The Impactory

It was standing room only on Wednesday, the 26^th of March for the Girls in Tech launching event held at The Impactory. More than seventy people attended and took part in the evening seminar. The Girls in Tech founding team, made up of Kasia Kolodziejczyk, Marina Thiriet, Marie-Adelaide Gervis, Laurence Bianchini, Adina Pasa Annabelle Buffart  were all in attendance. Impactory member, Kasia, from GenCreo, and Thicket, The Impactory Community Project Manager, helped to organize the event.

In the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) industry there is a visible gender disparity with men composing a majority of the work force. Girls in Tech is a worldwide organization whose goal is to empower women in the ICT field. The Luxembourg chapter aims to help women develop careers in ICT, startup, and digital tech entrepreneurship.

At the Luxembourg launch event, the six founding members shared their story and explained why they decided to start Girls in Tech Luxembourg. With an estimated 900,000 new jobs to be created in the ICT industry over the next two years, women’s education is vital to narrowing the gender gap.

Virginie Simon was the evening’s guest speaker. Simon is a scientist and founder of MyScienceWork, a startup based in Luxembourg. She talked about the difficulties she faced as a female student in engineering school and throughout her career. She encouraged all the participants to face every challenge with determination and ambition, which she attributes to her success.

The girls has also received a surprise, with Commissionner Viviane Reding sending a special video to give her support to the organisation! Watch the video here:

Support for GIT Luxembourg has been overwhelming. Following the launch there have been messages of support from women and organizations as well as request for support. The Luxembourg press has taken notice with coverage in the Wort, l’Essentiel, le Journal, Itnation, Itone, Paperjam, Delano, and also an interview on radio 103.7.

GIT Luxembourg is passionate about empowering women, and it is currently planning several events to encourage, educate, and support women in tech.