknowledge the existence of a world besides the virtual one. To some degree, we experience this kind of behaviour today with the use of mobile devices too but metaverse may further escalate it.

www.femaletechleaders.com

Cybercrimes might skyrocket Cybercrime is a serious problem that has plagued the internet ever since it existed.

Metaverse being a relatively new concept doesn’t enjoy the t sophisticated cyber security levels. This makes it vulnerable to all sorts of illegal activities, such as fraud, money laundering, child exploitation, illegal goods, services trafficking, and cyberattacks, to name a few. Since it is a decentralized system, governments don’t have much power to fight and counter cyber crime as is the case with internet systems.

Addictive It will be a potential challenge to maintain balance between the metaverse and the actual world. When we are immersed in the metaverse, we bid adieu to the outside world besides our essential needs like sleeping, eating etc. and before we know, we are not hooked, but addicted to it.

Having said that, it is still too soon to analyze the risks and impact of metaverse as it has a long way to go before it is fully optimized.

Human brain is 30 times more powerful than the IBM Sequoia, one of the world’s fastest supercomputers. What I mean to imply via this information is pretty straightforward- no matter how wide and far the technology advances, nothing can overpower the world's greatest superpower- the human brain.

At the end of the day, the decision is always in the hands of the people, not the technology. Optimize your time and limit your resources in an efficient manner whilst savouring real-time experiences of metaverse on the likes of social media, gaming, content creation, and other advanced technology.

Soon enough, happily, we shall verse in Meta!

www.femaletechleaders.com

BEING SAFE IN THE WEB3 / NFT INDUSTRY In the actual NFT industry there is a gap; like in any other WEB3 industry and this is the lack of safety. Lots of users are being scammed and like in the WEB2 environment, scammers can get very intuitive towards taking everyone’s assets - and this includes all players, not only those who are starting in this industry but literally all players.

A great example of this is the #YugaLabs Discord hacking. So as you can see, even the big names can be somehow tricked into a downfall and this obviously affects the community, and stakeholders as well.

With this said, this gap needs to be filled ASAP and it is possible that the KYC and AML strategies will might be used in the next steps, otherwise, this industry along with all WEB3 sectors will be faded to protect “bad players” who certainly will not refrain to swap a wallet with no pity, while the general public is disregarded.

However, KYC (Know Your Customer) and AML (Anti Money Laundering) are clearly “against” the “Decentralized” idea behind blockchain itself so how to resolve that? That is a tricky task but a required one.

For instance, a health diligence to detect bots and synthetic IDs is a good start - This will allow to reduce the cluttered amount of duplicated and sometimes unnecessary accounts:

1 - By doing regular Real-Time Digital & Social Checks 2 - By monitoring Live Transactions; 3 - By having a Risk Scoring for the wallets regardless AML and KYC compliance 4 - By pushing the AI and machine learning concept further.

For your reference, there are lots of new apps that will do this for you - in case you have nothing to hide and are a legitimate individual using the WB3 scenario. Needless to say, DYOR before all and make sure that those you are dealing with are also legitimate players - even if they do not provide enough KYC/AML compliance.

Some tricks that can do the job on safety for you: A - Make sure that all environment that is based on community engagement has a strong leadership, and that the management team of that specific environment is a well-known person IRL (In Real Life); NFT projects included, make sure that: A-1. Secret mints and seret mint dates along with pricing decided on last minute can be a pitfall - So make sure that things are researched; A-2. Amount of community members does not necessarily mean that the community is good or bad - bots and duplicated accounts are everywhere and by having lots of registered “customers” does not mean quality but quantity only in most of the cases; A.3 - Mind that people you know may be hacked and that is of right risk: hackers will contact you back as your legitimate “friend” and will ask for things - Taking into consideration, do not forget to act under a common-sense flag, otherwise you will be the next to lose your assets.

While we do not have a proper regulatory set of rules for the above mentioned - and most of all other rules found on the WEB2 scenario - it is strongly recommended that you never share anything, even to known “friends” and people who you “know” for long time on the NFT industry and WEB3 in general. It is really simple: Do not trust!

It may sounds rash or rude but in reality, the most precious things on the WEB3 industry in general is your own assets, like mine are important to myself so do not feel guilty if anyone ask you to share details or even send them precious information - do not forget the most important asset in the IT industry in general is DATA - more specifically - YOUR data!

Other tricks that can do the job is having a “burning” wallet ( that you use for minting assets and transferring funds), a second burn wallet so you can have a contingency in case of having the first wallet compromised and finally, make sure that you have a COLD wallet - According to a quick Google, (it is also called "hardware wallet" and "offline wallet," the cold wallet stores the user's address and private key and works in conjunction with compatible software in the computer.)

Overall, trust your gut, act under a common sense and always research - look for the “red flags” , the small bits and bobs here and there, those kinds of things that you never saw before on the WEB3 industry before spending your valuable assets.

