SHEleader in a SHEll

Bulgaria’s startup community has rapidly grown in the past few years and has become one vibrant and lively group of innovative entrepreneurs. Moreover, Bulgaria-based startup projects have achieved several significant milestones and successes. But as we know, there is no news until something becomes part of the media agenda. Therefore, an important step for the Bulgarian innovation development is the launch of startup-focused media outlets. One of these projects is The Recursive - an independent community-born online media dedicated to the emerging tech and startup ecosystem in Southeast Europe.Irina Obushtarova, co-founder and CEO of the Recursive, is the special guest in the new edition of the BCWT female leadership format SHEleader in a SHEll. Irina will tell us more about digital media and its role in the development of the startup community. We also talk about the role of the media in overcoming the stereotypes in the digital industry and how journalists can support women’s empowerment.Moderator of the discussion: Sasha Bezuhanova, founder and Chairwoman of BCWT.SHEleader in a SHEll, vol.12: The Re(Birth) of Media in the Digital World is backed by "Crisis as an Opportunity" Post-COVID Supporting Program of the Sofia Municipality, administered by SofiaLab.

What is a greentech startup? How to launch and develop an innovative business project with societal impact? Can greentech startups support our sustainable recovery after the pandemic? Do we have Plan B for saving our Planet?We are talking about these and many more questions with our guest Lubomila Jordanova, founder of Berlin-based greentech startup Plan A, and co-founder of Greentech Alliance - an initiative in support of green high-tech startups In Europe.

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SHEleader in a SHEll was a leadership dialogue on topics about the role of women in the economy of the future and the challenges and opportunities facing women leaders. The online forum will have a special art part.  

The panel:

   ● Irma Mentzer - Head of IT, Sofia Shared Services Center, World Bank Group 

● Maria Karakusheva - Contemporary classical composer & pianist 

● Sasha Bezuhanova - founder of BCWT and MOVE.BG  

Moderator: Irina Obushtarova, Managing Director at TredingTopics,  

“I trust that the collective challenge we are facing today will lead us to a new level of collective wisdom and realization that for the progress ahead we need the contribution and commitment of everybody. The philosophy of our conference and activities on empowering women is about the same,” says Sasha Bezuhanova.

SHEleader in a SHEll has a special edition for you - we will present the male viewpoint on the topic of engaging more women in the digital industry. During the month of March news and public agenda are full of statistics and data that reveal the serious and still unresolved challenges to women's participation in various spheres of society. One of the spheres where the European Union continues to experience serious difficulties is the digital industry - only 17% of ICT employees in the EU are women. Bulgaria is the positive leader in the ranking with 28% but it is also not satisfactory.  We, in the Bulgarian Center for Women in Technology (BCWT), always search for solutions and good examples by stimulating dialogue and cooperation. That is why we meet you with one of the successful representatives of the new generation of male leaders in the digital industry - Alex Popov from Uber Engineering Sofia. 

Who is Alex Popov? Alex Popov has 20 years of experience in the #software​ #industry​ and a strong track record as a leader of tech teams. Alex has led the Uber Engineering team in Sofia for more than 2 years. The professionals in the capital build products that are an integral part of the Critical Path of the Uber platform. The team in Sofia has grown almost 4x since its establishment and continues its successful development. Before Uber, Alex worked at Skyscanner in the UK and co-founded and led the engineering team of the company in Sofia. He has also led teams at Kayak in Boston. Alex is involved with the #startup​ #community​ in Bulgaria as #mentor​ in the Endeavour network and angel investor.

Did you know that the fashion industry has a disastrous impact on the environment? 

In fact, it is the second largest polluter in the word, just after the oil industry. And the environmental damage is increasing as the industry grows.

But there is always a solution! Boryana Uzunova – Co-founder of Impakt_ID and Kool and Konscious - works between the fields of ecology and technology to mitigate this negative impact through facilitating its transition towards a more transparent and accountable model.

One of the 30 under 30 most talented entrepreneurs by Forbes for 2019 sits in a conversation with the founder of Bulgarian Center of Women and Technology, Sasha Bezuhanova to tell us more about the challenges of the industry and the solutions for a more sustainable and environmentally friendly economy.

SHEleader in a SHEll, vol.9: The Creation of Sustainable Fashion is backed by the “Crisis as an Opportunity” Post-COVID Supporting Program of the Sofia Municipality. MOVE.BG is the communication partner of SHEleader in a SHEll.

The COVID crisis has proven how important it is to work on overcoming the challenges in the digital industry. One of the significant problems is how to develop a work atmosphere that stimulates the talents of both women and men. The European Union continues to experience serious difficulties in that direction - only 17% of ICT employees are women. Bulgaria is the leader in the ranking with 28% which is also not satisfactory.

At the same time, the lack of skilled professionals creates significant challenges for businesses and for economic development. Starting a career in the digital industry continues to be perceived as one that requires a heavy engineering background and mainly designed for men. Those stereotypes are being brought in the new, emerging technologies-based sectors including deeptech. Only 22% of the professionals in Artificial Intelligence are women, according to the World Economic Forum.

We need to urgently change the paradigm in order to be well-prepared for the digital transformation including for the process of automation.

What are the solutions?

We are searching for the answers in the first episode of SHEleader in a SHElll for 2021. 

Our guest will be Lilia Messechkova, VP, Products, and part of the Progress leadership team in Bulgaria. 

Moderator of the discussion: Sasha Bezuhanova, founder of the Bulgarian Center of Women in Technology (BCWT).

SHEleader in a SHEll: Empowering Women in the ICT is supported by the “Crisis as an Opportunity” Program by Sofia Municipality, administered by Sofia Development Association.

Katerina Athanasopoulou, Marketing Director CEE at Dell Technologies, and Sasha Bezuhanova, Founder of BCWT. 

 The pandemic has shown us how important is digital transformation for our business and personal life. On the other side, the digital world “reflects” the traditional one, and various challenges and problems exist both online and offline. Women are underrepresented in the digital industry, including in emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) or big data processing. 

 According to the World Economic Forum, only 22% of AI specialists are women despite the severe shortage of well-skilled IT professionals. The world will need 108 years to create an equal atmosphere and 202 years to close the pay gap.

 Therefore, we should act now with proper measures that engage women and men and boost the potential of everyone.

  - Is technology gender-biased? 

- What is the origin of the problem - our biases or the tech algorithm itself?

 - How has COVID-19 changed the digital industry? 

- What are the successful female role models and how they manage the crisis?

  SHEleader in SHEll, vol7: Women Leadership is not a Risk but a Solution in the Time of Transformation meet you with one inspirational and successful female leader and manager Katerina Athanasopoulou. Katerina has been with Dell Technologies for 15 years holding various fields and currently, she is a Regional Marketing Director Central & Eastern Europe at the company. Katerina and her team are focused on both the commercial and consumer offerings with the vision to present Dell Technologies as a key player and drive thought leadership in the market landscape. Moreover, the team plays a critical role in executing the marketing strategy and evangelizing Dell’s Client and Dell EMC’s Infrastructure Solutions portfolio with our customers, partners, distributors, analysts, press, and alliances. 

 SHEleader in a SHEll, vol7: Women Leadership is not a Risk but a Solution in the Time of Transformation is supported by the “Crisis as an Opportunity” Program by Sofia Municipality, administered by Sofia Development Association.