Many people claim that this world lacks female in tech industry whose passion can inspire more women. Raising a more optimistic way of thinking, we must believe that even though women leaders in tech are rare but they are not impossible to be found. Here we jot down some of success stories from a very few of them—believe us, we need to find more of them around us! Let’s be inspired and we hope some of you would also be listed on the list in the coming years (yes, who knows?!)
Tan Hooi Ling – Co-founder of Grab
Source: borntoinvest.com
The 32-year old Malaysian, Tan obtained her MBA degree from Harvard and now serves as the co-founder of one of the most successful ride hailing apps, Grab. Has acquired Uber before, recently Tan admitted that Grab would not do the same with its other competitor, Gojek. Instead, she told the media that it would be better for Grab to create more innovative strategies such as through strategic partnership—to span its wing wider in the market, as Grab has learned from its past experience with Uber. Tan admitted that Uber had some home technologies where it is amongst the things that Grab should equip its company with. As the co-founder of Grab, some of Tan’s responsibilities are to forecast the growth of Grab and determine its business strategies.
Dayu Dara Permata and Windy Natriavi – Co-founders of Go-Life (Gojek’s subsidiary service)
Source: id.techinasia.com
If you are an Indonesian, you are surely aware of the most famous ride hailing app, Gojek. For those who do not know, Gojek does not only offer its users with transportation-related services, through its subsidiary services that are also displayed along with Gojek app, the users can enjoy various services and Go-life is one of them. With Go-Life, users have the chance to indulge themselves in lifestyle services such as massage, beauty treatments, home cleaning, and more services that work in the on-demand basis.
Dayu and Windy once worked at a prominent consulting firm McKinsey where they happened to meet the founder of Gojek, Nadim Makarim. These inspiring Indonesian young women are also famous for their passion to encourage more women to pursue leadership roles in tech industry.
Reese Fernandez-Ruiz – President and Founding Partner of Rags2riches
Source: techinasia.com
In the age of sustainable development, have you set the goal to consume your food and other stuff responsibly? In Philippines, there is this one social enterprise platform that enables the users to contribute to three pillars of sustainability: economy, social, and environment. Rags2riches or R2R is a fashion and design social enterprise that empowers community artisans based in the country. On R2R, users can choose and shop their favorite woven fashion items that were made of upcycled fabrics so the users can shop while contributing to poor society and live more eco-ethically. Reese Fernandez, owner of R2R then expanded the social enterprise by creating another online marketplace namely Things That Matter that offers impactful lifestyle-related products under the flagship brand of R2R. For these meaningful initiatives and determination to bring the combination of style and sustainability to life, Reese was once acknowledged on Forbes prestigious 30 under 30 list for Social Entrepreneurs.
Touch Socheata – Co-founder and Managing Director of InoTED
Source: medium.org
It is the time for Cambodia to shine! InoTED is the abbreviation of Innovative Technologies for Education, Tourism, and Development and is listed as one of the Cambodia Fintech Association members, whose primary aim is to assist private entities and non-profit organizations in the sectors of agriculture, education, and tourism through innovative information and communications technology (ICT) solutions. Socheata is a figure who refuses to see any challenges and barriers as things that hinder her in striving for the leadership role in tech—the best part is, she proves it to the world!
Socheata is very passionate about combining ICT sector with social issues in Cambodia as she once said the main reasons she is now in the sector are to boost the economic growth, take part in social change, and create more job opportunities for women. New to the business, Socheata does not hesitate to learn more in order to improve her business acumen. One of the proof of her strong willingness is she was once chosen as the vice of the Capacity Building Committee of the Cambodia Women Entrepreneurs Association (CWEA). Recently she attended a meeting at the US Embassy in Phnom Penh along with other Cambodian women leaders to sharpen their knowledge in leadership and business management, before they head to the US to join in a training initiated by CWEA.