Dead SIlverado NFT Collector & Investor

JUGGLING THE MANY ROLES WE PLAY AS WOMEN: WHAT THE PANDEMIC HAS REVEALED AND HOW WE CREATE A CULTURE OF WELL-BEING MOVING FORWARD. If you have found yourself reading this, you are likely a passionate and driven human.

Naturally, we look for solutions to support our ability to share, care, grow and build.

We are excited by life and its many opportunities and experiences. We are here, if I can say, living on purpose.

However, amidst our motivation to build communities and run businesses while sometimes parenting children or caring for our elders, there is something that the pandemic has pointed out – caregivers need care too.

As helpers, we may not notice how often we put the needs of others before our own.

As long as women have been taking a fair share – if not all – of the domestic responsibility, this has always been a reality. But now, a role in the workplace has been added to many of our lives and we are more stretched than ever before.

Women are so well-intentioned in our generosity and desire to give. Yet at some point, with enough days of a less-than-full cup, it begins to backfire.

www.femaletechleaders.com

We see the tiredness in our own eyes. We find ourselves being clumsier and more frustrated; forgetting things we would usually remember. Needing more coffee. And perhaps coming home to our children not having the energy to be with them lovingly.

The pressures of working in male-dominant environments don’t help the need for us to take better care of ourselves throughout the day. As we move into our middle years of life, decisions increase around having a family or not; taking time off work or not; prioritizing the care our aging parents or not. And the overwhelm of information through our growing use of technology only adds to that overload.

As a fellow helper, dreamer and advocate of following your passions, I experienced burnout from not only the pressures of being in a high-producing, fast-moving corporate environment but also believing that I should be doing more than I was when my children were born. I was in a constant worry about home life when I was at work and equally worried when at home, while thinking about the business. I doubted whether I would ever be ‘productive’ or ‘successful’ again.

Yet, motherhood was directing me towards a new way of life. One that was slower, gentler and much more caring towards myself. Only that was teaching me to put my own oxygen mask on first so I could genuinely help others – whether it was my children, clients or greater community.

Mental health is a growing conversation in each and every industry because we have learned through extensive scientific research that if we ourselves are not healthy, it can impact our lives on every level, from clarity in decision making to quality of relationships.

The evidence for our need to pay attention to what is happening within ourselves is only growing. ‘What do I need right now?’ is a question more and more people are asking themselves. Through the pandemic alone, the personal value of ‘well-being’ has risen from #26 to #5 in the lives of 2500 humans surveyed across dozens of industries in the Barrett Values Center.

Has the way you relate to your body, mind and soul shifted for you? If so, what does well-being mean to you? And where does it rank on your list of personal values?

I offer a bold invitation - can we take the leap into honouring ourselves at this time of change? Can we care for the caregiver within us, so we can give from a full and balanced cup, when we do?

While this may appear to be selfish, it is perhaps the most self-less thing you can do.

Your love for others naturally expands as you love yourself. You can listen more within the difficult conversations. You can be more patient in moments where things aren’t going so well. You can trust that even the challenges are here with reason.

Because you recognize that your foundation depends on you trusting your inherent value as a human being. Without having to do anything for anyone. Imagine that!

When you can start your day from this place, you will find that it is easier to let things go and let things be, so there is space for the more ‘right’ things to show up in your life!

Some call it magic. Others serendipity, or just plain old good luck. As you see life beginning to work with you and for you, you can keep the secret formula to yourself or share it around! Everyone has a different way of connecting to themselves, and even then, it changes from season to season.

Here are a few tips to begin practicing daily care for yourself, or if you are already doing so, to try something new: 1. Before you reach for your phone in the morning or speak to someone, remind yourself of 3 things you are grateful for. Is it waking up alive and fully breathing?

Having a family to say good morning to? A passionate career that you GET to grow through? Whatever it is, begin with a celebration of what is already here.

2. The mornings are an important time to put your intention on things that will lift you up, whether it be writing intentions for the day in a journal, turning up the volume on a favourite song or having a healthy breakfast. What matters most in your life? And how does your day reflect what you value? If you are spending much of your day doing things that fill you up, you will naturally feel more energized.

3. Drink plenty of water. The science isn’t kidding on this one! Ensure that you have more water than other beverages throughout the day, as your body itself is made up of over 70% water! It is not only nourishing for the mind and skin, but helps us flush out anything that is being processed emotionally.

4. Look to nature for clues. How does the natural world around you move? It is rushing to grow, or simply happy as it is, patiently waiting for the right season to bloom in? Does it shy away from its brilliance, or stand tall while giving other plants and trees space to also shine? We are nature, made of the soil and rocks and minerals.

Nature holds many clues as to how we are meant to thrive.

5. Pick a few of your favourite things to keep near you in the car or at your computer station, while you travel and work. Maybe it’s a small flower you have taken from your garden. Perhaps a candle with a scent you love. Maybe it’s a photo of you as a child, that reminds you of your innocence and playful nature.

