Female Tech Leaders March 2022 Magazine

FemaleTech Leaders MARCH 2022

IOT AND METAVERSE How are IOT and the Metaverse connected

NFTS NEED TO KNOW What You Need To Know About NonFungible Tokens (NFTs)

POWERED

BY WOMCY Erros comuns de conceitos que levan a problemas de proketos de adequação

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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

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INTERVIEWS MARCH 2022 www.femaletechleaders.com

ASTRID GYLLENKROK KRISTENSEN LEIA CEO & Co-Founder

Tell us about you and your career and business!

My background is in digital innovation and business development for international companies such as CNN and Swedish media companies Viaplay and MTG. Before founding LEIA I started a media consultancy and headed up a social impact startup in Sweden working towards a more diverse labour market. When the startup was acquired late last year and after having three children in five years, I became acutely aware of the lack of postpartum support for new mothers and together with Sandra Wirström, my co-founder, we started LEIA. Do you notice a lack of women in technology?

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

Women are heavily underrepresented in the tech industry and often depends on the field and product. What we've seen is that with the rise of Fem Tech there's an increase of women in tech as women tend to build products that solve problems they themselves are affected by. In Sweden there's a new breed of tech recruiters, run by women, recruiting female developers which are driving change in this space.

But that's just one part of the puzzle as companies need to have a top-down inclusive culture, reinforced throughout the company to retain female developers once they've recruited them.

www.femaletechleaders.com

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

Working in technology was a natural progression as I'm an efficiency nut and if you like fast-paced environments and smart solutions, digital innovation is the place to be. My journey into Fem Tech also came quite naturally after giving birth to three children, and personally experienced the great need for support and guidance you have postpartum.

Astrid Gyllenkrok Kristensen

During the pregnancy, I felt safe with the use of various pregnancy apps and close contact with my midwife. But the moment I gave birth all the information and healthcare focused on the child, and I felt that I, as a mother and woman, was left to fend for myself in the most overwhelming and challenging time of my life. The problem is that there is a stigma around postpartum, and the challenges you face during this period such as incontinence and depression. Moms simply have to suffer in silence.

I started LEIA, together with my co-founder Sandra, to be the change I wanted to see and help women feel safer, healthier and more informed during their "fourth trimester." Building a company is tough and doing it alone is even tougher. When serendipity struck and Sandra's and my paths crossed, having a very similar vision, we decided that we were better off together and we haven't looked back since.

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?

The question I've been asked many times is: How are you going to start and run a company and be a mum at the same time? It usually comes from an "either or" context. Either you're an entrepreneur or you're a mother, you can't possibly be both, right?

Juggling both roles does come with it's challenges but as a mother I’m used to multitasking on an olympic level so that helps. When it comes to LEIA we’re committed to setting a culture that allows for flexibility and that prioritizes family and wellbeing. Showing nay-sayers that creating a company with traditional “female” traits is not a barrier but a recipe for sustainable growth.

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 a bit of a cliche but be the change you want to see. Don't rely on old ways of doing things, create something that works for you and that you believe in and run with it. Most processes are built from a male perspective so if something doesn't feel right, change it.

Who are your role models for women in tech?

Whitney Wolfe Herd is an obvious one as she took a negative personal experience and changed an industry. Doing it her way. Ida Tin is another, what she created with Clue has opened doors for many new Fem Tech companies.

Astrid Gyllenkrok Kristensen

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

Rewrite the narrative that tech is only for men by highlighting women forging their own path within the tech industry. Change the way we recruit tech people to be more inclusive, from the wording in the ad to the interview process. Recruiters need to start looking outside their immediate talent pool. But it doesn't stop there, research shows that a higher percentage of women than men leave tech roles before they reach leadership ranks. The company needs to walk the talk and have an inclusive culture and also have women in senior leadership roles who can serve as role models for those coming up behind them.

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

Two of the key factors are unsupportive working environments, not taking into account womens’ family responsibilities and conscious and/or unconscious bias based on an old narrative about the tech industry.

How do you find inspiration in your life?

I gain SO much energy from talking to our users and understanding how the app is helping them. Listening to their experiences within the existing system also adds fuel to my passion to drive change within postpartum health.

The Fem Tech community also accounts for daily inspiration as there is a strong “sharing is caring” mentality and a genuine wish to help each other. Lastly, I’m a mother of three with one daughter so the wish to create a better future for her if she wishes to become a mother is a daily motivation and inspiration.

www.femaletechleaders.com

To what do you attribute your success?

I’m raised learning the importance of a strong work mentality and grit from my parents so that accounts for a lot... Growing up in Sweden, which is known to be one of the most equal countries in the world, I’ve been drilled to call out injustice and not accept bias (easier said than done).

"Do not follow where the path

I’ve also had the opportunity to have strong female role models and mentors who have offered vital guidance in my career. And last but not least, finding my passion. It’s an old saying but follow your passion and not the paycheck and success will follow.

What's your favourite quote?

“Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.” - Muriel Strode

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may lead.

Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail"

DARIA FEDKO WE/AR Studio Founder & CEO

Tell us about you and your career and business!

In early 2016 Daria Fedko fell in love with the XR tech. It all started with big joy, passion, and a few small AR projects for commercial clients. She found that XR has endless potential in literally any industry.

Whereafter she started the WeAR Studio - a full-cycle development agency to help businesses find their way in XR and effectively integrate it into their processes to gain needed results and solve specific challenges.

Daria and her team are 100% focused on consultation, development, and integration strategies in XR for business needs. WeAR Studio ranks among the top 10 best AR/VR developers worldwide and is an exclusive AR/VR partner of Intel.

Daria's always happy to extend her network with new connections, like-minded enthusiasts, new potential partners, and clients. Her big dream is to create a digital twin of a human body embedded with XR tech.

Do you notice a lack of women in technology?

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

Yes, I still notice the lack, especially among Unity developers and 3D artists.

The reason might be a low level of awareness among women about what professions are trending today, the possibilities, how they can apply their skills and talents, and where they can start. But I also noticed a positive trend; I see more women joining the IT industry, specifically our AR/VR industry, compared to 20162017. And it's great.

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

Daria Fedko

No, I was always proactive, looking for a job that interests me.

At one point I understood my management skills might be a good fit in the IT industry, I tried and it worked. And only after working at several jobs in IT, did I understand that I'm really passionate about AR/VR tech.

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?

Actually, no. Maybe there were some attempts from my environment, but I have never associated myself with their views. And thankfully, I worked with very encouraging teams and CEOs before I started my business.

What advice would you give to a woman considering a career in your industry or what you wish to know before starting your career/business?

Firstly, you should know that AR/VR industry is open for anyone, here we have equal conditions for everyone. What matters is your skillset, talents, passion, and approach.

Try as many times as needed, experiment with different jobs, and find the one your heart burns for. In this case, it won't be a job, it will be an avocation.

Who are your role models for women in tech?

I don't have a role model, but there are so many women I admire! For example, in our AR/VR industry - Julie Smithson and Katy Hackl are doing so many great things!

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

Educate, grow the level of awareness, empower existing women positions and help them grow their teams. Give more feedback and celebrate even small victories.

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

Fear, self underestimation, impostor syndrome - are the main obstacles I've met so far.

How do you find inspiration in your life?

My AR/VR industry is amazing, it inspires me every day with the new updates and trends. My team also inspires so much, when you work with talented and dedicated people, it empowers. And, the last, but not the least - my passion and belief.

To what do you attribute your success?

I guess to be passionate about what I'm doing, to everyday hard work, to keep being the authentic version of myself and being open to people and the world.

What's your favourite quote?

I hear and I forget. I see and I believe. I do and I understand. Confucius

I hear and I forget.

I see and I believe.

I do and I understand.

Recommended articles Click here to access

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KATRIN STURM Scale & Shine Founder - CEO

Tell us about you and your career and business!

My name is Katrin Sturm and I am the founder & CEO of Scale & Shine.

My Tech journey started in 2011 with business development and sales roles in Oracle in Ireland. I then joined Salesforce for almost 5 years and successfully climbed the corporate ladder further and progressed through the management ranks. During that time, I always had a keen eye on my personal and career development and was able to work closely with start-ups and fast-growing businesses, which eventually led me to building my own business in 2018.

I am passionate about empowering ambitious women in Tech, and female leaders in male-dominated industries. This is the core mission of my business, Scale & Shine.

We support driven and ambitious women to lead with impact and advance their career within the fast-paced environments of SaaS, Tech and Sales. I have personally mentored hundreds of professionals using a unique 360 approach which puts equally as much focus on my clients’ personal growth as it does on career progression and business growth.

Being trilingual in English, German and French and having lived and travelled around dozens of countries around the globe, I enjoy working with people all across the world and in multicultural teams. Aside from my role as CEO at Scale & Shine, I also support high-potential B2B SaaS start-ups and scale-ups as a mentor and nonexecutive advisory board member. I help them to increase their revenue, optimise their sales funnels, refresh their customer-facing processes and team structures, as well as assisting them in hiring the right talent.

www.femaletechleaders.com

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?

Katrin Sturm

Don't let it get into your head that you are a woman and thus will be disadvantaged, less deserving or feel the need to overcompensate. You DO deserve a seat at the table as it is proven that diverse workplaces are more successful.

If facing any challenges, don't be afraid to speak up and seek support by looking for mentors and coaches, especially external ones, who will help you to feel comfortable in speaking up internally in the future.

Feeling the pressure to perform and deliver, often women don't tend to ask for help as it is sometimes seen as a weakness by themselves but this should not be the case.

Build your like-minded inner career circle like we do in our Scale & Shine Membership Community and Leadership Mastermind groups created with female leaders in mind, where you will be heard, supported and simply feel more understood in realising that you are not alone.

Do you notice a lack of women in technology?

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

Yes, there is evidently a proven lack of women in this still quite a male-dominated industry of technology. First of all, I think the major challenge is the way we bring up and educate children, with unconscious gender biases associating certain professions with a specific gender.

Secondly, there are further unconscious biases when it comes to recruiting. There are not enough women completing applications as they only apply for roles when they feel 100% qualified and ready (compared to their male peers, in general).

Unfortunately, there are further gender biases when it comes to developing and retaining female talent.

Another factor that disadvantages women is discrimination in the workplace due to family planning (IVF treatment, pregnancies, maternity leave), sexual harassment, or often simply not being respected, listened to or included in certain events or decisions. I speak to high performing women with great potential on a regular basis and these topics are more present than you'd think from the outside.

These issues happen on a very regular basis, but are hardly talked about openly. For affected women, it is very discouraging to approach HR and file any cases as they feel ashamed and guilty of doing so, being aware of the potential consequences this has for the wrongdoers and the company itself. Some are afraid that they might not be listened to or taken seriously when doing so.

The points above result in high potential women looking for new employers, changing roles or industries or simply becoming self-employed to avoid being confronted with these challenges, typically in a male-dominated industry like Tech.

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?

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

Although I have successfully overcome any major roadblocks when it comes to my career progression in Tech, there have been situations where I felt discouraged in the moment indeed.

No - funnily enough, I consciously chose not to pursue the IT major in my International Business double degree programme, thinking, "I will never have to do anything with technology later in my career anyway" as a matter of fact.

