My colleague, Simona Sandru, Pentalog’s Brasov Project Director, has invested her energy off-work in getting a non-profit organization up and running. This organization aims to promote diversity and enhances the educational/professional development of women in tech, worldwide.

Through the networking and business opportunities it brings in, Global Women TechLeaders facilitates sustainable economic growth through international partnerships with organizations, companies and universities. One of their most popular programs, Code Diversity, aims to connect companies in STEM with students from technical universities in a joint summer school program to help them kickstart a career in tech.

This is a mission near and dear to Simona. She has been tracking the impact of GWTL’s programs on its target audience for the last two years and is convinced her efforts will soon have a major impact on the Romanian labor market.

I, myself am part of the Advisory Board and together with a strong team, we aim to share our unique experiences and stand out as role models in STEM.

I admire Simona for her determination and passion for IT! In spite of her busy schedule and family responsibilities she still makes it a priority to invest time to inspire others. As this moment, she is enrolled in the Computer Science Faculty’s courses, in Bucharest. She also holds an MBA from the University of Wales. On top of that, she regularly sharpens her technical toolbelt by joining tech events worldwide. Can you say, Superwoman?

Like most ambitions people challenges, results and effervescent teams inspire her. Having started her own career in STEM 11 years ago with little technical knowledge, Simona, a graduate of modern languages, struggled to learn and grow in the IT field (after gaining relevant experience as a marketing consultant).

She is familiar with a role model’s ability to inspire and drive young women to pursue a career in IT from her own life experience.

Simona Șandru - President and Founder GWTL:

“My inspiration is Jody Davids: I learned from her to set and achieve goals, prioritize, and work hard in order to lead.”

This is how she became an impactful business driver focused on continuous improvement and excellent results, with a clear educational and professional roadmap in mind.

Read the extended version of this article.