6. Find support. Whether it’s a coach, a local community or even an accountability buddy, find someone you can trust with the things you are going through. We don’t always see our own flaws, nor do we see our own butterfly wings. In good company, we are reminded of both the opportunities we have as well as the already existing beauty!

I encourage you to adopt small practices likes these throughout your day, to support your well-being. It will not only contribute to your sense of fulfillment at home, but your engagement and care towards others in the workplace. Imagine a culture where work didn’t feel like work but a place to connect, imagine and create? You too may be amazed at the amount of joy, ease and new possibilities that emerge when you are staying in check with your own needs throughout the day. Of course, if you have been practicing putting others before you for many years like many of us have, it may take awhile for your battery to begin filling up.

You are well worth paying attention to, especially the attention you can give yourself in the way you want it! We are all mothers to ourselves in that way, so fill yourself up as you would a child. And if you need help remembering that you are worthy of love and care each and every day, we are here for you.

You will be even better for yourself and for the world, in turn.

Ashley Singla Ashley is the founder of Raising Humanity and the Playground of Life. She is a curious explorer of life and passionate about helping bring mothers back home to themselves. If she is not in nature or writing, she will likely be found enjoying ice cream with her two little boys.

EARLY THOUGHTS ON JACK DORSEY’S WEB5 INITIATIVES

From all the exciting news that flowed out of Consensus this week, the most intriguing, and I would dare to call it, provocating was the statement from Jack Dorsey on Twitter and the announcement of web5 (here).

The company behind this initiative is named TBD (it's the acronym for one primary technology at the heart of web5, more on this below.) A previous article on Coindesk introduced TBD and its mission last November, under the promise of using a protocol (tbDex) to make digital and other assets more accessible to everyone.

First reaction: why would we need something else than a solid cryptocurrency like Bitcoin (the gold of blockchain) or a vibrant ecosystem like Ethereum to build dapps, mint NFT, and govern DeFI? Let's try to analyze what the ex-CEO from Twitter and now CEO of ex-Square/Block (aka Block Head) has been concocting and announcing this week.

What can we tell about web5 from early announcements and some background: While everyone is busy thinking smart contracts on Ethereum or other blockchains, accelerating the transaction processing with Proof-of-Stake (PoS) vs. Proof-of-Work (PoW), Jack's company, TBD, has been very conservative releasing some news starting last year. Jack has always been a big supporter of Bitcoin (some will say a Bitcoin maximalist) in the past and more recently announced the development of the Layer 2, faster and cheaper off-chain transaction technology, Lightning Network, with the launch of the Lightning Dev Kit.

On the release of last November's video, which portrayed Jack as a puppet, we met his dynamic team working on the LN project. By then, we did not doubt that Jack was mainly fond of Bitcoin and nothing more. The launch of a Bitcoin University with Jay-Z demonstrated that he is betting all his chips(!) on Bitcoin and that he doesn't care much about everything else, including Ethereum. We can conclude that this whole web5 thing is not "Ethereum on Bitcoin," as some people have implied after this week's announcement.

But what is web5 trying to solve? The real problem we have observed with early web3 development is the issue with building decentralized applications (dapps) that are not entirely decentralized. We knew that early dot-com companies behind the web2 renaissance never really cared to decentralize anything because, after all, it served these companies financially very well. Web3 was supposed to be decentralized, but that didn't happen entirely from day one. Today, when a user registers and logs in, e.g. The OpenSea website, this is still a web2 centralized platform infrastructure using blockchain to mint and store translations of NFT tokens.

When you connect your wallet using MetaMask, your identity still depends on one application maker to keep your password. There is no documentation on how MetaMask manages your credentials or how secure those are on their server. Many reports have surfaced where people have started doubting these web2 hooks into web3 that are supposed to make it easier for people to authenticate into their platform but may create dangerous loopholes. If you try to build real dapps today, you are still connecting to storage or blockchains with auth tokens such as Pinata or Infura using web2 REST API. These constraints are not the absolute promise that everything is decentralized. And maybe this helps understand better why Jack is declaring war on web3 with his web5 project (Elon Musk tried to make a racy joke on Twitter about Web69, which was unsurprisingly out of taste.)

I have gathered that web5 is a group of technologies that are mainly already created.

An essential central piece of identity has been around for a few years with the creation and management of decentralized identity. Identity, as I mentioned above, is something that developers overlook in the web3 community. A fundamental notion is that your identity should be universal and private, managed only by you, accessible by consent, and revoked at will. Most web3 developers today focus on smartcontracts while ignoring fundamental gaps in web3 about user identity. tbDEX is the technology built by TBD to support decentralized identity. Here is the official TBD website discussing identity in more detail: https://developer.tbd.website/projects/web5/.

