Our first event to promote women’s participation in technology

Together with the DAN (Digital Arabian Network), we have dedicated our first event in Berlin to celebrating Women in Tech. This was a great opportunity for us to meet with inspiring individuals and highlight female success stories at the beautiful venue of the Moos.Garden in the city of Berlin.

We held this gathering of like-minded individuals to praise female representation and success in the tech world. We reached out to three women that inspire us and invited them to speak at our event and to learn from their journeys in the tech sector.

Due to the relatively low presence of women in this industry in Europe, the attendees were very curious to get an insight into tech-experiences from a female angle and to ask questions about the risks these women had to take when pursuing a career in tech, as well as the most valuable lessons they gained from their experiences.

Xiaoxi Zhang, Head of Financial Services at Yassir, underlined the importance of building enough knowledge, in order to thrive in the industry and build one’s career. Xiaoxi shared interesting parts of her journey, and how she made it from knowing nothing about the industry to be one of the most knowledgeable people in the first company she worked in.

_“The choice that I made that really made the difference for me was knowledge, in a service-oriented industry, knowledge is king/queen.” _— Xiaoxi Zhang

While sharing her experience, Xiaoxi insisted on the importance of one’s first job, and how it requires commitment and persistence in order to develop, regardless if the job is desired or not.

“On your first job, regardless if it’s satisfactory or not, embrace it, take your time to understand the responsibilities and the impact your job is creating in the bigger picture of your company’s business cycle. This will allow you to understand the value you’re creating and a holistic view of what it takes to be successful in the industry. And then you can start shaping your career path on where you want to grow.” — Xiaoxi Zhang

While on the subject of taking risks and seizing opportunities, and how it plays a crucial part of the process of a woman trying to make it in the tech game. Akua Appiah-Lindberg, who is a Software Engineer at Bayer, told us how she took the risk by moving to Berlin with her three daughters, having no job, and hoping to get one as soon as she can. She took a job with no salary and did her best to master her skills. The risk Akua took has paid off well, since it led her to meet with her first mentor in the field of software engineering, who in turn has helped her to get a great start into her career.

“The one way to make substantial progress is by being authentic and bringing our whole selves into whatever we do.” — Akua

By giving her all, Akua has made sure she makes a significant difference in her life and career. Her best advice to the attendees is to take one step at a time, to always be surrounded by role models, and to never stop working on their skills. This is something that another inspiring speaker has highlighted Lina Yassin, the Numo Co-Founder and Organizational Designer, has talked excitedly about her experience in tech, seeing it rather as a career adventure, calling her mistakes experiments and the obstacles challenges.

“Leverage your network and take bold steps, fear is overrated”. — Lina Yassin

Lina is very passionate about what she does, she repeated that she will always be on a continuous journey of learning by trying different things in her career and always being adaptive to change.

“Fail soon, fail fast, reflect more and just get it done!”— Lina Yassin

Takeaways from our Women in Tech event:

• With the rise of tech companies, organizing events where people exchange their knowledge and experiences in tech, is such a positive experience that builds a strong network, create great opportunities and brings together passionate individuals.
• Taking risks and gaining knowledge is the most common advice for a successful career in tech.
• Tech companies are striving for diversity by the day, and women are showing interest more than ever in joining the tech business.

We, at Yassir, were pleased to meet our women in tech, and looking forward to seeing you at our next event!