On March 12, 2020 Women in Tech Russia and the Franco-Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCI France Russie) organized a meetup on women’s careers in technology. It was the first WIT event in Moscow.

The speakers at the event were female experts who shared their experience in building a successful career:

  • Ekaterina Laskova, Director of strategic partnerships at Yandex.Kassa,
  • Valentina Vatrak, Director for Corporate Development and HR at MegaFon,
  • Elena Lukutina, COO at Neoflex,
  • Liana Meliksetyan, Chief Operating Officer at Zyfra Company,
  • Anna Rudakova, President of Diversity & Inclusion Association,
  • Elina Valeeva, Women in Tech ambassador in Russia.

Diversity is not only socially significant. Teams consisting of people of different gender, ethnicity, and orientation are more innovative and creative. Diversity takes into account the needs of a wider audience, creates better products and earns more,” said Elina Valeeva (Women in Tech Russia) at the beginning of the meeting.

“Talent doesn’t depend on gender, and this knowledge helps me in the most difficult situations,” said Valentina Vatrak (MegaFon). According to the speaker, many companies understand that a woman is “a valuable employee for the team, because she is very hardworking and ready for the most difficult assignments”.

“For a woman, the absence of fear is important, this is an irrational feeling,” added Ekaterina Laskova from Yandex.Kassa company, in which women hold the majority of leadership positions. “The way we reflect ourselves in society depends only on our attitudes. Each person is unique, and there is no difference who writes the code, who manages, if the result is a cool project. ”

Anna Rudakova (Woman Who Matters), said that to ensure equal opportunities for women and men, it is important to change the information field, break stereotypes of companies where there are “female” projects. She also highlights the importance of work with the younger generation and developing tolerance.

Speaking about the work of women in the IT industry, Elena Lukutina (Neoflex) noted that in this area there is “an extreme lack of female character and energy that will help find a balance in any situation”.

Liana Meliksetyan (Zyfra), emphasized that “professionalism requires a lot of will power and energy, but this should not be scary, because for women nothing is impossible”.

The meeting was concluded with a friendly discussion of work-life balance and a reception, organized by Lactalis and Wine Express by Alianta Group.

#womenintechrus #womenintech #witrussia