Datacom leaders across Australia have been nominated for Microsoft’s Women Rising programme.
Eszter Rudolf, Gemma Gerondis, Kylie Ayres, and Poppy Salerno were nominated as part of technology services in Australia for being inspiring leaders who exemplify Datacom’s values.
“I’m very excited and grateful for this opportunity”, says Eszter, service management practice lead. “I’m keen to hear the stories of other women, how their career developed, what challenges they had to tackle in their professional lives, and what they are most proud of. I hope this programme will help to further strengthen my leadership skills and I can implement the learnings in my everyday life.”
The programme, a partnership between Microsoft Australia and Women Rising, a non-profit organisation to help women and their families, supports women and provides careers and personal opportunities, including leadership development and confidence skills.
“The thing that drew me to the programme and continues to excite me is being able to identify what a fulfilling career looks like for me as an individual”, says Gemma. “So often, we ride the train of promotions and career opportunities without truly reflecting on whether the opportunities will lead to a fulfilling career for us as people. I hope to gain tools and techniques that I can pass on to others so they can do the same.”
The six-month programme begins in July 2021 and is fully virtual, allowing women to attend from anywhere and integrate the development into their schedule.
“Being part of the technology industry is all about using technology as a tool to achieve great things, both in business, in our communities and in our personal lives”, says Gemma.
“There is a misconception that you have to be highly technical to be in the tech industry and the reality is the opposite. We have some awesome female software engineers in our team as well as some great female analysts and leaders, you can do it all if you want to.”