TBD won't create a new blockchain just for web5. The project team decided to re-use good ol' Bitcoin. If it works, don't break it. Bitcoin will provide the payment backbone for web5 and Lightning Network for Layer 2. Bitcoin doesn't have smartcontracts, and its simple scripting language won't let you write programs with recursivity. And that's probably for the best if you check all the security issues on Ethereum caused by developers' mistakes using a Turing-complete language (a Turing-complete language supports loops, and analysis can't be deterministic about its execution time.)

There is a tiny spare space left on the blockchain per transaction, which can be used to store a non-human-readable digital identity token (as defined in tbDex), and that's about it. Users will need extra persistent storage to store more data outside the Bitcoin blockchain. I haven't read anything about the storage choice or how to do verifiable credentials and I assume this is still under development. Because there won't be smartcontracts or any EVM, your dapps will have to run on your local device. We expect some decentralized storage with roles based on your permissions set with your identity to be offered by web5. And that's about it for now.

What type of applications will we experience with this 180-degree approach to what we have seen so far with Ethereum and friends? For a starter, we will start sharing more applications requiring identity, such as collaborative tools (Wikipedia on the blockchain or the whole Google group of applications). This kind of application is hard to imagine on web3 today without reverting to some centralization.

While it's a bit too early to tell what will happen between web3 vs. web5 and which will win, I am very excited to see the possibilities web5 will offer to software developers in a decentralized ecosystem. It's a new approach, and it's great to see more than one way to tackle the decentralization of applications. The direction to continue leveraging Bitcoin may sound passé, but it has some merits.

Bitcoin is a proven and solid technology; no double-spending occurred on its blockchain during its lifetime. The controversy around Proof of Work using lots of electricity for mining blocks on Bitcoin will need to be addressed if it impacts web5 reputation. I wrote before that shifting to Proof of Stake might seem inevitable for Bitcoin to keep a good image in the future. Litecoin and Dogecoin have already demonstrated this possibility on the same codebase. And maybe both web3 and web5 will continue evolving in parallel. After all, the introduction of Ethereum didn't cause Bitcoin to retire. On the contrary, it stimulated more people to join the crypto movement.

I am interested to hear your comments regarding this announcement.

HARASSMENT IS NOT OKAY. PERIOD.

Well, wasn't the Metaverse meant to take us into the virtual world? Away from reality, nasty and loathsome ones nonetheless? The naïve me believed this until I figured that some despicable human beings have found a way to ruin the virtual world for us (read: women) too. Out of all the problems in the world, who thought something as ghastly as harassment will be the chosen one to ruin our lives virtually? I apologize if I sound too bitter but hang on until you hear and see the events that have occurred with the woman out there and I promise, you'd be mortified too.

A well-known actress had flown into Miami 2022 Bitcoin conference. She makes a living from trading cryptocurrencies and has a modest online following. She was quoted saying how she was having the time of her life until she realized that her Twitter mentions were blowing up, (no) thanks to some '@bitcoin_fu**boi' who posted a photo that featured an unflattering view of her backside. Hundreds of people had replied to the tweet and written disturbing things about her body.

Between graphic insults, some men made sexual bids. “I’d still smash,” one wrote.

“Would pound,” wrote another. She reported the harassment to the Bitcoin conference using an online contact form, but no one replied.

It appals me to imagine that if someone as popular as an actress pleas were turned a blind eye to, what is a mediocre working-class supposed to do? Officially, the Bitcoin conference has an anti-harassment policy, which forbids “offensive verbal comments about personal appearance,” among other things. But several women said the conference doesn’t go far enough to enforce its policies and proactively protect women’s safety.

In case you are wondering it is only the 'well-known' people this harassment is targeted towards, I sadly have to pronounce you incorrect. A man groped at the breasts of a woman at a private party during the week of the Bitcoin conference.

Another woman attended an after-party at the home of a prominent crypto investor and later discovered that someone had slipped an AirTag into her bag at the party. Both women were disturbed, but neither reported the incidents to the conference or the police since they didn’t expect it would resolve anything. Such is the faith a common man has in the system of justice! To top it all off, they also asked that their names not be used for fear of retaliation within the Bitcoin community!

Just how flawed is our concept of egalitarianism?

One British woman has alleged that she was groped in the virtual world by male avatars in horizon venues of meta. Some reports also claim she was raped. Plenty of women claim to have been sexually harassed and verbally abused by male avatars. A woman, also a mother of two stated that she was so shocked and the incident took place so fast, that she had 'no time to consider safety issues.' We cannot even begin to comprehend the psychological impact it would have on the victims.

Unscrupulous characters have always found a way to violate people within our society.

One key question we must ask ourselves is will the virtual world become free of sexual harassment? In March, Andrew Bosworth, a Meta executive wrote in an employee memo that moderating what people say and how they act in the metaverse "at any meaningful scale is practically impossible." Simply put, the reality is that it may not be possible to eradicate it completely but we can definitely work to mitigate it.

