PLENARY SESSIONS / WORKSHOPS

Opening speech: Giles Norman, Canadian Ambassador, supporter, and patron of AFA’s “More Girls in STEAM” initiative for two years in a row

Workshop discussion: A brainstorming session with the most important IT companies operating in Serbia with the aim of creating a sustainable solution enabling girls (12-25) to continuously learn about STEAM professions and be in a regular contact with experts and leading companies from IT industry. The session will also be accompanied by a Canadian Ambassador Giles Norman as this Embassy is supporting AFA’s “More Girls in STEAM” initiative for two years in a row. AFA launched the initiative four years ago when it organized the first hackathon for elementary school girls and it now organizes annual hackathons for both school-aged and faculty-aged girls. Last year, AFA started developing an online platform for gathering all these girls and keeping their interest in STEAM. We now want to further develop that platform and get the most important IT companies involved in creating a win-win solution for both girls and these companies as their potential future employers.

Moderator: Zoja Kukić, consultant, startup founder and girls in STEAM advocate

Participants: DELL, Microsoft, Google, NCR, HUAWEI, Schneider Electric, Comtrade, Nordeus, HTEC, Ubisoft, 3 Lateral, Cisco, SAS, Infostud, Xiaomi, SAP, Tenderly, Telekom Srbija

Where do we stand with gender equality in practice (pay gap, more women on leadership positions? Do we really support fathers who want to take a parental leave and how do we treat women when they come back from these leaves? What is our view on collaborageism and cross-generation leadership in a rapid digitalization of work? Do we support women over 45 and think about their position against a new generation of digital natives? Do we employ people with disabilities, national and other minorities?

Participants: AFA corporate partners and other companies/individuals devoted to DEI

Different stakeholders (companies, development organisations and female entrepreneurs themselves) discussing about the crucial steps towards creation of an entrepreneurial environment which supports the development of innovative female companies and startups. The starting point will be mapping of the most overwhelming challenges female entrepreneurs face, such as access to finance, time for education and networking, rapid digitalization, etc. The output of this session will be actionable next steps for all stakeholders to make a measurable impact on gender equality in the entrepreneurial environment.
Participants: Unicredit, Intesa, Erste, OTP, AIK, USAID, GIZ, PKS, MP, RAS, AFA Female Entrepreneurs Club