Meet the leading role models of
We not only want to change the status quo with concrete actions and tangible results. We also want to introduce women as role models who are leading the way to increase diversity in tech. These are the women who empower and inspire others to choose a career in tech.
These are the role models leading the way for more diversity and inclusion in tech!
Browse through our role models, listen to their stories, get inspired and take action yourself.
Sabine Ulli
Lead on-site services
“Know your strengths, constantly develop yourself, surprise yourself what all you have in you and what things suddenly interest you.”
Afsoon Ebrahimi
Senior Enterprise Data Architect
“Every single day there is something new happening, there is something new to learn. And that makes it an exciting environment.”
Dorine Meier
team lead project planning railway control technology
“I think in a technical profession you can move a lot, decide a lot and there is definitely a need for more female support.”
Maria Husmann
Team Lead Web of Things at Siemens
“As a Role Model, I want to be visible so that younger women see, where their paths could lead.”
Sandra Bello
system engineer
“I am extremely curious, I am data-driven, knowledge-driven but also I love to solve problems. So I think tech is the space to be for doing that.”
Find out more about women Role Models at Cognizant here.
Nelly Hajizadeh
Data Scientist
“I see tech as a bridge between science and real-world problems. So as much as I enjoy the technical aspect of my work, I really derive a lot of meaning from seeing the results of my analysis and my work being used to take decision.”
Join us and become part of this campaign!
Are you committed to walk the diversity talk? Become part of the campaign and propose your own role models for more diversity in tech. Be it a talented employee working in your tech team or a leader promoting diversity in the company, no matter what role, gender, background or experience they have, everyone can be a role model.
Rahel Berger
Lead DTI Helpdesk
“I would recommend every woman to go into the tech industry, if you ask me, because it’s a very innovative and modern environment to work in.”
Tijana Živić
CSO & Head of Engineering
Tijana Živić
Tijana earned her Master’s degree in Computer Science from ETH Zurich and became the CSO and Head of Engineering at leading software company for client processes automation. She leads software development teams in Switzerland and Serbia and understands the challenges women face in software engineering. Her advice is to take on challenging roles that offer growth and development and to support each other. Tijana is a strong advocate for workplace diversity, believing it leads to better solutions and faster innovation, essential qualities for startups to stay ahead.
Noemi Frischknecht
UX Designer
Noemi Frischknecht
In 2020 out of curiosity and the desire for a new challenge, Noemi began to her own amazement with coding. This adventure led her to give up her career as a facility manager and to move to Sweden to study UX Design. As a designer, one principle she follows is to design products that are accessible to all different kinds of people and interest groups. Diversity and inclusion in her work are therefore requirements, and she believes they are essential for a successful company or product. This means that different needs, experiences, and approaches come together, which must be united. Recognizing time and time again how valuable diverse perspectives are in work personally strengthens her and supports her in her quest as career changer.
Learn more about Noemi in our blog!
Khanh Au
Security Advisor
Khanh Au
Organizations have a high standard for their in-house technology to stay on top of their game. Having worked with many different organizations, I have experienced that technology always needs to be paired with innovation and diversity. Let us look at the example of beer: before you can enjoy an ice-cold beer, It takes almost a month to brew it. There are different processes in the production: from monitoring the brew pot, temperature, pressure or ingredients – followed by order processing systems (and more). Imagine you want and your team want to work on a new brewing technology. What if the team has a similar background to your own? Most likely you will come up with similar ideas. So look for a diverse team: gather different backgrounds, minds and skills – and come up with new ideas! And as my personal advice: do NOT over-engineer it. Be it an idea or your career. Break it into an actionable ONE thing.
Christina Zimmermann
& Nicole Lüthi
PL Technology, Talent & Diversity
Christina Zimmermann & Nicole Lüthi
Thanks to our Group COO, who recruited us for the newly created position “PL Technology, Talent & Diversity”, we have the chance to work in a job-share position. At the same time, we have a mandate for digitalswitzerland in the area of Education, Professionals & Diversity. Our main goal is to make STEM, especially the field of IT, more attractive to people and therefore addressing the lack of skilled workforce in the IT area with different projects.
Our job-sharing position (each working 60%) is a new chapter. The position was advertised as 100%, part-time or job-sharing and the recruiters matched the two of us as we have diverse backgrounds that complement each other. Chris holds a Master of Science in “Mechanical and Process Engineering” and Nici holds a Bachelor in Language Interpretation and Translation. For us, the greatest value of job-sharing is that we always have a partner in crime who brings different perspectives. Together we hope to create an impact regarding diversity and STEM awareness.
Rosemary Lockhorst
Award-winning writer and producer of games
Rosemary Lockhorst
Rosemary is an award-winning writer and producer of games. She creates stories for Web3, writes screenplays, and is currently working on producing her first movie. It took her a while to find her passion in storytelling, after a career in classic tech from helpdesk to coding to global account management for f500 companies, she founded her own company StoryByte Studio Ltd. and supports start-ups from incubation to funding, helping them build their own narrative.
Rosemary believes in the power that diverse voices can bring to help change industries, products, and yes, the world byte by byte. As a Women in Games ambassador, she’s an advocate for more inclusion. With her stories, she creates diverse characters that break stereotypes. She believes firmly that success will follow if you are passionate about what you do. It may take a lot of work, so it’s imperative you like what you do.