There must be safeguards within algorithmic codes that will limit or eradicate forms of harassment. Specific identifiers must connect the user to their avatars.

This will bring together the need for accountability in the virtual space. After the reporting of several harassment incidents, Meta created a personal border for their system that will ensure the distance between users. This unique barrier will prevent other avatars from being too close to another avatar. These are indeed great inclusions and should be applauded.

However, we still stand far away from the problem is resolved entirely. Issues of verbal abuse and hate speech are still left hanging mid-air. We are definitely at a stage where formulating an approach for governance of these online spaces cannot be further delayed. Every user deserves to enter the virtual world without the fear of being abused, groped or exposed to anything they are not comfortable with.

www.femaletechleaders.com

The metaverse has so much to offer and can be more good than bad provided we have proper guidelines, and ethical considerations to combat the bad. Laws should be implemented to regulate these spaces before it is too late and there is no coming back.

When Mark Zuckerberg described the Metaverse, he conjured an image of harmonious social connections in an immersive virtual world.

After all, who needs a new world with its old problems?

Until a structured and systematized solution to protecting users from VR harassment is achieved, the only course of action is to appeal to the authorities in respect of this particular cause to discipline the assailants so they can face charges of committing this kind of crime.

Until there, we hope (and pray to The Almighty) that these monsters with face punishment.

www.femaletechleaders.com

Where are the women in your company?

You, like me, are the result of a sexist society. From childhood, you learned that there are “woman” things and “man” things, as well as colors, behaviors, attitudes, feelings, professions, careers and places, explicitly or implicitly, assigned to genders in a binary and distinct way.

It is very likely that you grew up listening to and laughing at jokes that offend those who are different from you: women, black people, LGBTQIA+, people with disabilities, old, fat, among others. Jokes that you unconsciously tell to this day.

If you are a straight, white male with no apparent disability, who has had access to a quality education and the best job and career opportunities, the world has always been built for you. Meritocracy, in which you believe, defend and promote with such conviction, was made by all the white men who preceded you in command of nations, governments, institutions and public and private companies, ever since.

It is not your fault. However, it is past time for you to assume your responsibility, non-delegable and non-transferable, to use your power position to change the reality around you.

Setbacks between advances You may have noticed that, in the last 60 years, we women have advanced in the occupying the workplace. If here in Brazil, until 1962, we needed our husbands' authorization to work, today, millions of us own our history, most of them in universities and we are everywhere, even if we are still far from having the same conditions as you.

Our salaries are still, on average, 20.5% lower than those of men in the same roles.

We continue to be severely penalized when we choose to donate our bodies to generate new life and continue humanity. Remember: that is what your mother did to bring you into the world! Unfortunately, here in Brazil, 50% of women are laid off within two years of returning from maternity leave.

We still have to face a double working day, since taking care of housework and raising children are still responsibilities assigned mainly to women.

We have been suffering all kinds of personal and professional violence, since childhood: harassment, maninterrupting, bropriating, mansplaining, gaslighting — at the end of this article, I will add a glossary on these terms —, rape, domestic, psychological, patrimonial violence, culminating in femicide.

Despite all this, Microsoft, SAP, Twitter, Intel, Google, WeWork, Uber, Bayer, BP, Fleury, Sabin, Pfizer, Eli Lilly, Novo Nordisk, Citroen, P&G, UPS, GE, Equinor, Adidas, OAB SP, Gerdau Summit, Swarovsky, Sephora, Hinode, Travelex Bank, UBS, Deutsche Bank, Standard Bank, BMG, Rede and Nubank, among many other companies, are today led by women here in Brazil and/or in Latin America.

Women who support businesses However, despite these white female leaders, this portion represents only 3.5% of the contingent of companies present in Brazil. As if that were not enough, we represent only 11.5% of the total number of directors, and six out of ten companies listed on the Brazilian Stock Exchange do not have any women on the board of directors.

What are you waiting for to accelerate the inclusion and rise of women in your company's leadership positions? Remember: in Brazil, we represent 52% of the population; we are 67 million mothers, responsible for 38.7% of homes and 80% of consumption decisions in the country. The sustainability of your company depends on us.

However, to ensure this sustainability, you have to be genuinely committed to changing reality, promoting gender equality (SDGs) as a value of your company's culture and leadership, with clear and measurable goals, affirmative policies, quotas and equal wages.

Furthermore, it is necessary to encourage co-responsibility of tasks and child raising with parental leave, for example, by ensuring that women are part of succession plans. In other words, this means putting ESG into practice, with courage and agility.

Besides, there is no future without women, and you know it.

To learn and not forget Maninterrupting: constant interruptions of our lines.

Bropriating: misappropriation of our ideas.

Mansplainning: Men explaining the obvious to us.