One example was when I was told that I would not need a salary increase to match the salary of a male colleague who has to feed three children (I was single and without any dependents at that time).

In general, it has helped me to position myself upfront with a good personal brand and a focus on the added value I was bringing to the team or business, including unique skill sets and experiences compared to my counterparts.

In the end, it’s important to remember that somebody not seeing your value does not determine your worth. This is something that women tend to struggle with and I had to learn this the hard way too.

I learnt that grit is important, but the ability to know when to walk away from things that you cannot change and that you don’t feel aligned with, is even more important. Not letting your ego get too attached to certain roles, companies or clients has further helped me in this process.

Only two years later, after leaving my account management and customer success role at DHL in Paris, I relocated to Dublin in Ireland for a Business Development Consultant role at Oracle.

So I rather fell into it, as I did not choose the industry consciously, but rather the role itself.

I have never really perceived it as a job in technology though to be honest, as the products I was selling for almost 10 years were mainly business applications or B2B SaaS solutions, which required me to have a business or financial conversation rather than a technical one. For those real technical questions or challenges, I collaborated with technical resources and teams that we could rely on.

The same goes for our Scale & Shine EdTech platform that we are building further. In the end, we are providing educational, mentoring and networking services - partly based on and fully supported by technology - to empower driven professionals & leaders in the fastpaced male-dominated businesses in SaaS and Tech.

I think it is important to remember that not everybody working in the Tech industry is - or has to be an engineer, developer or real ‘techie’. And almost every business nowadays is a tech business.

To what do you attribute your success?

Who are your role models for women in tech?

I’d say having a growth mindset, being consistent and constantly pushing myself out of my comfort zone. I actively look for new challenges and continue to invest into my personal and professional growth like being part of a CEO mastermind to learn from others and hold myself accountable for my goals. This also means further extending my sounding board and support system (i.e. mentors, coaches, therapists, healers etc.) and surrounding myself with like-minded people like my supportive partner, friends, fellow founders and CEOs.

Anna Radulovski, CEO & Founder of the WomenTech Network who made it her mission to drive inclusion in the Tech industry further by organising impactful conferences.

An outgoing personality (despite being an introvert who loves spending time alone), an honest approach and a high degree of emotional intelligence - putting myself into others shoes has helped me at any stage of my career so far. My corporate career path and almost a decade in sales has prepared me very well for my entrepreneurial journey.

I believe that EQ is the new IQ in today’s competitive business world as simply having a certification or degree in something is no longer enough. That’s why we focus mainly on the soft skill side of things with Scale & Shine while bringing in practical leadership and business best practices.

Edwige A. Robinson, Senior VP for TMobile has inspired me a lot with her personal story, how she climbed ruthlessly up the corporate ladder and is still so approachable despite her Exec position.

And then there are all the inspiring women we are lucky enough to call our clients, who constantly push themselves outside their comfort zone, develop themselves further, go for those promotions, ask for those salary increases and speak up and stand up for themselves and thus lead by example.

Despite there being a natural tendency towards competitiveness among women, our mastermind groups are the best example on how far we can go if we go together. “Girls compete, women empower” as the saying goes.

Every one of us should never forget that every time we speak up for ourselves, we speak up for all other women in the industry and beyond as well.

www.femaletechleaders.com

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

Develop their leaders (male and female) further to understand that equality does not always mean equity. Equality simply means everyone is treated the same exact way, regardless of need or any other individual circumstances or aspirations.

Equity, on the other hand, means everyone is provided with what they need to succeed. And this can be different for everybody. In general, women can be faced with different challenges and might have different aspirations and values than men might have in such corporate business environments that were mostly designed by men for men back in the days.

Make sure you hire people and leaders who truly embrace and live your company values, create a culture of trust and also actively sponsor your female leaders and rising talent for internal and external development and support programs where they feel safe to speak up about their challenges and can grow further to benefit the business in return.

When suggesting somebody as a speaker or for a promotion, make sure that you do not do so based on their gender. I have seen this several times before that women get approached down to the fact that ‘we still need women’ as part of the panel, team or similar.

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

We often tend to hold ourselves back and are confronted with male-dominated value systems, business environments and structures that naturally require us to tap more into our male energy and characteristics instead of fully embracing our feminine power (which could eventually even have a more positive impact for the business). Things like visibility and the 'good girl syndrome' come to my mind, which means giving and doing too much without taking credit for our work or standing up for fair pay or recognition in return.

Women in male-dominated industries tend to overcompensate as they feel they have to prove themselves and justify why they deserve a particular role. This includes not speaking up for themselves and the value they bring, but also not knowing when to simply say nothing.

Feeling insecure because of being a woman for instance when selling into a male-dominated company is another example. It's important to not let it get into your head as people will generally respect you based on your communication skills, emotional intelligence, experience, expertise, input etc. eventually - and not solely because of your gender, status or title.

www.femaletechleaders.com

What's your favourite quote?

“A bird sitting on a tree is never afraid of the branch breaking, because her trust is not on the branch but on its own wings." - Unknown Katrin Sturm

How do you find inspiration in your life?

For me, this comes from knowing myself and being aware of what is truly important to me and drives me, despite any external influences. I am not afraid to do things differently and live my life by my own definition of success versus the almost outdated definition of success by our society.

I love what I do as I have combined my experience, expertise and passion from successfully climbing the corporate ladder for almost 10 years and have created a business and lifestyle that aligns with my values. In those challenging times, I remind myself why I do what I do. Seeing the positive impact we make in people’s lives, careers and businesses definitely keeps me going and showing up for myself, our clients and our team. Apart from that, I love spending time outdoors including skiing, surfing, trail running, cycling and doing agility with my dog Brody to keep a healthy work-life balance.

An outgoing personality (despite being an introvert who loves spending time alone), an honest approach and a high degree of emotional intelligence - putting myself into others shoes has helped me at any stage of my career so far. My corporate career path and almost a decade in sales has prepared me very well for my entrepreneurial journey.

I believe that EQ is the new IQ in today’s competitive business world as simply having a certification or degree in something is no longer enough. That’s why we focus mainly on the soft skill side of things with Scale & Shine while bringing in practical leadership and business best practices.

www.femaletechleaders.com

By Greta Thunberg

You are never too small to make a difference.

LIZ OREMBO Communications and Engagement Officer at Global Cyber Security Capacity Centre (GCSCC) Tell us about you and your career and business!

My career in tech started as an excitement to be part of a community developing solutions to global challenges. So I started volunteering for the Internet Society Kenya chapter both as a founding Exec and an implementing member. We democratised trends in technologies through capacity building and driving community dialogues to get more people to understand the promise of technology. some of the projects I worked on in this role were IPv6, Encryption, Domain Name Industry and Internet Governance.

Do you notice a lack of women in technology?

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

Yes, we still lack women participation in the tech field. This disparity might not be visible in the developed world, but it is so much there in the developing economies.

That's where we need to focus on because women in the developing countries provide so much context that is needed to realise the impact of tech for the next billion people without access. They are part of the solution.

One of the root causes is the patriachy system that is also reflected and multiplied on online platforms so that they become new tech norms against women. It is a society mindset where both men and women believe some tech fields to be favourable to a particular gender. What then follows is that women lack role models and become less interested in pursuing education and careers in technology. In organisations, decisions fail to incorporate gender in decisions relating to their operations so that even those who had started tech careers drop off with time.

www.femaletechleaders.com

Who are your role models for women in tech?

The people I work closely with.

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

At some point, it didn't. I have always loved to know how technology works and that is what drove me to the tech field even when I didn't have a background in tech. So I studied Communications and Sociology as an undergrad, and it was until I volunteered in an organization in the DNS industry, that I knew that I wanted to stay in the field. But I didn't know-how.

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?

Many times. I remember when growing up, people I really looked up to told me I have to work twice as men because the advantages were not on my side. At that time it was thought that the work is so demanding and one would not be able to balance career and family responsibilities.

At the end of high school, I didn't qualify for government-sponsored tech courses.

Although my parents were willing to pay for private colleges, I saw it as too much sacrifice from them and therefore protested. I ended up taking social sciences. But since I was thrilled with tech and finding out how comp stuff works, I just found myself in the field because teaching myself tech stuff was easy.

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?

If you have a goal, work towards it even if you feel like nothing is working. Because it is the small daily efforts that get you there. Most of the time we feel discouraged and give up because we don't recognise our very small wins.

www.femaletechleaders.com

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

Make decisions that accommodate women’ work in their companies. See women as a big part of their customer base.

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

Gender norms. It is a society mindset that women are not built for certain tasks.

And we have to be deliberate and consistent in changing this.

How do you find inspiration in your life?

I have come to learn that many things give us inspiration in different ways. I try find inspiration, ideas and knowledge in everything I experience. Whether it is a new hobby, talking with friend and colleagues, a movie, books or talking to my little nephews and nieces.

To what do you attribute your success?

Growth.Everyday improvement. Journey into self and adventuring in an unfamiliar course until what you haven’t done before becomes easy.

What's your favourite quote?

I don’t have a favourite one, but here’s a recent one. ‘When you have confidence, you can have lot’s of fun, and when you’re having fun, you can do great stuff’ I don't know who said it.

When you have confidence, you can have lot’s of fun, and when you’re having fun, you can do great stuff.

www.femaletechleaders.com

PORTIA ASLI Optimyzed Brain Founder & CEO

Tell us about you and your business!

As the Founder & CEO of Optimyzed Brain, my mission is to help entrepreneurs & executives optimize their brains for high performance. As a licensed engineer, I invented a proprietary science-based system that helps ambitious business leaders see tangible change in 8 key areas: improvement in sleep & energy levels, increase in focus & concentration, feeling calmer & more relaxed, and enhanced mental creativity & clarity.

At Optimyzed Brain, my mission is to help leaders achieve groundbreaking heights without burning out or overworking. Is that something you can benefit? Reach out here.

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

During my teenage years, I spent a lot of time doing engineering and science camps offered at top university institutions in Canada. Those hands-on experiences enabled me to make an informed decision that pursuing a career in engineering is the right choice. Throughout my engineering studies, I became deeply passionate about world issues and applying my technical knowledge to solve pressing world problems. I made sure that I got a lot of various experiences such as building technology ventures to working at tech giants like Microsoft and Google, before locking down which niche I wanted to focus on. I also worked in countries like Canada, the Philippines and the UK to gain a diverse set of perspectives and market knowledge. Eventually, I fell in love with human mental performance field. I saw the world was facing a mental health pandemic, especially executives who are super ambitious but often were overworked, sleep-deprived and burnout. This is where I chose to apply my engineering skills. If you love this area, follow me on LinkedIn, where I share hacks on optimizing your brain for high performance.

To what do you attribute your success?

Portia Asli

Growing up I had an unshakeable belief that I could achieve anything. All I had to do was set a goal, find ways to achieve that goal and then do the work to get there. I attribute my success to dreaming big and then finding a way to making it happen.

Do you notice a lack of women in technology?

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

Every year there are more and more women pursuing technology. I see women seeking roles in technology sales, product engineering, and building technologybased businesses. I'm amazed at how far we women have come! The more we excite and inspire women about STEM subjects at a young age, their confidence about their abilities in this field will accelerate, and the more women we'll see in technology.

