Women in Tech Finland leaps into the next level

Women in Tech Finland aims to encourage and support women, and promote the values of diversity, equity and inclusion in technology.

Mission

About 20 percent of all people working in the tech industry in Finland are women. The figure has been – unfortunately, but not surprisingly – stuck in the same place for years. To keep up with the ever-diversifying global competition, initiating change is inevitable. And we want to be a part of that change.

To drive the change towards a more diverse, equitable and inclusive tech industry in Finland,  Women in Tech Finland has updated its brand and outlook. While Women in Tech Finland’s vision stays the same, we are so excited to expand and activate our community, activities as well as our own communications and storytelling.

The story of WiT started in 2012 when the co-founders Marjo Miettinen and Anne Stenros came up with the idea. A home for the network was found at Technology Industries of Finland where Mervi Karikorpi and Piia Simpanen worked. A year later, by fall 2013 the first bi-annual Women in Tech Forum was organized and also Pia Erkinheimo had joined the team. In the past eight years, the community has grown exponentially, moved homes to Inklusiiv and even organised one of the biggest technology conferences for women in Europe, the Women in Tech Forum. 

Women in Tech has brought women working in tech all over Finland to connect, share and inspire. The community is there. The people are there.

Now, we are ready to take another step and move on to the next level with an aim to help accelerate positive change in the industry.

Our focused mission – a more inclusive tech industry for all

With our new brand and updates on community activities, Women in Tech strives to build a more inclusive technology industry by developing diversity and inclusivity in our own community and within the whole technology field in Finland. Regardless of one’s background, everyone should feel a sense of belonging – a more diverse, equitable and inclusive tech industry benefits us all.

We also want to build a more intersectional understanding of diversity by taking into account the multiple dimensions of it. Through this ongoing work, we hope to create a greater sense of belonging to all underrepresented groups in tech. 

Women in Tech Finland vision is to build a more diverse, equitable and inclusive technology industry.

Vision

So, what have we planned for the future? 

  • Improving our platform to connect with individuals, organizations and companies
  • Building inspiring events around technology and its societal impact 
  • Showcasing diverse role models and inspiring career stories in tech
  • Finding and sharing the latest studies and information on gender equality in tech
  • Raise and invite people to join a new, solution-oriented discussion about diversity, equity and inclusion in tech 
  • Collaborate with ambitious organizations and initiatives in the technology field

We are excited to expand our community by welcoming more people and partner organisations into the Women in Tech community.

Showcasing diverse role models through stories


One of our biggest focus points going forward is showcasing more role models and inspiring stories from the tech field. This work started already last year, with the highly popular role model stories in our blog. In the future, you can expect even more of these stories, through different formats, such as our new newsletter.

Our brand follows this focus. While we loved our previous brand, it was time to update it. We revamped our colours and language to be more gender-neutral and inclusive towards all genders. Women in Tech’s new colours represent diversity in tech: there’s no one-sort-of-a woman working in tech, but plenty of different backgrounds, experiences, stories and journeys. This viewpoint will stay as one of our key priorities in the future as well. 

How to take part in the community

Women in Tech will continue to create content, community events and information bits for our members. This has been at the core of our work since the start and will continue to be just that. 

To put the needed focus on this work, we are also excited to announce that the WiT team is growing with a new community and marketing manager, Anni Mäkitalo. Anni will, from now on, handle all-things community and storytelling wise and is more than excited to meet you all.

At the same time, we welcome new partner companies and organisations to join our work. The Women in Tech Finland network has been growing steadily, consisting now of around 50 technology companies in Finland, like Salesforce, VTT and IQM Quantum Computers. You can see all of our partner companies here. Our existing Advisory Board consisting of people from Tech Industries of Finland, co-founders of WIT and representatives from member companies will continue to support the work of WIT.