Gaslighting: Men undermining our self-confidence. #FairCause #WhereAreTheWomen #GenderEqulity

I am Neivia Justa, awarded and recognized Brazilian businesswoman, mother of Luiza and Julia, two teenager girls, jornalist, entrepreneur, influencer, teacher, mentor, consultant and connector of purposeful leaders who think, communicate and act in a conscious, diverse, inclusive and innovative way to guarantee a sustainable future for all.

Article originally published in Portuguese on https://www.revistahsm.com.br/post/onde-estao-as-mulheresda-sua-empresa

Merchandiser: Click here to access

www.femaletechleaders.com

ARTICLES PORTUGUESE

COMO IDENTIFICAR UM BOM PROJETO DE NFT A indústria de NFT é razoavelmente nova quando comparada com outras indústrias.

Desde que o primeiro projeto de NFT foi lançado em outubro de 2015, muitas coisas mudaram drasticamente e os NFTs deixaram de ser meramente “jpegs” para se revelar como um blockchain que pode ser transferido do ponto A para o ponto B ou para um nicho específico e mais do que isso, fazer parte do nosso estilo de vida.

Isso atraiu um grande público de estudantes adolescentes e pessoas da Geração X como eu mas existe muito boomers agora que eles também perceberam que há uma mina de ouro ha ser descoberta.

Infelizmente, como em todos os setores com perspectiva de grandes lucros, existem muitos golpes e pessoas se aproveitando do fato de não haver regulamentação relacionada a NFTs e por isso se tornou um verdadeiro mar cheio de piratas por aí.

Esse é o grande desafio: como determinar e identificar um projeto forte com um roteiro sólido?

Bem, não é fácil, mas se você se atentar a alguns pontos específicos, as chances são de que o projeto seja bem-sucedido, mas nada é garantido quando há a exigência de ter uma comunidade forte por trás de tudo.

Pesquise muito sobre os fundadores do projeto, saiba quem são, de onde vêm e onde querem chegar com o seu projeto; Informe-se também sobre a reputação profissional dos fundadores; Estude o roteiro (road map) do projeto e faça perguntas sobre como eles pretendem alcançar o que estão oferecendo;

Concentre-se no que o próprio NFT representa - qual é a sua principal usabilidade? Um jpeg é sempre um jpeg mas um jpeg com usabilidade é a chave para o sucesso de um projeto; Observe se há projetos concorrentes - há semelhanças? O roteiro é original a ponto de haver um público forte querendo fazer parte dele?

Outro ponto a ser levado em consideração é se já existem projetos similares de sucesso - cuidado com os chamados projetos “derivativos” - normalmente copiam projetos fortes e já consolidados e isso pode ser um mau sinal.

Ao se envolver com a comunidade, tente perceber que tipo de conversa que você pode ter com os outros membros; escusado será dizer que se preocupe com quantos moderadores estão dentro da comunidade e como eles fazem seu trabalho para manter o clima sempre alto e livre de negatividade. Uma comunidade mal comportada é um assassino de projetos; Descubra o quanto são claras todas as comunicações da equipe principal e com que frequência eles liberam acompanhamentos, como eles reagem ao feedback da comunidade, além do feedback negativo; Entenda como o lado técnico está estruturado - onde o mint ocorrerá e com base em que tipo de contrato, onde a pós-mint será colocado como mercado secundário, verifique as ferramentas para raridade se houver, novamente, olhe para os pequenos detalhes; Descubra as vantagens que o projeto oferece a longo prazo para garantir que a comunidade ainda o apoiará mesmo após o dia do mint- mint um NFT não é tão importante quanto torná-lo mais valioso para outros que não mint o projeto - o OG (original minters) - Isso pode garantir que o preço original se multiplique com o tempo, caso a oferta seja menor que a demanda.

Estes são alguns pontos a serem mencionados, mas fazer sua pesquisa (DYOR) é tão importante quanto entender o que investigar. Às vezes, uma comunidade de 100 mil membros não é tão forte quanto uma comunidade de 10 mil membros, mas você entenderá imediatamente quando uma comunidade está unida ou não.

SE você perceber que o projeto é para você, simplesmente participe, independentemente de querer (ou ter tempo para) se envolver com outros membros.

Infelizmente, a maioria das comunidades NFT ao redor não percebeu que algumas pessoas ainda precisam trabalhar e fazer as coisas acontecerem na vida real, além de passar muito tempo “moendo” online com pessoas de todo o mundo.

Bem, se você pode fazer deste seu TRABALHO e está feliz com isso, por que não? Apenas seja feliz e não se esqueça: NFTs podem ser muito divertidos, mas se você não fizer a coisa certa para você, pode ser um pesadelo.