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

Many women are brilliant at what they are doing. Yet they just need a push. They need someone to encourage them and give the opportunity. They may not come forward and seize the opportunity but that doesn't mean they cannot do the job. If you want to attract more women, and have more women leadership in tech, give them positive feedback. Tell them that they have an amazing potential and they should take this bigger opportunity. Then support them during this process whether be flexible hours or open doors for personal feedback. Then you'll see them shine and take your company to great heights.

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

They need to believe in themselves more. Don't wait to see someone that looks like you succeeding. Don't look around to see if there are other women doing it. If there is something you want to do at your work, just go and take the opportunity. Don't wait.

You've got it girl. And you'll figure it out how to make it work.

www.femaletechleaders.com

How do you find inspiration in your life?

The answer to this is ADVENTURE. I am one of those who loves trying new things.

If there is something that I have never done, I will do it so that I continuously expand my horizons, put myself out of my comfort zone, and challenge my perspectives every year. To give you a few examples: in 2008, I backpacked across South East Asia to immerse in eastern cultures and see life through an entirely new lens. In 2010/2011, I lived in West Africa and was staffed on a project that would help increase the economic opportunities of two rural communities in Benin. In 2014, I learned Dragon Boat from a Canadian champion and was part of my company's racing team to raise funds for the United Way. Each of these experiences inspired me for greatness.

Through adventure, I find inspiration in my life.

Who are your role models for women in tech?

I have deep respects for female founders who have overcome many hurdles to build a company that is making a dent in our world. For example, Melanie Perkins, co-founder of Canva is very inspiring to me. It took her 3 years to raise her first investment. She had to overcome a lot of objections. She learned to kitesurf so that she can connect with investors at a kitesurfing event. Melanie shows us that if there is a will, there is a way - including unconventional ways like learning to kitesurf to raise your first round.

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?

The advice I would give all the young woman is to try new things. Experiment.

Continuously step out of your comfort zone. Don't wait until someone invites you to do something - because sometimes that invitation may never come. To become a leader it means having the courage to do things on your own until people start following you. Be okay with being alone and doing things on your own.

What's your favourite quote?

In my final year of engineering studies at the University of Waterloo (Canada), I had the opportunity to contribute to the yearbook by providing a quote.

So I offered the words that always guided me "Dream Big. Make it Happen."

Follow Portia Asli on LinkedIn to learn about brain optimization for high performance.

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EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW 2022 www.femaletechleaders.com

ALEXANDRA STOIAN NFT Visual Artist/Illustrator

When you realized that you had such talent for drawing.

Please talk about your background.

Hi, my name is Alexandra and I am a visual artist and illustrator from Cluj-Napoca, Romania and the creator of Cryptonauts Academy NFT collection.

I’ve been drawing for as long as I can remember, being interested in foreign languages, literature and also sciences, I only decided to take it seriously and pursue a career in the arts when I applied for college. Eventually getting a Bachelor’s and a Masters Degree in Graphic Arts from Cluj-Napoca University of Art and Design, I became really interested in comic books and animation, developing those skills when I spent some semesters abroad in France and Belgium.

At the moment I am a freelancer and I’ve worked on a variety of projects, focusing on digital illustrations, animations, character design, children’s books and casual games. Before starting my own business, I’ve worked for a while in the gaming industry, for a small start-up focused on web-games. I started from the bottom as a simple 2D artist trainee, and ended up as the team leader and game designer, making my own games from scratch.

After that I decided to look for different opportunities and become more independent, this offered me the context to pick and choose what projects to work on. That eventually led me to work with the TIEXO team, with whom I’ve been working for the past few months to develop the Cryptonauts Academy NFT Collection, which I’m really excited about and it has been a wonderful experience.

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

Firstly, the NFT world is still a rather new one, it’s still changing and developing. So to me, this was exciting to get to research and to have the opportunity to be part of it at a relatively early stage. This also allowed me to apply my own style without a lot of restrictions, I could go wild with my imagination and create characters I would personally enjoy seeing. I thought that together with my comic book inking techniques to bring a bit of nostalgia to the world of NFTs, make people relate to the images, and last the test of time. So this type of art represents an opportunity to reach people in a different way, it’s a new means for us as artists to express ourselves, to get recognized and to create a wonderful community.

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

As a female artist, I did have my share of obstacles, usually regarding being put in a box of what others thought I could create. So I’ve met people who stereotypically thought I would only be able to touch female-related types of subjects, or that I would be interested in a limited range of themes. Some of them were pleasantly surprised, others didn’t really offer me a chance to show what I was able to do. I feel comfortable approaching a wide variety of subjects, and I prefer projects where I am given a certain amount of freedom regarding the artistic direction.

That makes me feel that my opinion as a specialist is taken into consideration, and that I can use my experience to help the client reach the goal they are pursuing.

Recently I have noticed that people are beginning to be more open minded and pay more attention to the skills I bring to the table rather than my gender or social background.

What are your expectations as an artist - can you make a brief comparison between a world before and after NFTs. I think the fact that you can authenticate a digital asset is revolutionary. It doesn’t limit you as an artist to traditional art galleries, nor does it make your digital art less valuable.

It gives you the opportunity to monetize your digital assets in a way that wasn't possible before. Digital content is easy to replicate so there isn’t really much difference between original work and a digital copy. NFTs are changing this aspect and giving real value and rarity to digital content.

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"NFTs are changing this aspect and giving real value and rarity to digital content."

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

The industry is changing and it’s allowing the NFT market to be a new opportunity for artists to get their work to reach a wider range of people. I think it will continue to change and mold and I’m really excited to see what’s next. For now, a lot of people in the industry are still sceptical, but hopefully, it will become more accepting and willing to understand what NFTs are bringing to the table, especially with the constant effort to make it be more environmentally sustainable.

The whole process behind it can become more efficient and allow more artists to try to get their art known.

Cryptonauts Academy is the first collection launched by TIEXO ever. How do you feel about this - how is it to work with such an innovative company along with other great NFT artists in a considerably new industry?

It has been a wonderful experience working with such a dedicated and passionate team with a strong track record of building non-custodial software solutions and acting as a node operator for the biggest blockchain networks. They are driven people, willing to make a change in the industry and stand out from the pack, and give the artists autonomy and tools to make their processes easier. Also, the artists are great, talented people, each of them with a different set of skills and styles. It’s been educational and eye-opening too. I am really fortunate to be part of this project and to work and learn from this team.

In your Cryptonauts Academy, there are more than 1000 unique traits specifically designed by you. Please can you let us know your most raw influences that made it possible to bring such awesome art? Where did you go to bring such bright and exciting NFT pieces?

Most of my influences come from my interests and passions, so there are a lot of references to 50’s old school sci-fi and to 90’s Sunday morning cartoons. I’ve always been kind of a movie buff, and I’ve never stopped watching cartoons or reading comic books either. So I used this knowledge to sprinkle some pop culture references here and there, in the hopes that people will relate to them and make them feel like they were part of the process. Among some of the artists and creators I really admire are Genndy Tartakovsky, Alex Hirsch, Dana Terrace, Craig McCracken, Cory Loftis, Fiona Staples, Shyoon Kim and many others.

A collection of 5555 sold out in less than 48 hours, which is considered a huge success in the NFT industry. How do you feel about this; what is next?

I am really grateful for being given this opportunity, and happy that so many people appreciate my art. It has been a wild ride and I am willing to make the best of it and continue to see what this world of NFTs is all about.

Do you have any regrets about Cryptonauts? Is there one specifically that you wish to have drawn to replace another? Is there a favorite one?

Alexandra Stoian

I think it’s best to not have many regrets in life and instead to learn from experience, and make the next project better than the last. It would be a lie to say that everything was perfect, but I tried my best and will always be prepared to give my all and improve. I will apply what I learned in order to make the

next steps and next projects better and constantly evolve. As for favorites, definitely the top ranked are some of my personal ones. Having to juggle with 1000+ unique traits can sound a bit overwhelming, but the artist’s tool made the process way easier.

So I took satisfaction from seeing so many combinations work so well together - also when people found something they liked in every one of them. That definitely brought me joy.

So tell us: What is next? We would be grateful if you could disclose a little of what is going on in your brilliant mind.

What I can tell you at this moment is that I am working on a sequel collection to the Cryptonauts Academy. I cannot disclose any more details at this point, but I can assure you there are more fun things to come, so you should keep an eye out for sure! I am also looking forward to the community’s reaction to everything that will happen next and I hope they’ll be as excited as I am and be along for the ride!

Please tell us anything that you would like to say aloud to the world…

I would like to take this opportunity and offer some words of encouragement to the ones trying to make their way into this industry. Surround yourself with talented and driven people, learn from each other, and together you will be able to build incredible things. Overcome the feeling of not being good enough, I think a lot of people, especially women in the industry, are facing this issue everyday. The truth is that, most of the time, nobody is good enough or knows everything at the start of a new project.

But if you are motivated enough, through trial and error you get to learn and succeed, and bring value to the world. There is no specific model of how a person in tech or art should be, no specific gender or race or culture. This NFT business is still a new one and there is still much to be explored and developed, so I advise everyone to try, at least to know what it's all about. I am still learning myself. Be constantly open to new or different technology, be curious about what other people are doing, not only in your specific area. It really helps a lot to ask and watch and try to understand what the other team members are doing. Knowledge and experience is very important, and you can't always achieve them only by staying in your lane. You come to realize that everything is connected one way or another, tech involves so many fields, and you can definitely influence so much - this applies to art as well, as history has proven. Don't put yourself down and feel like you're always going to be disregarded just because of your gender, nationality, race, political inclinations and all of that - overcome it and focus on being the best you can be, despite the hardships that may come with it.

Know yourself and what value you can bring to the table.

ENTREVISTA MARCO 2022 www.femaletechleaders.com

MARIA VICTORIA TRECCO Supervisora de Engenharia de Segurança da Informação.

Conte-nos sobre você e a sua carreira.

Entrei na área há 9 anos trabalhando como estagiária no Centro de Inteligência da Polícia Civil do Estado de São Paulo, depois disso trabalhei em Telecom focada na área de redes, o que me ajudou muito a entender segurança em redes, com isso passei alguns anosfocada em proteção de redes e cloud. Atualmente supervisiono o time de arquitetura e engenharia de Segurança na Sky, lidando com vários projetos de CyberSecurity em diversas camadas.

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

Conheci a Womcy em 2018 logo depois do lançamento do capitulo Brasil através de uma amiga do trabalho. Em 2019 teríamos nosso primeiro encontro presencial em São Paulo, na época eu só era membro da Womcy, mas ofereci ajuda para organizar o evento. Depois desse dia meu envolvimento foi se tornando cada fez maior. Fui líder do Womcy Tech e agora desde 2021 estou como líder do Womcy Training.

A Womcy me permitiu fazer o que eu mais gostava, ajudar mulheres a entrar na área de segurança e compartilhar conhecimento. É um orgulho poder participar e ver a conquista das nossas meninas resultado dos programas Womcy.

Conte-nos sobre a sua experiência pessoal em Cybersecurity.

