How Women Developer Academy helps you to become a Leader in Tech Industry
This year, I made it as a speaker and a mentor to the Women Developer Academy Europe. A few years back, it was only a dream for me to become a speaker at such an amazing program. So I want to take this chance to tell you a little about the program and its goals, topics covered, feedback of program graduates, and why you should not miss the next cohort.
Women Developer Academy has always been a very inspiring program for me. From technical to theoretical, a variety of topics have are being covered to educate and support women developers across the world.
So what is Women Developer Academy and who can attend the program?
Women Developer Academy aims to support women in tech to become leaders in the industry. The program consists of topics and resources to help the participants with public speaking and community contributions. Any professional in tech (e.g. IT practitioner, software engineer, data scientist, developer, etc.) can join the program to improve public speaking skills, build confidence, and network. This one-month-long program consists of live workshops and 1:1 mentoring sessions facilitated by Googlers and experts within the European Developer Community. Along with this, you also get to meet and connect with other women developers who are on a similar journey.
Which topics were covered for Women Developer Academy Europe, 2021?
Every program brings together different speakers with different workshops and presentations. During October month we covered the following topics:
Discovering Your Story & Cultivating Confidence
Participants were introduced to a design thinking approach to help them discover their stories and formulate ideas for their presentation.
Public and Online Speaking — Technical Presentations
Participants learned about building confidence and becoming public speakers at conferences and events.
Topic Selection & Opportunity Spotting
It’s important to choose the right topic for speaking, where you are more confident.
Ways of Community Contributions (Blogposts, Podcasts, Tutorials, YouTube)
Not everyone has to be a speaker, you can choose to share and be influential through creating content and writing blog posts.
Marketing Yourself As A Speaker/Contributor
Participants were explained how to find their uniqueness and highlight it in their CV or speaker biography.
Check out the website for more details of the program.
Along with the topics above were getting covered every week, speakers also connect with the participants as a mentor during the program. I got to mentor one of the kindest Women Techmakers’, Antonella Rotondo, who is also a Google Developer Group Nebrodi Lead. As my presentation covered personal branding and community contribution, we discussed more on how Antonella can bring out her visibility and improve her presentations. I love 1:1 mentor sessions because it allows me to get to know the person closer and hear their story. During that 1 hour, we are able to fully discuss the problems and find solutions. Thank you Antonella for being an AMAZING mentee!
What do the Women Developer Academy graduates say about the program?
“Joining the academy was a great opportunity to meet women like me. Women that are driven and also want to make their voice heard. I’ve always thought that you need a certain experience or many years working in a field to become a speaker. The WDA showed me that all you need is a topic that you are passionate about, a good presentation, and some practice. This month and all the women I’ve met in the academy helped me gain more confidence, take more speaking opportunities, and practically opened a new chapter in my life.” Adina Teodora Gaciu, Software Developer at Cognizant Softvision
“It was intense weeks full of inspiring stories, lectures and practical tasks to improve tech writing and public speaking. We dedicated time to practice sharing our achievements, building confidence, marketing ourselves, discovering a topic and learning about different community contributions. I was thrilled to learn together with such an active and brilliant community!”Laura Silvanavičiūtė, Web Developer at Shopify
“Google Women Developer Academy was a blast! I very much enjoyed the opportunity to again make an impact to drive change across the technology industry by bringing diversity to the stage. By equipping other women in technology and me with the skills, resources, and support we need, the Women Developer Academy helps us to become thought leaders in the industry through public speaking. My top four highlights from the Women Developer Academy are the no-filter discussions on the topics affecting us women developers (real talk), the female speakers in the example they provide to us to become Google Developer Experts (role models), the intensive 1-on-1 mentorship from Google colleagues (mentoring), and the networking with the other amazing peers (supporters).” Victoria Hanna Eva Riess, Award-winning Senior Strategy Manager in Tech.
How can I apply for the program?
Well, my suggestion is to join a Women Techmakers Community or follow WTM Ambassadors who are always sharing about the upcoming events and programs. You can also follow Women Techmakers' official Twitter page to stay up to date. Keep an eye on the next batch and don’t miss the chance of becoming part of the Women Developer Academy Program.
I want to congratulate all the Women Developer Academy Europe graduates. You all did a great job by joining the program and going through each workshop and mentoring session!
Moreover, I want to thank Nino, Pati, and Chiara for organizing this program and running it smoothly online. I am so happy that I could join the program as a speaker and inspire the participants to build their personal brand online and contribute to developer communities. This will stay as one of my best 2021 memories for sure! Thank YOU!