DESAFIOS DE CIDADES SUSTENTÁVEIS A Agenda 2030 trouxe a necessidade de se realizar um plano de ação para a melhoria das pessoas e do planeta com objetivo principal da busca da prosperidade e fortalecimento da paz mundial. Essa agenda indica 17 Objetivos de Desenvolvimento Sustentável, a qual está incluso a criação e expansão de cidades sustentáveis. Para que esse plano se concretize, é necessária uma mudança de Mindset para conseguir alcançar esses objetivos. No que tange cidades sustentáveis, existem algumas metas como melhoria da segurança, moradia digna para todos, proteção das áreas verdes, redução do impacto de emissão de gases com mudança no transporte público, construções sustentáveis, dentre outras.

Se transformar em uma cidade sustentável é um propósito de longa jornada, um longo caminho a percorrer, pois existe uma busca para se eliminar todos os aspectos de desigualdade e impacto ambiental existentes gerando, portanto, uma resiliência, inclusão, e pensamento de longo prazo de melhoria contínua para que os problemas atuais que temos sejam solucionados de maneira harmoniosa. São aquelas cidades que alinham seus padrões de vida, produção e consumo com base em aspectos socioambientais com viabilidade econômica, promovendo desta forma o consumo consciente. Elas empregam a tecnologia otimizando os serviços com a finalidade de melhorar toda a infraestrutura e a qualidade de vida dos moradores.

Não existe um padrão de ações para uma cidade seja sustentável, o mais importante é que as ações tenham uma continuidade e pensamento de desenvolvimento sustentável de longo prazo. A sustentabilidade é um conceito e propósito de vida para toda a humanidade, tornando-se um desafio permanente. Dito isso, existe uma necessidade de incorporação do tema tanto nas políticas públicas municipais quanto nas políticas organizacionais, afinal de contas precisamos pensar em atuar para sustentabilidade tanto no setor público quando no setor privado, gerando assim um maior impacto. As mudanças nas políticas públicas são primordiais pois elas impulsionam o rumo da sustentabilidade da cidade como um todo. As áreas importantes de atuação são: Saneamento básico sustentável; Coleta seletiva de lixo; Mobilidade e acessibilidade; Consumo consciente de energia e utilização de energia renovável (Produção e consumo energético); Desenvolvimento planejado; Arquitetura; Área verde; Ação local para melhoria da saúde; Rede de transporte público eficiente; Foco no tratamento hídrico; Diminuição dos gases poluentes na camada de ozônio; dentre outros.

Se falarmos em âmbito mundial temos no topo da lista a cidade de Copenhagen na Dinamarca que tem seu principal transporte público (ônibus) movido a energia elétrica; incentivo de venda de bicicletas elétricas através do baixo custo; hotéis ecologicamente corretos com padrões de energia, arquitetura, construção de apartamentos com tecnologia de aquecimento e preservação de água, coleta e reciclagem de lixo e alimentação sustentável através de consumo de produtos orgânicos. O objetivo da cidade é de se tornar 100% neutra de carbono até 2025.

No Brasil ainda não temos nenhuma cidade a qual podemos dizer que é uma cidade sustentável, porém existem algumas que estão caminhando para tal. Santana de Parnaíba foi a primeira cidade a apresentar à ONU um plano de desenvolvimento sustentável e tem foco na melhoria contínua da coleta seletiva de lixo. Londrina, João Pessoa e Curitiba também são cidades que fomentam o desenvolvimento sustentável. O desafio é grande, a começar pela conscientização da importância do assunto e mudança de pensamento, temos que entender que somos parte de um todo e que somos responsáveis pelo cuidado da sociedade e ambiente que vivemos.

Cidades sustentáveis partem de esforços conjuntos entre governos, ONGs, empresas e cidadãos, que em parceria e colaboração conseguem constantemente desenvolver nossa sociedade através do aperfeiçoamento de soluções para desenvolvimento sustentável.

Marcela Argollo A profissional Marcela Argollo é graduada em Administração de empresas e Ciências Contábeis, com MBA em finanças pela FGV, Compliance pela Universidade de São Paulo (USP) e Estrutura Ambiental, Social e de Governança (ESG) pelo CFI (Instituto de Finanças Corporativas) e áreas de anexo. Sócia da All For You, Head do programa de Compliance na Leo Learning, professora de Compliance e Liderança na FGV, professora e coordenadora do EAD da Brain School, professora convidada de Compliance Humanizado do INSPER e no CEDIN, professora convidada de SoftSkills na Uniguaçu, gestora de conteúdo na Edupass e Embaixadora da AngelUs Network for Women.

25 MULHERES DE DESTAQUE DA AMÉRICA LATINA EM CIBERSEGURANÇA PREMIADAS NO QUADRO DA 3 EDIÇÃO DAS MELHORES MULHERES EM CIBERSEGURANÇA AMÉRICA LATINA 2022

Mulheres da Argentina, Brasil, Chile, Colômbia, Costa Rica, Estados Unidos, Honduras, México e República Dominicana foram premiadas.