Sempre gostei da área de cybersecurity, inspirada em personagens de seriados, quando fui escolher o curso da faculdade e quando vi essa opção não pensei duas vezes em seguir. Desde então atuo na área de segurança e minha paixão pela área só cresce, sempre fui muito bem recebida no ambiente de trabalho e tive grandes oportunidades, conheci profissionais incrível que foram e continuam sendo minha inspiração, e isso me incentiva a me empenhar cada vez mais.

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

A área de Cyber é muito grande, independente da área escolhida em tech, o mundo caminha para que cada vez mais seja aplicado Segurança nesses itens, o que trás muitas oportunidades de se tornar uma especialista nessas áreas.

Maria Victoria Trecco

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

Que seja apresentado para nossas crianças não só profissões como Médicos, Advogados, etc. Mas que seja apresentado carreiras em tecnologia, principalmente por uma figura feminina por trazer mais representatividade e conexão das meninas com essa área.

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

A comunidade de mulheres querendo entrar em cyber, ou migrar para a área estão cada vez maiores, mas essa oportunidade do primeiro emprego na área se torna uma tarefa muito difícil para o profissional. Na minha opinião, precisamos unir o time de RH das empresas com organizações focadas em mulheres em tecnologia para que a oportunidade chegue para todos.

O sector de Cybersecurity ainda é um campo dominado por homens. Como vocês encaram este desafio?

Em toda a minha carreira profissional eu só tive dois desafios relacionados há algum tipo de preconceito por ser uma mulher numa área técnica de segurança, mas em ambos os casos após um tempo essas mesmas pessoas pediram desculpas pelos comentários realizados na época. De qualquer maneira, eu trato todos os profissionais da área como igual, respeito gera respeito, e isso funciona bem em qualquer situação.

Qual é a sua frase favorita?

Ela acreditava, claro… porque sem algo em que acreditar, a vida seria intolerável.

Rosamunde Pilcher

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LIZI QUADROS Founder Cubic Jogos Digitais

Fale sobre você e seu negócio e sua carreira, Lizi!

Mentora de Hackas, Inovathons sou formada em Administração pela Universidade Vale dos Sinos- Unisinos. Agente de Inclusão e Diversidade da Yara Brasil Fertilizantes. Em 2018 iniciei uma Startup com enfoque na psicologia escolar.

Ganhadora da Startup Plus University , 3° lugar da Game Jam da Campus Party SP e 2° lugar na Hackathona SP. Fundadora da Cubic Jogos Digitais, uma empresa de games com foco na inclusão e diversidade.

Durmo pouquissímo, mas não recomendo, (risos), posso dizer que sou uma workaholic, mas quando o profissional faz o que ama é bem compensador. O criar games chegou em minha vida como uma brincadeira, um entretenimento e fui notar já estava recebendo prêmios, empresas e organizações me exigindo um CNPJ, para contratar a Cubic. Então as coisas foram acontecendo, os planejamentos vieram em paralelo, mas tenho maravilhosos parceiros e cúmplices nessa minha vida tech.

Para ter sucesso na carreira profissional não só na área de tecnologia a mulher deverá ter mais do que habilidades técnicas, é necessário habilidades interpessoais, o que chamamos de soft skills e claro ter um bom networking. Um tempo atrás desenhavam, descreviam o profissional da área de TI, como a pessoa que não comunicava-se, ficava dentro de uma sala lá no fundo do corredor escuro, mas conseguimos quebrar esse paradigma, para nós mulheres, isso era pior, pois mulher que gostasse de tecnologia ou jogasse videogame, recebia um olhar não abonatório, que dirá produzir games.

Mas sou uma pessoa que tem paciência e perseverança, mesmo que dormindo pouco, meus projetos e empreendimentos saem do papel, pois quando as habilidades são bem entendidas e executadas resultam em pontos positivos nesse desenvolvimento, para criar produtos e serviços inovadores e o ano de 2022 e acredito que até 2030, iremos desbravar muito esse campo.

Outro ponto que posso destacar é que as mentorias que recebo e dou, servem de grande ajuda, para construir a profissional que sou hoje, o ajudar umas as outras a crescer, o receber retroalimentação ajuda muito a nos desenvolvermos.

O setor de tecnologia ainda é um campo dominado pelos homens. Qual seriam os seus conselhos e dicas para as mulheres superarem os obstáculos enfrentados?

Lizi Quadros

Esse caminho não é de flores, terá que se posicionar, tomar a frente e tornar a voz ativa na reunião que estiver, mas como todos sabemos na área de TI, você deverá estar em constante evolução, estudando, indo em feiras, eventos, quase como um pião rodando sempre (risos).

Conta pra gente como é um dia na sua vida profissional!

Resido no Rio Grande do Sul, em uma cidade chamada Novo Hamburgo, meu bairro é bem arborizado e isso é um fator muito importante para quem não dorme muito como eu, pois como resido em casa, consigo colocar os pés na grama e consigo ouvir os passarinhos.

Acordo muito cedo, antes das 5 horas da manhã, tomo um leite com achocolatado, ligo o computador e começo a ler noticias de vários seguimentos, pois são daí que saem minhas ideias para os games que crio. E de uma estatística de violência contra mulheres e crianças, e de um mal atendimento em um hospital e de algum PCD ( Pessoa com Deficiência) que não conseguiu sentir- se pertencente em algum lugar.

Então compilo essas ideias e coloco em uma pasta chamada Projetos.

Após isso vou para o banho, pois mesmo home-office vou para jornada Yara Fertilizantes, onde faço parte do setor de tributação ( nada a ver com games), mas é uma empresa onde me dá a abertura de levar conhecimentos não só para o meu setor, mas para outros, tenho essa liberdade. Ao meio dia, algumas vezes marco reunião com pessoas de outros países como África do Sul (devido o fuso-horário) e faço meu almoço as 13hs, respondendo e-mails e mensagens do whats. E volto para minha agenda com a Yara, depois de cumpridas minhas tarefas, meu olhar é para Cubic, para as mentorias e aulas que dou na área de negócios e games.

Reuniões, planejamento de negócio, parcerias, fornecedores e assim vou até 2 horas da manhã. Nesse meio tempo janto mas é essa correria diária e nos finais de semana, ainda participo desses eventos de Hackas e Inovathons, é meio louco, mas é satisfatório.

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?

Tenho a sorte de minha família me apoiar e possuir amigos nessa área. E amigos que são realmente disruptivos, que gostam de quebrar paradigmas, que apostam na diversidade, na inclusão. Sou formada em Administração, pessoas que me conhecem no primeiro momento duvidam, " o que esse ser humaninho de administração está fazendo em TI e games?" Mas daí você começa a conversar sobre o assunto, mostrar o conhecimento que possui e eles veem que diploma é uma coisa, conhecimento, expertise é outra.

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?

Qual é a sua frase favorita?

Posso dizer que é verdade, no 1° evento que competi, tive o sentimento de não pertencer aquele lugar, ainda mais por ser "euquipe" e os outros eram equipes formadas por 3 a 5 rapazes. Mas temos que enfrentar nossos medos, quebrar essas barreiras, mostrar que podemos estar em qualquer lugar que queremos. E com isso vamos ocupar o espaço que nos pertence, estamos no século XXI, conquistamos muitas coisas e temos bastantes na lista ainda, mas juntas conseguiremos fazer um maravilhoso trabalho.

"O sucesso é gostar de si mesmo , gostar do que você faz e gostando de como fazer isto".

Maya Angelou

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

Somos desacreditadas, salários inferiores, ambiente de trabalho muitas vezes machista.

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 também na retenção destes talentos)?

Existe muito a ser feito, mas o principal são as empresa mudarem a concepção de profissão para homens ou para mulheres. Mulheres podem e devem estudar tecnologia, o gênero de uma pessoa não define a sua capacidade.

Há alguma pessoa específica em tecnologia que te inspira?

Ursula Burns - que foi CEO da Xerox de 2009 a 2017, sendo a primeira mulher negra a dirigir e liderar uma corporação nos Estados Unidos. E ela me inspira pois faz parte do Conselho de grandes empresas como Uber, American Express e ativista em ONGs, entre outras atividades.

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

Nós buscamos tanto quanto os homens estudar, ler e nos atualizarmos, então temos que nos fazer presente em ambientes tecnológicos pois isso será um exemplo de resistência e resiliência.

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

A sororidade é um dos pontos mais importantes, pois é preciso descontruir a rivalidade e pautar o sentimento de união. Compartilhar informações e ensinamentos umas com as outras, construindo para um crescimento mútuo.

GLEICE GALDINO Analista senior de Governança de CyberSecurity

Conte-nos sobre você e a sua carreira.

Gleice Miranda é apaixonada por tecnologia há mais de dez anos e, foi atraída por CyberSecurity logo no início de sua carreira. Pós-graduada em Gestão de CyberSecurity, analista senior em Governança de Segurança da Informação e líder do programa Girls & Geek na WOMCY. Construiu a carreira com foco no mercado financeiro e, atualmente está engajada em colaborar com o desenvolvimento do Open Banking no Brasil.

Casada com um músico, Gleice compreende que a música, o canto e a dança, são capazes de expressar os seus sentimentos, perante tantas transformações no mundo da tecnologia. Ama viajar para se conectar com a natureza e conhecer pessoas, sabores e experiências.

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

Conheci a WOMCY em um evento presencial para apresentação dos programas e, desde então, me encantei com a proposta de levar conhecimento para crianças e adolescentes. Sou líder do programa Girls&Geek, ao qual o objetivo é apresentar o universo de tecnologia e Segurança da Infomação para crianças e adolescentes e, desta forma, esclarecer sobre os riscos em relação a este universo e, além disso, incentivá-los a se tornarem profissionais da área.

A WOMCY para mim, foi uma grande oportunidade para aprender mais sobre impacto social com mulheres profissionalmente e pessoalmente exemplares. Com isso, desenvolvi uma visão mais ampla sobre carreira, que não se resume apenas em resultados financeiros ou obtenção de conhecimento, mas também conta com a responsabilidade de pensar na melhoria constante da área e, na continuidade do conhecimento para outras gerações, independente de condições financeiras ou geográficas.

Quais são os maiores desafios que as mulheres enfrentam hoje?

Gleice Galdino

A mulher ainda precisa provar o seu valor de forma mais intensa e constante que o homem por isso, vejo que o grande desafio é esclarecermos objetivamente o nosso valor, sejam eles hard skils ou soft skils.

Conte-nos sobre a sua experiência pessoal em Cybersecurity.

Iniciei minha carreira em CyberSecurity trabalhando em um grande banco, através de uma oportunidade de estágio. Após o término do contrato de estágio, recebi duas propostas: 1- Permanecer na área de Segurança entretanto, seria funcionária de uma empresa terceira.

2- Permanecer como funcionária do banco e seguir carreira na área de desenvolvimento.

Contudo, escolhi seguir na área de Segurança da Informação pois, acreditava que era uma área essencial para qualquer modelo de negócio. Após esta escolha, adquiri experiência em Gestão de Identidade e Acessos, Gestão de Projetos de Segurança e atualmente trabalho com Governança de CyberSecurity, passando por empresas significativas para o mercado financeiro.

Em relação a minha jornada acadêmica, mesmo após concluir o MBA em Gestão de CyberSecurity, prossegui estudando sobre novas tecnologias, governança e gestão de Segurança da Informação e certificações importantes para área.

