Globant has always looked for opportunities to bolster women in STEM industries and in leadership positions, as part of our culture. We have supported these efforts with our Women That Build campaign. This includes our formation of Globant-specific Lean In Circles, as well as our comprehensive benefits for women (including nursing rooms, maternity leave, extended paternity leave, and schedule flexibility). We have also been working on our recent 2-part webinar series, where Globers spoke on their distinct backgrounds, experiences, and vision as women in the industry. In the same vein, we host activities and trainings with women and girls from outside of Globant throughout Latin America: “Club de Chicas Programadoras,” “Laboratoria,” “Women in Tech,” and “Pioneras Dev.”
Then, at the beginning of 2019, we wondered: why honor women just one day a year? Let’s organize more events! And that’s why on January 23rd and 24th, we started the first of many meet-ups to share women’s and men’s experiences and knowledge in the world of technology: GlobHER. We formed this initiative to celebrate International Women’s Day and invite all women that currently have a role in technology, or who want to blaze a trail in this industry.
The first GlobHER: Day 1
On the first day of GlobHER we had the pleasure of hearing from four Globers. Lizette Pradal (Sr. UX Designer), María Castro (Web UI Developer), Carolina Rayo (UX Writer – Expert Content Strategist) and Gonzalo Reuse (Product Owner Expert) shared their expertise. They focused on the process of digital transformation, what it takes, and how to achieve synergy among different team members.
We had a diverse attendance made up of Globers and friends from the Glober community. The attendees and speakers gave awesome comments about their first experience of GlobHER 2019. According to audience member Claudia Rivera (Front-End Developer), it was a great experience: “I loved this GlobHER edition, the talks were super interesting and they provided great tools that I can develop in my current area. I particularly recall [María’s] talk “Agile for Introverts,” which I felt represented me and taught me many tips that will help me in the future.” Her sentiment was echoed by others in attendance.
And then, Day 2
For the second day, the focus was on “The Experience of Women in Technology.” Four Globers participated as speakers: Gabriela Ilarreta (PHP Developer), Silvana Ortega (Business Analyst), and María Loreto Arriagada (Team Agilist) shared their experiences, insights, and career path in the world of technology. They shared personal experiences of breaking the mold of the industry, as well as insights into stereotypes and challenges. Then, Eduardo Miranda (Cloud Engineer) also shared milestones of women in science and technology. This invited the audience to be active participants of women’s role inclusion, in all areas of the IT industry culture. They all left the audience with the message that it’s never too late to achieve what you really want. After the event, María Loreto reflected on the challenge of presenting at this event. In her words, “the majority of the women present were very young, and that made it a double challenge for me. How will I keep their attention? They gave me the mission of ‘closing speaker’ for this event about women in the industry. What an honor!”
At Globant Chile we are really happy and proud of the attendance and participation that GlobHER—first edition—achieved. We invite Globers and communities to keep joining us in these initiatives. Together we can promote a more diverse, inclusive working world.
We’ve got lots going on at Globant for women professionals. Check out the video of our Women’s Day webinars here.