O talento de cibersegurança de 25 mulheres da América Latina foi reconhecido na terceira edição do Top Women in Cybersecurity Latin America 2022 pela WOMCY e WISECRA. Mulheres da Argentina, Brasil, Chile, Colômbia, Costa Rica, Estados Unidos, Honduras, Mexico e República Dominicana foram premiadas.

Na cerimônia virtual, que foi animada por vários grupos musicais, o anúncio das vencedoras foi realizado em três blocos, e destacadas conforme cada região a seguir: Do México: Aleida Pérez, Cecilia Milanezi Neves, María del Carmen García de Ureña, Nelly Vázquez Jiménez, Nohemi Moreno Vazquez.

Enquanto da Argentina destacaram: Carina Birarda; do Chile: Elisa Molina, Katherina Canales, Sara Herrera e Ximena Sepulveda Barrera.

Do Brasil os destaques foram: Fernanda Vaqueiro, Jackeline Almeida, Karina Queiroz, Marcia Bolesina, Marcia Tosta, Maria Victoria Trecco, Marta Helena Schuh, Michelle Ribeiro.

Elsa Encarnacie Saira Isaac Hernández da República Dominicana. Da mesma forma, da Colômbia, Janet García Marín e Marí destacaram Lucia Villalba Gómez.

Da Costa Rica, Josefina Nucci foi premiada; de Honduras, Sandy Karyna Palma Rodríguez e, finalmente, Victoria Beckman, dos Estados Unidos.

Leticia Gammill, presidente da WOMCY, LATAM Women in Cybersecurity compartilha que a visão da organização é ser uma comunidade para promovero desenvolvimento profissional e a participação de todas as mulheres em questões de cibersegurança, juntamente com um ecossistema de organizações públicas e privadas para minimizar a lacuna de conhecimento e gerar impacto na sociedade, com base nos valores da Diversidade, Transparência e Respeito.

Leticia Gammill também disse que colocar mulheres nessa indústria também pode ajudar a trazer mais diversidade para uma equipe especializada nesse tema.

Disse ainda que a diversidade traz benefícios para a maioria das indústrias, especialmente para a segurança cibernética, já queameaças, hackers e cibercriminosos podem vir de diferentes origens, estilos de vida e ter diferentes origens e experiências.

Ela disse que mais diversidade na força de trabalho ajuda a ganhar diferentes perspectivas para o fortalecimento da segurança cibernética.

Sobre a importância de realizar esse tipo de evento, como o Top Women in Cybersecurity 2022 para potencializar a presença de mulheres no setor naAmérica Latina, Leticia Gammill, enfatizou que os termos "aficionado por tecnologia", "hacker ético" ou "gênio da cibersegurança" estão principalmente relacionados à demografia masculina, que é uma percepção construída na sociedade ao longo do tempo. O objetivo é minimizar a diferença de gênero e assim mudar esse status quo e quebrar o estereótipo de que a segurança cibernética é um campo para os homens."

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Assim, ela acrescentou que as Mulheres Top em Cibersegurança, a América Latina vem para mudar a percepção, e incentivar mais mulheres jovens a estudar carreiras STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) e entrar em segurança cibernética.

Por sua vez, Lizbeth Plaza VP da organização, explicou que "as mulheres que foram premiadas, emergiram de um processo de nomeação e/ou autonomia que este ano acumulou mais de 3.000 propostas, das quais apenas 25 foram premiadas dentro do Top Women 2022 em cibersegurança para a LATAM, após avaliação de um júri composto por especialistas internacionais".

A líder no México da organização, ressaltou que "o fato de já ter sido indicado dá visibilidade e prestígio às mulheres participantes, o que ajudará a avançar no mundo profissional e reduzir a diferença de gênero na indústria, sem dúvida, isso contribuirá para os países e empresas para ter profissionais na área".

A líder da Womcy no México, ressaltou que atualmente é necessário gerar maior conscientização em todos os níveis da sociedade sobre os riscos associados à segurança cibernética e a falta de especialistas é um fator-chave para mitigar os riscos para um maior uso de tecnologias.

A porta-voz da Womcy ressaltou que a presença de mulheres na segurança cibernética aumentou, mas não é suficiente para cobrir o déficit existente e reduzir a diferença de gênero que é um dos objetivos de Womcy na região.

Atualmente, a Womcy conta com mais de mil membros e diversos programas focados em diferentes tipos de públicos: o primeiro é voltado para crianças entre 7 e 17 anos para desenvolver interesse neste assunto; mais um para jovens que buscam se preparar para o mundo do trabalho; bem como outro voltado para empresas e funcionários que se desenvolve no mundo da cibersegurança. *Com informações do Relatório Global ISC2 sobre Força de Trabalho de Cibersegurança 2021.

Tatiana Perez Womcy Marketing Latam tperez@womcy.org

Eva Pereira Womcy Team Coach Brasil

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