O sector de Cybersecurity ainda é um campo dominado por homens. Como vocês encaram este desafio?

Acredito que estamos em constante evolução sobre este assunto pois, hoje já temos apoio de muitos homens em relação a mudança deste cenário, entretanto, é de fato um desafio mudar os números resultantes desta diferença. Um ponto relevante para corroborar com esta evolução, é o apoio e incentivo de outras mulheres por isso, o trabalho da WOMCY é tão importante para a sociedade.

www.femaletechleaders.com

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

Conscientização é a chave para engajamento. Acredito que disseminar e apoiar trabalhos como da WOMCY, é o início para que mais mulheres tenham interesse nas áreas de Tecnologia. Além disso, é importante que mulheres incentivem outras mulheres e, que todas entendam que compartilhar experiências e conhecimento é extremamente importante para nossa evolução.

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

Um programa de mentoria e conscientização é importante para demonstrar a preocupação com essa questão social e, além disso, proporciona um ambiente de proximidade e empatia com mulheres que ainda não sentem confiança para seguir carreira na área de CyberSecurity.

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

A área de CyberSecurity ganhou um espaço imenso, devido constantes notícias de ataques nos ambientes de tecnologia por isso, é um mercado que oferece muitas oportunidades a pessoas qualificadas. É importante se manter atualizada no âmbito de tecnologia para que, desta forma, seja possível identificar vulnerabilidades de forma mais clara.

Além disso, uma profissional de CyberSecurity deve demonstrar integridade e transparência pois, a empresa deposita intensa confiança nesta profissional.

Qual é a sua frase favorita?

“Amar, servir e doar-nos pelos outros nos forçam a sair do egocentrismo. Amar aos outros nos faz sair de nós mesmos. Amar aos outros nos força a crescer.

O Monge e o Executivo

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ARTICLES ENGLISH

WHAT IS INCLUSIVE LEADERSHIP? In my view, it can be defined by anything from leaders who are aware of their own biases and preferences, to leaders who actively seek out and consider different views and perspectives to inform better decision-making.

It can even be as simple as challenging stereotypes and speaking out on issues that their team faces.

But what above all that overrides this is the leadership ability to adapt to change and thrive in an evolving market, which is essential for emerging industries. As outlined by Deloitte in their 2016 article on Inclusive leadership, there are six main principles to consider.

Those are; Cognisance Curiosity Cultural Intelligence

Courage Collaboration Commitment

“It can even be as simple as challenging stereotypes and speaking out on issues that their team faces.”

In the modern world, there are four global mega-trends that are creating a business curriculum that is far less synergetic and much more diverse and complex than has been the case in days gone by. Those pillars are outlined as markets, customers, ideas, and talent.

These different types of shifts link with one another to influence the business ethos, priorities and carve out the skills and capabilities of successful leaders of the next generation.

With markets, customers, ideas, and talent being at the forefront of business planning more than ever before, leaders are looking to diversity and inclusion practices to bring a united front in product development, talent acquisition, hiring and customer retention to homogenize their company outlook.

In the days of Me Too, LGBTQ+ inclusion, BLM and Stop Asian Hate, it is our responsibility upheld by all business managers to ensure they are being cooperative, fair and responsive in a diverse, sustainable environment.

There may well be companies that slip through the diversity net in terms of non morally due north ethics, but with the cancelled culture and jury by social media afoot, the general public are holding the majority of companies to account for their less than sparkling business ethics.

This in turn can help and hinder the DEI movement, as more and more people are becoming aware of outdated practices in the workplace, but aren’t finding ways to help their voices be heard in their management line. Maybe a major factor in the great resignation.

With the increase of awareness, there has to be an increase of education for all, especially with more weight on the decision-makers in business. It can be a fine thing to call out an issue, but how to remedy it effectively can be another approach entirely. “Walk the talk.”

So what can organisations DO in order to combat this issue? A number of things as it turns out.

With strategic alignment highlighting the need for inclusive leadership as a core pillar within the organisation’s diversity and inclusion future strategy, all companies can make the change and compel an argument for a diverse workplace using this framework.

In tandem with diverse hiring, rewards and recognition for implementing these practices and using symbolic workplace movements to highlight this change, for example, appointing primary and secondary leaders who champion inclusive leadership, there can be a great shift in the moral process expected, and a trickle-down factor in terms of team implementation.

In short, it is not enough for companies to do NOTHING about the changing environment that affects their business strategy, acting quickly and strongly is the intelligent way to become a front runner of diversity in the workplace.

By Mollie & Pinky

How are IOT and the Metaverse connected When we think of digital immersion, we often think of VR and AR. But digital immersion extends way beyond these technologies.

The internet worked (and works!) because it is open. Decentralized by nature, and engineered with standards of interoperability so that millions of servers and devices can both run the infrastructure and access the wealth of experiences living on it. That doesn’t mean everything works everywhere, but it does mean standard modes of engagement.

Interoperability is the key idea that the internet exists in thousands, millions — hundreds of millions maybe — servers, because there are some standards of interoperability that were established early.

When it comes to IoT, the metaverse and the digital twin market, it all comes down to interoperability again. It’s not strictly required that every website or every 3D world interoperate with every other one. But it is important that we can share some things between them, that there are ways of fetching content that is fairly standard.

With the digital twin market projected to grow to $29.57 billion by 2025, we’re bound to see more use cases for Industry 4.0 to meet the demand for asset health optimisation and predictive maintenance. There is a growing need for Industrial IoT solutions, and a rise in smart city and smart building infrastructure ensuring efficient energy consumption.

When we talk about the IoT and the metaverse, it’s important to understand the digital twin concept. It comes out of the Internet of Things (IoT) world and is related to Microsoft’s plans. The tech giant has expressed its interest in developing a platform to digitally map and monitor everything in a real-world business environment — warehouses, factories, retail stores, and so on. It’ll be like a 3D version of Microsoft Office.

From a developer perspective, as usual Microsoft covers pretty much everything — you can apply complex machine learning technology to digital twins, or build a simple application on top of digital twin data using Microsoft’s Power Platform (its lowcode toolset). Apart from Microsoft, NVIDIA and Facebook are two other companies tapping into the metaverse with their own concepts.

Nvidia announced an expansion of its Omniverse platform, which is based on open source technology developed by Pixar, called Universal Scene Description (USD). Unlike Microsoft and Nvidia, Facebook’s metaverse is currently vaporware. To be fair, that’s

because Facebook only just announced its metaverse product group.

Developers can test out Microsoft and Nvidia’s metaverse stacks. There are also open-source platforms out like Mozilla Hubs, which is browser-based.

It allows developers to use web technologies like Three. js and WASM. The Open Metaverse OS is another open platform, this time tapping into the crypto trend (it uses NFTs, decentralized governance, and the like).

This is why the metaverse is the natural continuation of the IoT. The metaverse is multi-dimensional, opening new possibilities for design and development.

Carnellia Ajasin, is CEO of Mind Katalyst - an 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. For more on how Mind Katalyst can help you scale your technology products, contact us for more details

www.femaletechleaders.com

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT NONFUNGIBLE TOKENS (NFTS)

Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) appear to have exploded out of the world in 2021!

From artwork and song to Twitters and screen paper, anything digital, including drawings, animated GIFs, songs, or items in video games, NFTs are virtual properties that are selling for tens of thousands and thousands of dollars.

But are NFTs really well worth the money?

Or is it just hype?

To start: What is an NFT? An NFT stands for Non-fungible token.

It is a virtual asset that represents real items like artwork, music, in-sport gadgets and videos. They are offered and bought online (in the marketplaces), often with cryptocurrency, and they're usually encoded with unique identifying codes.

NFTs allow you to buy and sell ownership of unique digital items and keep track of who owns them using blockchain. An NFT can either be one-of-a-kind, like a real-life painting, or one copy of many, like trading cards, but the blockchain keeps track of who has ownership of the file.

NFTs have been around since 2014 but have gained notoriety since last year and it is getting more and more famous - since 2017 a staggering $174 million has been spent on NFTs.

Tip: as an investment, do your research, understand the market and the risks involved and invest wisely (be careful with fakes, illegitimate art and artists, and fraud).

“Essentially, NFTs create digital scarcity,” says Arry Yu, chair of the Washington Technology Industry Association Cascadia Blockchain Council and managing director of Yellow Umbrella Ventures.

Some NFTs for a better understanding Jack Dorsey, co-founder and CEO of Twitter, is seeling his very first tweet as an NFT. Price: US$ 3 million.

How NFT work NFT exist in a blockchain and most NFTs are part of the Ethereum blockchain (Ethereum is a cryptocurrency). NFTs are minted from digital objects (tangible and intangible items) and work as a digital collection - but instead of getting an actual object, you get a digital file.

Nyan Cat (a meme) turned 10 last year and to mark the occasion, the iconic GIF became an NFT. Price: US$ 600.000

All NFTs have exclusive ownership rights because the unique data verify the ownership.

How can I buy NFTs First, you need to buy cryptocurrencies.

Then, a wallet to store your crypto and NFTS.

Beeple (Mike Winkelmann) "Everydays: The First 5000 Days” Price: US$ 69 million

After that, find a marketplace: OpenSea, Rarible and Foundation, are the largest NFT marketplaces.

And remember: NFTs are a risky investment. The future is uncertain and as with any risky investment, you can lose money. Also, NFTs are also subject to capital gains taxes if you sell for a profit.

Candyce Costa Founder Female Tech Leaders and Markerting

www.femaletechleaders.com

HOW TO IDENTIFY A GOOD NFT PROJECT The NFT industry is reasonably new when compared with other industries. Since the first NFT project came out in October 2015, lots of things changed dramatically and NFTs jumped from being pure “jpeg’s” to show how a blockchain could be transferred from point A to point B to a specific niche and more than that, a proper lifestyle.

This attracted a huge audience from teenage school students to Generation X people like me and there are lots of boomers now that they also realised that there is a mine gold to dig. Unfortunately, like in all industries with a prospect of huge profits, there are lots of scams and people taking advantage of the fact that there is no regulation related to NFTs and wow, it is a real sea for pirates out there.

That is the big challenge: how to determine and identify a strong project with a solid roadmap?

Well, it is not easy but if you bear in some specific points, the chances are that the project will be successful but nothing is guaranteed when there is the requirement of having a strong community behind it all.

Research a lot about the project founders, know who they are, where they are coming from and where they want to go with their project; Find out about their professional reputation; Study the project roadmap and ask questions about how they intend to achieve what they are offering; Focus on what the NFT itself represents - what is its main usability? A jpeg is always a jpeg but a jpeg with usability is the key for the project's success; Observe if there are competitor projects - are there similarities? Is the roadmap original to the point where there will be a strong audience wanting to make part of it?

Another point to take into consideration is if there are already successful similar projects - be careful with the so called “derivative” projects - such normally copy strong and already settled projects and this may be a bad sign.

When engaging with the community, try to perceive the type of conversation you can have with other members; needless to say, care about how many moderators are inside the community and how they do their job to keep the mood always up and clear of negativity. A bad behaved community is a project killer; Find out how much clear is all communications from the main team and how often they release follow ups, how they react to feedback from the community, moreover negative feedback; Understand about how the technical side of it is structured - where the mint will occur and based in what type of contract, where the pos-mint will be placed as a secondary market, check the tools for rarity if any, again, look into the small detail; Find out the perks that the project offers in long run to make sure that the community will still be backing it even after mint day - mint an NFT is not as important as making it more valuable to others who did not minted - the OG (original minters) - This can make sure that the original price tag will multiply with time in case when the offer is lower than the demand.

