women++ appoints the first CEO & Advisory Board to help boost women’s careers in the STEM workforce across Switzerland
women++ a swiss nonprofit organization that was established in 2017 specializing in programming education of women and the organization of hackathons, plans to boost women’s careers affected by the pandemic with strong, coordinated action. The newly appointed CEO Luisa Contreras, supported by her Board of Advisors & the association’s Board Members, work dedicatedly to deliver online educational programs and mental health series open to the general public.
Swiss non-profit organization women++ appointed its first executive, Luisa Contreras and launched an official Advisory Board, which currently includes 4 members, in a move to scale up its reach in Switzerland.
“We’ve decided to create this position in order to boost the speed at which we realize our programs’’,
says Maelle Baud, one of the longest standing Board Members of women++.
“We are proud to have found Luisa as the right person for this job, since she has been with women++ for more than two years now and is very positive and motivated to get things done and make a difference.”
The move follows the rollout of the online mental health series, which started in October 2020 has already coached more than 90 people in stress management, assertiveness, and coping with anxiety and burnout prevention. The events are held online as webinars and anyone can participate from the convenience of their home.
“This series is just the beginning”,
says Luisa Contreras, the newly appointed CEO of women++.
“We are in the process of creating new pilot initiatives designed for our community and will also continue boosting women’s technological know-how and competitiveness on the job market at an increased pace — and I’m really looking forward to it”.
women++ has also created an expert Advisory Board tasked with supporting its executive leadership. It consists of both insiders who know the organization well and contributed to its growth over the years, as well as externals who will help guide its ambitious expansion.
“I joined the advisory board because I believe in Diversity and how interdisciplinary teams are key in shaping the future of the tech industry”,
says Dr. Alexander Ilic, ETH AI Center Exec and one of the members of the Advisory Board, who has been supporting the organization since it’s early beginnings.
Laurent Meyer, CEO at Propulsion Academy has been supporting diversity and the women++ community for more than 2 years now.
“women++ and Propulsion Academy have in place a scholarship program that supports women with financial difficulties to transition into a career in tech”,
shares Laurent Meyer.
His passion is to educate the world in the most advanced IT technologies, filling the gap between the enormous demands for experts in the coming decades.
Since its incorporation in 2017, women++ has created a lasting impression on the careers of many women across Switzerland. They organized tens of programming workshops, sponsored dozens of scholarships for continued education in technology, and initiated a novel hackathon format tailored to women’s benefit that triggered a dramatic increase of women’s participation in such events from 20% to 80%.
“Low participation of women in the workforce has now been exacerbated by the pandemic’’,
remarks Dr. Alex Sokolowska, women++ founder and now advisor.
“In my lifetime supporting women’s careers has never been as burning a problem as it is today.”
The women++ community is open for anyone interested in Tech, currently working in the industry or wishing to transition to a career in Tech.
Everyone is welcome to register for the online webinars and upcoming tech programs at women++
