30.11.2023 Education Without Limits: Bridging the Gender Gap in IT 🗓 🗺

Andrea Ferenczi

Andrea Ferenczi has 30 years of experience in the fields of women's empowerment and career development, including helping women attain leading positions by the implementation of Western (incl. American and European) models within a Hungarian cultural framework.
She is an entrepreneur and founder president of the Association for Women’s Career Development in Hungary (AWCDH). The AWCDH founded in 2003 is by now a leading professional Hungarian non-governmental organization with over 70 members which has been accredited as the first Hungarian consultative NGO to the UN-ECOSOC from 2009.
Andrea’s aim is to help promote women’s employment including women over 60, to foster a dialogue between the legislature, the government, the academia, the corporate and non-profit spheres, and the media, in cooperation with NGOs both on the national, cross-border and international level.

She has been successfully lobbying for women’s career and work-life balance issues for all ages at local, EU and UN level in recent 20 years.
She has organized about 50 international conferences, initiated the “Best Workplace for Women Competition and Award” in 2007, the “Women’s Career for a Lifetime” program in 2009.
On behalf of the AWCDH she has been project manager of two “Visegrad Women” research projects in 2020-2022 and three EU Adult Learning research projects between 2013-2024.

Currently:
Project manager of the “Women, Families, Careers - Digital solutions in adult learning” Erasmus+ KA210-ADU-Small-scale partnership (2023-2024) coordinated by the Family Friendly Hungary Centre.
MC member in four COST Actions.

Ágnes Szuromi-Kovács

Dr. Ágnes Szuromi-Kovács is the managing director of the Family-Friendly Hungary Center, where one of the most important tasks is to directly help families via the sharing of knowledge, in other words, spreading knowledge about creating homes, raising children, learning, healthy living, and strengthening commitment to family life.

She obtained a law degree at Eötvös Lóránd University Budapest and a degree in finance at Budapest University of Economic Sciences (now called Corvinus University).

Ágnes began her professional career in the banking sector at Citibank Hungary as a customer relationship manager and later as a deputy head of department. She worked for Deutsche Bank Hungary for almost 10 years as a sales director and board member. She worked as the managing director of Moneycompass Foundation where it became her mission to promote and deepen financial awareness. In 2019, as a recognition of her work in developing financial culture, she received the Pénz7 Ambassador of Financial Culture Award. She remains committed to developing financial awareness and, where possible, helps in this socially important matter. Ágnes also headed the team who created the concept of the Hungarian Money Museum, which is an award-winning and popular new museum in Budapest. As a mother of a large family, and as a woman working in a leadership position, she is constantly practicing the management of her physical and mental energies, her time, and balancing family life and work.

Lenka Šťastná

Lenka is the founder and president of BPWCR, which was founded in 2010. The organization focuses on the support and development of women in business and professional life. With extensive experience in the banking sector, where she held important managerial positions, and active membership in the bodies of several companies, Lenka has a deep understanding of the corporate world.

She is known for her ability to create and promote projects that support and empower women in various fields. Her passion and dedication to this cause has led people to call her the "Queen of Networking." Her ability to build connections, share know-how and support women on the path to career success is admirable and inspiring to all who come in contact with her. Lenka is an important personality who creates positive changes in society and opens doors for women on the path to equality and success.

Lenka is also the founder and organizer of the Equal Pay Day conference in Czech Republic, which has become a legendary meeting in the field of gender equality. This conference will celebrate its 15th year in the spring of 2024, a testament to its exceptional success and impact on society. Equal Pay Day has become an important forum for discussion on closing the gender pay gap and promoting a fair and equal working environment. Lenka's dedication to this cause is undeniable and she is extremely proud of how they will use this conference to participate in women's rights and equality in the workplace.

Dana Bérová

Dana is helping companies to shape its growth by adopting the right attitude and applying the right methods. As coach and mentor she supports their leaders in the area of strategic and every day decisions.

She has 30 plus years of exeperience from SME, start ups, big companies and public sector. From 2006 she was active as business developmen director for Gartner Inc. Partner for Czech Republic and Slovakia. After taking part in czech version of „Dragon ´s Den" investors reality show she started her own Investments in mostky technological start-ups.

In April 2005, she  was appointed as Minister of Informatics in the Czech government. From January 2003 she worked as Deputy Minister responsible for e-government and international cooperation.

Prior to her appointment in the public sector she worked in different positions as manager and senior specialist in media and TV companies.

Petra Kotuliakova

Founder and CEO of the Slovak NGO “AJ Ty v IT” (“You in IT, also”), Deputy Chair of the DiversIT Charter Working group of the Council of European Professional Informatics Societies in Brussels and member of the Board of the American Chamber of Commerce in Slovakia.

Petra is actively involved in education and the transformation of education in Slovakia. She is a Female Role Model of the Year 2018 in Slovakia, awarded by CESA Award and the winner of the Women in TECH Inclusion Award 2020, awarded by the Department of International Trade of the British Embassy, challenging and empowering young girls and women into TECH fields.

The organization, which she founded in 2012, is a key player in women’s IT education in Slovakia. Aj Ty v IT actively supports, educates, and empowers girls from the age of 8 to adult women in the field of technology. For 11 years, the organization has trained more than 38 000 female participants in various IT topics and increased the number of female students at IT faculties from 3% to 17%.

Petra holds a PhD. from the University of Economics in Bratislava, having previously studied at the Université Pierre Mendés France Grenoble and the Institute des Études politiques Paris.

Kateřina Šmídová

Kateřina Šmídová is an experienced professional with a rich work background in the field of innovation and banking. She currently holds the position of Team Leader of innovation at ČSOB a.s., where she specializes in preparing roadmaps, managing projects and meeting deadlines. She has responsibility for end-to-end project delivery including marketing and application management.
Before her current engagement, she worked as an innovation manager at ČSOB a.s., where she was in charge of the comprehensive provision of the DoKapsy project. Her responsibilities included preparing business descriptions, ensuring legal and security requirements, marketing, reporting and application operation.
Her professional skills and education in economics and management, acquired at the University of Finance and Administration, prepared her for a successful career in innovation and banking. She is active and engaged in her professional development and has successfully worked on projects such as the digital transformation of the QUADRO banking process.

Zuzana Holá

Zuzana Holá is Head of Corporate Communications and Sustainability at Vodafone Czech Republic. She is also the Director of the Vodafone Foundation in the Czech Republic, whose mission is digital education and support of technologies with positive social impact. She studied German studies at the Charles University and Modern German Literature and History at FernUniversität Hagen. In the field of sustainability, she is a graduate of the GRI Certified Training Course and the Business Sustainability Management Course at the University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership.

Markéta Zimmermannová

Markéta Zimmermannová is responsible for the design and implementations in the area of Retail digital channels and Identity. Leading the design concepts in this area. She is also responsible for execution of retail digital portfolio in the extent of approx.500 mio per year in the agile SAFE trains. She is a leader of the STP (straight through processing) strategy executed in cooperation with KBC. She is addressing the trends in digitalization in CR in CSOB via Comission for digitalization organized by Czech bank association (in the role of vice president).