These are a few points to name but doing your research (DYOR) is as much as important as understanding what to look into. Sometimes a 100k members community is not as strong as a 10k members community but you will understand straight away when a community is united or not.

IF you see that the project is for you, just jump in regardless if you want to (or have time to) engage with other members. Sadly, most of the NFT communities around did not realise that some people still need to work and make things happen in real life other than spending lots of time “grinding” online with people from around the world. Well, if you can make this your JOB and you are happy with that then why not? Just be happy and don't forget: NFTs can be a lot of fun but if you do not do the right thing for you, it can be a nightmare.

Dead SIlverado NFT Collector & Investor

WHAT I LEARNT FROM MENTORING 14 WONDERFUL STARTUPS? I mentored 14 wonderful pre-incubator AI startups recently at Bucharest AI Incubator.

Here are the 14 lessons I learnt from that amazing experience!

1. There is NO limit to your dreams, ideas and innovation.

2. Technology is a tool that can be used to solve problems. The solution, the idea is at heart and technologies like AI, industry 4.0 tools, 5G, they support the idea (and help you achieve the results).

3. You learn a tremendous amount from the mentees!

4. Ask questions! (always) 5. The power of communication and networking is underrated (soft skills are SUPER important).

www.femaletechleaders.com

6. There’s beauty in simplicity.

7. Two steps forward, one step backwards is good. It’s actually better than good, it’s great.

8. The rule of 80%. Act when you are 80% prepared.

9. Believe in your idea and in yourself.

10. Observe. Learn. Adapt.

11. Manage your time.

12. Prioritise your mental and physical health (we don’t wanna be burnt out).

13. You don’t need anything extraordinary to make a difference.

14. Failures or setbacks are absolutely OK. And a bonus; It is all about the people. Choose the right people to work with. (however, that definition of ‘right’ is absolutely subjective based on your requirements)

Smriti Mishra

www.femaletechleaders.com

WOMEN 3.0: ALL THINGS WEB3

As it relates to Web3 – things are moving at lightning speed. There’s constantly new projects dropping (some of which you’ll see below), there’s new brands entering the metaverse daily, there’s our favorite influencers and celebrities announcing their own NFT projects… so many things we want to hop on the bandwagon with, so many events we want to be a part of, so many people we want to meet, so many TikTok dances we want to do.

But with all of this churn, how can one keep up? That’s what I’m seeking advice on this week.

I’ve always been one to bite off more than I can chew (especially when it comes to a Crumbl cookie), but professionally, what do you do when you can’t switch from Discord to Twitter to LinkedIn to email to your Zoom calls to your podcast to Instagram to TikTok fast enough?

What happens when you don’t have the funds to build a team? – I dream of one community manager per social channel.

Do you hire an intern? Do you just repost the same content on each channel? Do you give every person who reaches out to you a blanket response? Do you curl up on the couch under a blanket and say screw it and turn on Emily In Paris (rosé in hand) and just have a night to escape?

The first answer that came to my mind was this: Stop trying to keep up. Don’t compare.

Just go at your own pace. Do your own thing. Focus on your road ahead. Put the blinders on like you’re a racehorse at Kentucky Derby that can’t be distracted by all the floppy hats in the stands (some cheering you on, some that can’t be bothered with what you’re doing… and others who might not be so keen on you winning). It’s a surprisingly accurate metaphor if you ask me.

So sure, I’ve got that answer… but what happens when you can’t keep up with yourself? I think at that point, it’s time to go inward.

We aren’t actually limited at all. The only limitations we put on ourselves, are from ourselves.

So how do we stop doing that?

As a dear former colleague used to say - “Embrace a culture of pause.”

So wrapping this week, instead of keeping up, I’m holding up. Trying to embrace the slow down. To settle into the pause.

Pausing to go for a walk outside (even if it is 14-degrees again, gosh darnit Virginia) Pausing to actually stop typing and put my paintbrush to the canvas (after all, if I don’t paint each day… can I really call myself a painter? An artist? At this point, I’d say I should be classified as a typer.)

Pausing to prioritize. Me time, you time, family time, friend time… this project, that project… her email, his phone call. Taking a step back to look at my plate before I try and do it all at once.

Tweet me @ByCarlyLong, drop me a line on LinkedIn… write me a snail mail letter with your thoughts.

Spillin' The Tea (Or The Black Cold Brew In My Case) BFF's crypto community wants to make sure you don’t miss out on a $100 trillion opportunity.

Mila Kunis and Gwyneth Paltrow are onboard. Plus at least 50 other amazing women. I attended their first event and they gave us all FREE tokens to mint their first NFT launch. I got offers on this thing for like $1,600 already. $1,600 to sit on my couch and watch Mila and Gwyneth speak? Sign me up again & again & again plz!

The rest of the list will go in my journal.

But I’d like to hear some of the ways you like to pause.

Mic, Drop. World Of Women Secures 84 ETH for Charity So Far.

I’d love to know what you do when you feel like you’re running a million miles a minute and your brain can’t keep up with your body or vice versa… if you’re feeling that Sylvia Plath Energy:

For those who don’t have a crypto calculator in their head yet (I’m with you… math was never my strong suit)… 84 ETH = about $262,000. Insane in the membrane!

The power of women ain’t small.

"I can never read all the books I want; I can never be all the people I want and live all the lives I want. I can never train myself in all the skills I want. And why do I want? I want to live and feel all the shades, tones and variations of mental and physical experience possible in my life. And I am horribly limited.”

Though, where I have to pick a bone with Sylvia is that last sentence. I feel quite the opposite.

Carly Long By day: Connecting people & jobs, producing podcasts & community building for WELD Recruiting.

By night: Creating NFT art & visual content for brands, events and celebrities.

How Can App Development Boost Healthcare?

Healthcare is one of the areas “Harvard Business Review” names as one of the top focuses in tech for 2022. So how can mobile apps or web platforms help with digitalization in health, and what are the current trends?

At Wolfpack Digital we have worked with multiple healthcare and medtech companies, ranging from early-stage startups all the way to huge multinational companies. In essence, here are our observations so far: 1 - The practical usage of AI is probably best seen in healthtech for diagnosis AI has long been a buzzword, and its usage in advertising, for example, is highly-valuable from a commercial standpoint. However, when we reflect on the immediate impact on our human lives, in which health is essential, it’s obvious how powerful the gift AI brings to the table is. Machine learning takes diagnosis based on imagery (MRI etc.), for example, to a whole new level, and AI already competes with human-driven diagnosis and even starts to take over in terms of performance. The reason behind it is that supervised learning, on which AI relies, when supported by world-class experts in a certain field (for pulmonary diseases for example), makes the software’s results superior to those obtained by traditional diagnosis.

2 - Mobile apps for symptom tracking improve patient coping levels, and global patient support communities are a plus A trend witnessed is that of creating mobile or web apps that help patients manage their illnesses, track their symptoms, habits, and medication, while allowing doctors to witness their progress and observe patterns via a dashboard. The impact of engaging with these apps on the overall wellbeing of patients is very promising, and some apps provide supportive global digital communities that allow patients with rare diseases to connect and find the sense of belonging and understanding they have long been seeking and missing in their local communities.

3 - The number of telemedicine solutions being developed is skyrocketing Although the principles of telemedicine platforms are very similar, as they basically connect patients to doctors, with features such as appointments, video calls, chat etc, the particularities of each platform (who the stakeholders are, what audience they are addressing), plus the aspect regarding how sensitive patient data is, are driving the creation of countless telemedicine solutions. The regulatory support allows for the use of apps or digital platforms to be prescribed to patients and deducted from their insurance in Germany, for example. Therefore the regulatory aspect is an essential driver for innovation in healthtech, and companies are becoming more and more competitive to offer the best experience to all users. White-label solutions are great, but it seems that there is a lot of interest for custommade platforms, either on web, mobile, or on both.

4 - Multidisciplinary collaborations are key for healthtech digital product success Hackathons help in this sense, and it’s amazing how one plus one equals a lot more in healthtech app development: doctors, nurses, designers, developers, researchers, business developers, data scientists, and marketers join forces to bring these fantastic life-changing solutions to life.

Seeing brainstorming done by people with such different backgrounds is always a delight and the potential of creating the context to bring them together is huge.

5 - Healthcare accessibility is enhanced by digitalization I’ve touched on this topic before, but especially for rare diseases, in pandemic times, it’s difficult to reach the best doctors and experts in the field.

Therefore health apps offer the gifts of accessibility - to medical services in general, and to high-quality medical expertise in particular. You can connect to a psychiatrist specializing in gambling addiction, for instance, easily via an app, and you save having to drive for hundreds of miles to meet them.

Also, patients in countries with poor infrastructure can benefit from the skills of doctors who live thousands of miles away (see what BrainCapture is doing), who can look at the results of their blood tests or scans, or evaluate their symptoms, and therefore there is a higher chance of prescribing the right treatment.

6 - Digital health solutions work best when they are focused on niche needs and user experience is key Digital healthtech product-market-fit does not require revolutionary innovation.

It’s not just that telemedicine solutions are often designed for a single clinic or entity to meet their specific needs, it’s also that a healthtech app which essentially covers quite standard technical functionalities (e.g. symptom tracking, chat with your doctor etc,) is more likely to be used if it has its content and branding aimed at covering a certain disease or patient group. Health is a deeply personal subject, and having your digital solution focused on the niche of interest increases the chances of the product being useful to your audience 7 - Mental health is becoming integral to health solutions and a focus in itself, and apps for stress management are a big thing More and more apps for mental health can be found in app stores and there is an increased interest in downloading apps for mindfulness or cognitivebehavioural therapy. Data shows that although CBT bots are becoming more performant, users still mostly prefer mindfulness apps, so we don’t see a chance in the near future for these apps to actually replace psychotherapy in itself. Additionally, most healthtech solutions focus on physical symptoms and disease management, but more and more they begin to embrace the mental health impact and mental health symptoms management too.

Stress in the workplace is another topic on which a lot of research and B2B commercial app development happens (check out what Akesio is doing).

8 - Chip crisis makes production of medical equipment more challenging, however Software as a Medical Device is becoming a trend The chip crisis is already affecting IoT companies which need mass production, and medical equipment production does not remain unaffected by it. However, software development is here to help with innovative solutions, and the IEC 62304 standard allows software apps to get certified as medical devices, without having a single piece of external hardware associated with them, except for the smartphone or tablet. That is incredible, indeed, and 2022 will for sure produce major innovations in healthtech.

9 - Health is viewed holistically and supporting wellbeing is becoming central to digital health Prevention is equally important as diagnosis and treatment, and new apps and websites help users take care of their good health, by considering their emotional, physical, spiritual, and mental wellbeing, and even bring together the Western approach to medicine with the Eastern approach (MedicineBuddha brings Tibetan medicine knowledge closer to its Western audience, for example; other apps help women with their cycle tracking etc.). We now have the means and opportunities to access so much wisdom, and it seems that making choices on which app to download or which approach to follow will be one of the most interesting challenges, which is congruent with the blessing and curse of our generation - navigating mountains of information and identifying what’s of true quality and useful, and works best for us.

This concludes my summary of how 2022 looks from a healthtech trends standpoint from where I am watching, as the CEO of an agency which has as a main area of expertise health apps. Technology is a powerful tool that can literally save our lives, and it’s becoming more and more immersed in every aspect of any person’s journey in wellbeing, health and managing various medical conditions, and also in the prevention of illness, by looking at one’s health holistically!

Let’s use it wisely and rip it’s benefits.

Georgina Lupu Florian is the founder and CEO of Wolfpack Digital, an award-winning full-service web and mobile app development company based in Romania, with a team of 70+.

She is a co-founder of Pamble, a mental health startup with a mission to treat gambling addiction, she is part of the Board of Directors of the Transilvania IT Cluster, and she is one of the cofounders of the Women in Tech Cluj community. As someone with a multidisciplinary background (in engineering, psychology, management and creative industries), Georgina has personally worked with more than 50 startup founders and company representatives from Europe and North America from the transportation, IoT, health and fintech sectors. She is actively mentoring teams in various hackathons at a national and international level.

On her days off, she loves spending time with her cats, friends & family, running, and reading cosy mystery stories.

Click here to access our blog...

www.femaletechleaders.com

Top 15 Women Leading web3, Metaverse and NFT Revolution

Less than 5% of crypto entrepreneurs are women so Female Tech Leaders Community wants to celebrate a few female founders and influencers that are here to break the bias in the world metaverse.

According to Crunchbase, only 9% of all funds deployed to technology startups went to founding teams that included at least one woman and start-ups with a solo female founder, or those composed of all-women teams, raised just 2% of all venture capital dollars.

Yeah, it is happening again (I am not surprised, are you?): the gender-funding gap within the web3 sector is real and already happening.

So let's celebrate sharing 15 Top Women Leading web3, metaverse and NFT revolution.

Allyson Downey Allyson Downey is one of the co-founders of Meta Angels, an NFT community that "harnesses metaverse relationships to unlock real life opportunities".

Ariana Waller, aka Ariana The Techie Ariana Waller is a full stack software engineer and founder of Mueshi, a marketplace to buy, sell, and fractionally purchase fine art NFTs. Ariana has been in the blockchain space since 2017 and encourages more women to consider a career in web3.

Listen her podcast here.

Avery Akkineni Avery is the President at VaynerNFT a venture created to help the world's leading intellectual property owners navigate the wild and wonderful world of NFTs. She previously led VaynerMedia’s expansion into APAC and was awarded SEA Independent Agency of the Year, within 2 years. Prior to Vayner, she spent 6 years working at Google, in both Silicon Valley and New York City.

Cathy Hackl Cathy is the Chief Metaverse Officer at Futures Intelligence Group and is globally recognized as a metaverse/ web 3.0 strategist, tech futurist, sought-after business executive, speaker and media personality with deep expertise working in metaverse-related fields. She has written two books and is writing an anticipated book titled The Metaverse Economy coming out in early 2022. Hackl has been dubbed the Godmother of the Metaverse and is one of the top tech voices on LinkedIn.

Erikan Obotetukudo Erikan is the founder and Managing Partner of Audacity, a crypto venture fund that invests in the future of money & culture worldwide. She also found KIN, a media and communications agency developing brands of diverse finance leaders and institutions looking to connect with multicultural and multigenerational audiences around the world.

Jayne Peressini Jayne is the VP Growth at Dapper Labs and she talks about #nfts, #mentalhealth, #womenincrypto, #womeningaming, and #useracquisition

Katie Haun Katie is a General Partner at Andreessen Horowitz (and co-chair of the firm's three crypto funds), serves as an independent director on the board of Coinbase, where she chairs its Nomination and Governance Committee and serves on its Compensation Committee, and on the board of HackerOne where she serves on its Audit and Risk Committee. She has testified before both houses of Congress on the intersection of technology and regulation, and teaches at Stanford's GSB. Tarja Stephens Tarja is the co-founder of Metaverse Inclusive and Chapter President of VR/AR Association Miami.

She is also an ambassador and advisor on several women-led Web3 Communities and Initiatives and serves as a board member of the non-profit Impact Mission Miami, which focuses on raising awareness and cultivating the conscious, purpose-driven business movement in the Miami region.

Alpha Girl Club Alpha Girl Club (also known as "AGC") is an NFT art collection of 10,000 hand-illustrated alphas ranging from eye-catching colours and when you purchase an Alpha Girls Club NFT, you gain all-inclusive access to a mental health app curated by the Alpha Girl Club Team.

Boss Beauties Boss Beauties is a woman-led NFT initiative of 10,000 unique, strong, and independent women created by Lisa Mayer (who has been helping empower women for 10 years).

The mission of this NFT project is to educate and empower the next generation of women and girls.

Crypto Chicks The Crypto.Chick is a NFT collection that was created to highlight the importance of women in the crypto space. The collection reflects the individuality and uniqueness of every woman.

Long Neckie Ladies (LNL) Long Neckie is a digital art collection featuring diverse women with long necks. Nyla Hayes is a fourteen-year-old NFT artist that has made history selling her NFT collection named Long Neckie.

Rebel Society Rebel Society is a limited edition NFT collection of 7,000 female characters created from hand-drawn elements in celebration of all inspiring badass women stored on the Ethereum blockchain as ERC-721 tokens. This is an NFT project that has a for modern women who rebelled against society's rules and demands, whether the women were stereotyped, sexualized, body shamed, abused, or silenced.

WomenRise The WomenRise NFT is a collection that consists of 10,000 unique pieces of artwork based on 453 hand-drawn traits that celebrate and present women scientists, activists, artists, coders, and more. The NFT collection was created by the 26-year-old artist, author, and activist @Maliha_z_art who has been focusing on social justice, women's rights, gender equality, and girls' education for the last nine years.

World of Women The World of Women NFT project (also known as WoW) is a collection that features 10,000 unique, diverse, and powerful women avatars who take great pride in making a positive impact and helping people, especially women who are new to the nft space. The WoW nft project was released on July 27th, 2021.

ARTICLES PORTUGUESE

ERROS COMUNS DE CONCEITOS QUE LEVAM A PROBLEMAS EM PROJETOS DE ADEQUAÇÃO Estávamos em uma turma de Pos gradução em Direito Digital, última aula do semestre, para alguns era o último, para outros o primeiro, mas todos ali tinham um objetivo em comum: apresentar o trabalho de conclusão do semestre. A ordem de apresentação foi por sorteio, cada equipe tinha um tema trabalhado durante o semestre. RIP – Relatório de Impacto, Registro das Atividades de Tratamento de dados (ROPA), Direitos dos Titulares, Startups e Questões Tributárias, Legal Design, Gestão de Incidentes era o tema do meu grupo, entre outros.

Eis que estamos lá ouvindo as apresentações dos grupos e um grupo, sim, detalhe importante que esqueci de mencionar: mais 75% da turma era de advogados, me recordo do primeiro desconforto que causei, nas primeiras aulas, onde tínhamos que nos apresentar, e perguntaram o porquê de estar fazendo o curso, e minha resposta foi: “ Eu precisava saber qual era a mágica desse cursos, onde um advogado entra com pouca ou quase nenhuma noção de Tecnologia e sai daqui como Especialista em Segurança da Informação, eu pensei preciso saber que mágica é essa, pois trabalho no mercado a mais de 16 anos, e não me considero assim, tão especialista, uma vez que estamos sempre aprendendo.” Deste momento em diante já ganhei alguns olhares de reprovação.

Mas voltando ao último dia, eis que uma equipe está apresentando, e durante a apresentação alguns membros reafirmam, ou enfatizam de forma veemente que : “ o Pessoal de Tecnologia e Segurança de informação querendo adequar empresas para legislações de privacidade, em especial a Lei Geral de Proteção de Dados do Brasil (LGPD), quando na verdade quem pode e deve fazer isso seriam os Advogados entre outras coisas”, digamos que essa parte em especial, eu guardei com cuidado, sobre enfatizar que tipo de profissionais podem ou não vender e se propor a adequar empresa, que habilidades e conhecimentos teóricos e práticos de fato eram necessários para conduzir um projeto, processo ou jornanda de adequação dentro de uma empresa.

Quando chegou no momento de apresentar o trabalho da equipe que eu fazia parte, eu era a segunda a falar, e óbvio, com muito cuidado fui articulando o discurso na minha mente, uma vez que eu estava em um turma de maioria jurídica, cujo os egos são inflados e suscetíveis por natureza, e apesar de adultos e profissionais, sabemos que a natureza humana, é complexa quando envolve egos.

Comecei a apresentação conforme já tínhamos ensaiado e treinado em equipe devido ao curto tempo que tínhamos que cumprir, mas ao fazer as conclusões, sobre Gestão de Incidentes, eu disse: “ Quero ver um Advogado para uma Ataque, estancar um Incidente com uma Petição ou um Contrato.” Alguns microfones aberto, alguns risos contidos, mas no geral, foi aquele silêncio. E para concluir pontuamos, adequar exige multidisciplinaridade, de conhecimentos e habilidades técnicas e não técnicas.

O erro de conceito, ocorre quando temos obrigações a cumprir, decorrentes de uma legislação e, já temos um nicho de profissionais que presumem que tudo que está relacionado primeiro a lei, é sua será e de não de outros. E estes erros nascem ou se perpetuam a partir do acadêmico.

Acredito que posto o primeiro erro de conceito, se entende os próximos erros conceituais cometidos e que tem levado muitos projetos e processos de Adequação as legislações de privacidade a exposição não benéfica, ou seja, empresas sendo penalizadas por aplicações insuficientes ou incorretas de medidas organizacionais, administrativas e técnicas de segurança.

Privacidade não acontece sem proteção de dados, é um direito, um objetivo e uma das finalidades da disciplina de proteção dados conforme o art. 2 da LGPD. Neste momento entendo o quanto profundo e importante é ter a distinção de conceitos, uma vez que não alcançamos o Direito à privacidade, sem a devida Proteção de Dados, não temos a proteção sem as devidas medidas de segurança da informação técnicas, administrativas e organizacionais mencionadas em diversos artigos da lei.

Logo, não ter em mente que estes conceitos se complementam e requerem habilidades, conhecimentos práticos e teóricos distintos, é o primeiro passo para conduzir um processo de adequação ao fracasso.

Dizer que apenas com habilidades juridicas se conduz uma adequação é induzir empresas e pessoas ao erro. Existe sim uma camada jurídica necessária em projeto de adequação a uma ou mais legislações de privacidade, esta camada deve desenvolver suas atividades em paralelo com as outras, tanto informando como sendo consultada, uma vez que por exemplo temos normas e procedimentos que carecem que alguns documentos jurídicos estejam definidos e ajustado, como é o caso por exemplo do Manual da Legislação e/ ou framework Legal.

O framework legal, nada mais é que uma relação de todas as legislações que uma determinada instituição esta sujeita, partindo desde questões básicas como tributárias, trabalhistas, normativos e regulatórios específicos de acordo com o nicho de negócio, ate a própria legislação de privacidade vigente no pais onde se encontra a sede, matriz ou principal da empresa.

“Como determinar o período de retenção adequado sem compreender as obrigações legais que a empresa esta sujeita? Da mesma forma como justificar a base cumprimento de obrigação legal, sem ter uma relação das obrigações legais que a mepresa precisa cumprir?”

Assim, este trabalho jurídico inicial é necessário, pois impacta outros processo de adequação das camadas de Gestão de Dados, de Segurança da Informação e Tecnologia, pois estas outras camadas precisam de acordo com os períodos de retenção por exemplo, aplicar normas, procedimentos e controles para identificar cada tipo de dado, rotular, classificar, aplicar as devidas camadas de proteção e claro ao final do ciclo de vida garantir a exclusão segura dos dados, ou a portabilidade, ou o bloqueio dos dados, de acordo com a base legal, o titular possui diferente direitos que precisam ser refletidos nos sistemas internos de acordo com a aplicabilidades de suas requisições.

Por isso quando falamos de um projeto ou jornada de adequação é necessário entender de fato os conceitos envolvidos nas legislações, e entender que seu contexto não é essencialmente jurídico, ele nasce dessa natureza, por uma questão de necessária de poder regulatório, mas não esta restrito a este ambiente.

Quando tratamos da disciplina de proteção de dados e boa fé dos princípios que regem o tratamento legal de dados pessoais, estamos saindo da esfera apenas contratual, jurídica de direito, e estamos entrando numa esfera de práxis técnica, envolvendo tecnologia e segurança. Pois, uma vez que a Segurança da Informação é quem garante a Proteção dos Dados que por sua leva a assegurar a Privacidade, se aplicamos a segurança e ainda dentro dela o contexto da cibersegurança de maneira incorreta, podemos ser invasivos e errar a mãos nos controles e evidências, podendo ocasionar a perda da Privacidade, em prol de uma Segurança mais forte, contudo invasiva.

Atualmente, na verdade desde 2018 temos trabalhado em diferentes projetos de adequação, e desde final de 2019, tenho desenvolvido uma metodologia e framework de trabalho para consultoria em projetos de adequação as leis de privacidade em especial GDPR e LGPD, utilizando padrões de referencia ISO, NIST, CIS Controls e

EXIN, e outro mal entendido sobre conceitos, vem de que ter certificação garante que o profissional esta apto a conduzir/orquestrar projetos de adequação. Muitas pessoas tem a certificação do EXIN e não entenderam o modelo proposto por eles, muitas pessoal tem certificações ISO, e não entenderam o baseline para avaliar a segurança da informação dentro da empresa e acrescentar os controles relativos a privacidade. Então ter uma certificação nem sempre significa garantia de solução.

Por este motivos desenvolvemos um modelo em camadas deixando claro, as referências utilizadas para avaliar a maturidade e situação atual, os riscos, e ainda o esforço e habilidades necessárias, para executar com devido cuidado e prodfundidade todas as ações necessárias para que uma empresa possa estabelecer seu Programa de Privacidade e demonstrar sua conformidade e compromisso com a lei.

E vendo o que acontece na academia, entendemos os erros práticos no dia a dia de mercado. Se quisermos corrigir os problemas atuais das empresas devemos nos embasar corretamente, entender os conceitos básicos envolvidos: Privacidade como um Direito e Consequência da disciplina de Proteção de Dados, esta por sua vez esta alicerçada nos princípios de boa do tratamento de dados, onde entra a Segurança da Informação, qualidade, prestação de contas e responsabilização entre outros princípios estes que se encaixam com os conceitos trazidos pelos princípios de privacy e security by design, que estão entrelaçados com a aplicação prática convertida em processos definidos, documentados e controlados, fornecendo não apenas insights para melhorias, mas evidências

dos cuidados tomados para realização do tratamento de dados pessoal de forma responsável, diligente e dentro dos requisitos de conformidade legal.

Privacidade e segurança não é uma questão ou responsabilidade de um nicho especifico, mas envolve engajamento, entendimento e colaboração de todos, pois no final ao fazer certo todos ganham, mas ao propagar erros, má interpretações e praticas ruins de mercado, todos perdem.

Alessandra Martins é formada em Licenciatura em Informática pela Universidade do Estado do Amazonas, Especialista em Governança de TI pela Universidade Católica de Brasília, contando com Certificações como ISO 27002, ITIL v3, COBIT5, Scrum Master, KMP I, CTFL, PDPF, PDPE, PDPP, ISMP e outras.

Atua no Mercado de Tecnologia da Informação desde 2004,sendo o início voltado para infraestrutura e segurança de TI, acompanhando toda evolução de da Segurança Técnica para Informação e não mais restrita a TI, bem como o amadurecimento e uso de Cloud.

Focada especificamente nos últimos 5 anos para Projetos em Qualidade de Software, DevSecOps, Segurança da Informação, Governança de TI, SI e Corporativa, trabalhando em projetos dentro e fora do Brasil, em empresas de diferentes segmentos bancos, previdência, fintechs, fábrica de software etc.

O QUE VOCÊ PRECISA SABER SOBRE NONFUNGIBLE TOKENS (NFTS)

Os tokens não fungíveis (NFTs) parecem ter explodido no mundo durante 2021!

De obras de arte e músicas a Twitters, qualquer coisa se tornou digital, incluindo os desenhos, os GIFs animados, e itens em videogames, os chamados NFTs são as propriedades virtuais que estão sendo vendidas por dezenas de milhares de dólares.

Mas os NFTs realmente valem este dinheiro todo?

Ou é só um hype?

Ok, vamos começar pelo começo: O que é um NFT? Um NFT significa um "token não fungível". E o que isso significa? É um ativo virtual que representa itens reais como obras de arte, música, gadgets esportivos e vídeos. Eles são oferecidos e comprados online (nos mercados especificos), com criptomoeda, e geralmente são codificados com códigos de identificação exclusivos.

Os NFTs permitem que você compre e venda a propriedade de itens digitais exclusivos e acompanhe quem os possui usando a tecnologia de blockchain.

Um NFT pode ser único, como uma pintura na vida real, ou uma cópia de muitos, como cartões comerciais, mas o blockchain é o que mantém o controle de quem tem a propriedade do item.

Os NFTs existem desde 2014, mas ganharam notoriedade no ano passado e estão ficando cada vez mais famosos desde 2017, US $ 174 milhões foram gastos em NFTs.

Dica: como investimento, pesquise e entenda o mercado e os riscos envolvidos para invistir com sabedoria (cuidado com as falsificações, arte e artistas ilegítimos e fraudes).

“Essencialmente, os NFTs criam escassez digital”, diz Arry Yu, presidente da Associação da Indústria de Tecnologia de Washington Cascadia Blockchain Council e diretor administrativo da Yellow Umbrella Ventures.

Alguns NFTs para um melhor entendimento Jack Dorsey, cofundador e CEO do Twitter, está vendo seu primeiro tweet como NFT. Preço: US$ 3 milhões.

Como funciona os NFTs O NFT existe em um blockchain e a maioria dos NFTs fazem parte do blockchain Ethereum (Ethereum é uma criptomoeda). Os NFTs são cunhados de objetos digitais (itens tangíveis e intangíveis) e funcionam como uma coleção digital - mas em vez de obter um objeto real, você obtém um arquivo digital (minha coleção pessoal acima).

Nyan Cat (um meme) completou 10 anos ano passado e para marcar a ocasião, o icônico GIF se tornou um NFT. Preço: US$ 600.000

Todos os NFTs têm direitos de propriedade exclusivos porque os dados exclusivos verificam a propriedade.

Como posso comprar NFTs Primeiro, você precisa comprar criptomoedas. Em seguida, uma carteira para armazenar suas criptomoedas e NFTS. Depois disso, encontre um mercado: OpenSea, Rarible e Foundation, são os maiores mercados de NFT.

Beeple (Mike Winkelmann) "Everydays: The First 5000 Days" Preço: US$ 69 milhões

E lembre-se: NFTs são um investimento arriscado.

O futuro é incerto e, como em qualquer investimento arriscado, você pode perder dinheiro. Além disso, os NFTs também estão sujeitos a impostos sobre ganhos de capital se você os vender com lucro.

www.femaletechleaders.com

VOCÊ SABE QUAL O PAPEL DA MULHER MODERNA NA SOCIEDADE? Que a frase “mulher é sexo frágil”, todas nós já sabemos que é um mito.

Que a mulher vem cada vez mais ganhando espaço no mercado de trabalho, está cada vez mais notório. Papéis que antigamente não poderiam ser elaborados por nós mulheres, hoje já se temos uma expressiva atuação. A mulher moderna acumula muitas conquistas importantes tais como: direito ao voto; liberdade sexual e de expressão; e o mais importante, sua inserção no mercado de trabalho, acarretando assim sua tão sonhada independência financeira.

Mas, como tudo na vida tem um lado bom e outro nem tanto, essas conquistas da mulher moderna trouxeram consigo um grande desafio de conseguir equilibrar todos os pratinhos da vida, seja como: profissional; mãe; esposa; filha; amiga; irmã; dona de casa e por aí vai.

www.femaletechleaders.com

Com tantos papeis e responsabilidades vem junto a cobrança de excelência e o sentimento de culpa. Esse sentimento de incompletude surge quando nós não conseguimos desempenhar nossas diversas funções de forma plena. Dessa forma, uma das estratégias que adotei na vida foi primeiro saber exatamente meu propósito de vida e em como eu posso atuar de maneira muito focada e consciente para a melhoria da sociedade em que eu estou inserida. Com isso muito bem claro e estabelecido na minha mente, consigo então atuar e girar meus pratinhos de maneira isolada, um de cada vez e com foco pleno naquela atividade que estou fazendo, sabendo que por trás existe um proposito muito maior.

Porém essa luta de espaço e conquista não é fácil. A consolidação da igualdade de direitos entre os gêneros é uma conquista que leva tempo e cujas raízes da desigualdade retrocedem ao passado. A Bíblia traz que a primeira mulher, Eva, surgiu da costela de um homem, Adão; socialmente, por muitos anos a mulher foi usada como mercadoria de troca entre reinados, servindo de alianças políticas e proteção de família e patrimônios; até pouco tempo, mulheres eram educadas para cumprir um determinado e limitado papel social. Mudar essa cultura machista enraizada não é fácil, mas vejo que a cada dia com o trabalho de diversidade e inclusão na sociedade, as mulheres estão ocupando cada vez mais seu merecido espaço e recebendo seu devido respeito sendo tratada de igual para igual.

A mulher moderna é um ser humano completo, tendo dentro de si toda a força masculina para poder encarar um desafio de frente e sem medo, mas também o lado intuitivo e empático que consegue se relacionar da maneira mais paciente sempre com muita resiliência e AMOR nas relações interpessoais. A mulher moderna tem uma intuição muito aguçada, espírito brincalhão, extrema lealdade, transparência, companheirismo e dedicação sem falar da força, resistência e resiliência. Ela ama novos desafios pois não tem medo de falhar. Sabe que as adversidades da vida vêm para ensinar algo e leva-la para ainda mais perto do seu propósito.

“Uma mulher com um propósito claro é capaz de mover montanhas através da fé e do amor para conquistar seu sonho.” Marcela Argollo

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.

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