Sophia Ding
Head of Trustworthy AI & Responsible Tech
Co-President of the Label Expert Committee
Swiss Digital Initiative’s Digital Trust Label
Sophia Ding
As an economist by training with a PhD in econometrics from ETH Zurich, I was told that without a background in STEM I could not work in IT and digitalization. I share part of that story here and want to encourage other talented women with diverse backgrounds to ignore this type of “advice”. In today’s digital world it is crucial for organizations offering digital services to obtain consumers’ trust, but it is also very difficult for them to achieve it in practice. Diverse perspectives are necessary to address this challenge.Achieving more diversity in tech – especially in leadership positions – is extremely challenging. Some things that have helped me recently: Being visible and personal branding, having one or multiple sponsors in the organization, a support network of like-minded colleagues, gaining clarity of my personal goals (coaching can help) and not letting myself get distracted by other people’s expectations.
Marisa Tschopp
Researcher and Ambassador and Chief Research Officer
Women in AI Switzerland
Marisa Tschopp
Marisa is a researcher and Ambassador and Chief Research Officer at Women in AI Switzerland. She researches AI from a psychological perspective, addressing a variety of questions about psychological phenomena with a particular interest in ethical implications.
Marisa knows, with the introduction of AI in everyday life of citizens, consequences of doing so need to be studied and made transparent. The use of certain sets of data, and studies conducted by only certain sections of society increases the risks of introduction of biases and assumptions. Representation of stakeholders – those who contribute to creation of AI (by participating with data, algorithms, or computation) and those who are impacted by AI – is crucial to ensure development of AI and equal spread of its benefits.
Gerd Scheller
Country CEO
Siemens Switzerland
Gerd Scheller
Gerd is Country CEO Siemens Switzerland. For him, Diversity is not only important for the company, but overall. Having different views and approaches on any topic brings better results, content and solutions.
Being part of the Role Models in Tech campaign, he clearly commits to not neglect 50% of the population when talking about the lack of skills and talents.
Find out more about Gerd and the commitments Siemens has made in our interview with him.
Thomas Gassenabauer
Country Manager
Cognizant Switzerland
Thomas Gassenbauer
Thomas is the Country Manager of Cognizant Switzerland. He fully understands that Diversity drives creativity and innovation. When different knowledge, perspectives and point of views are shared together, miracles can happen. Therefore, increaseing workplace ieversity is not just an empty slogan for him. It is a good business decision, because diverse teams are simply smarter.
Ann Kaufmann-de Smet
Product Manager
Siemens Switzerland
Ann Kaufmann-de Smet
I’m Ann Kaufmann and I am working for Siemens for more than 10 years. I still remember that I always wanted to understand how things worked. It was quite obvious for me to go for an engineering studies. This is how I landed a career in tech. For me, careers in tech does not necessarily mean that you are coding or programming. Careers in tech are very, very diverse, and there are so many different options open. At Siemens I am working on global level, so that means it’s a very international environment and it’s very enriching for me to get into touch with so many interesting and different personalities. My career advice: choose a job that suits your own purpose and give your best in that job.
Manuela Brunner
Frontend Developer
Manuela Brunner
Manuela is a enthusiastic frontend developer for 3 year now. If someone would have told her at 20 that she would end up in IT, she probably would have laughed and waved it off. Never did she drea that she would take on the tech world, but she did! Learning a new skill like programming, without any prior knowledge or being a math genius, opened her eyes. Yes, it’s actually possible to learn new and valuable skills after school without ever stepping foot in a classroom. Today, her goal is to motivate women to pursue careers in this field since it often brings benefits, especially if you’re a mother or father, like flexibility, part-time or remote work options, or even good pay. Being a developer is fulfilling and exciting, and the best part is that you can create real value. Find out more about Manuela and her career advice!
Lisa Stähli
Software Developer
& Co-Managing Director Girls in Tech Switzerland
Lisa Stähli
Lisa originally studied Geomatics Engineering at ETH Zurich and now works as a software developer. As Co-Managing Director of Girls in Tech Switzerland, she advocates for more diversity, equality and inclusion in the tech industry.
Lisa knew early on that she wanted to do something with “geo” and thus discovered Geomatics Engineering. Thanks to an internship in software development, she found a position that allowed her to develop software for a use case she is passionate about.
In her career, however, her hurdle was the lack of role models to find a way for herself to move forward. That’s why today she is committed to being a role model herself and paving the way for so many women.
Learn more about Lisa in our blog post
Yanira Gonzalez
Head of Customer Experience
Yanira Gonzalez
Diversity and inclusion are important because they help to create a team with a variety of perspectives, backgrounds, and experiences. By building a diverse team in terms of gender, mindset, culture, working style, and skills, we can learn from each other and grow based on our differences. This not only benefits our team and company, but also helps us to build products that can be used by diverse groups of people. Everyone is responsible for promoting and fostering an inclusive environment, whether it be in their personal lives or in their professional careers. When we embrace diversity, we are able to learn and grow from each other, leading to more innovative and successful outcomes. A diverse and inclusive world is simply a more fair and equal place. By valuing and respecting all individuals, regardless of their background or identity, we can create a more harmonious society. In conclusion, diversity and inclusion are crucial for personal and professional growth, and for creating a more just and equal world. It is everyone’s responsibility to promote and foster an inclusive environment.
My career advice: It’s your job to believe in yourself, so don’t wait until someone else does.
Anna Maria Blegino
Senior Director of IT Strategy and Innovation
Anna Maria Blegino
Anna Maria is a Senior Director of IT Strategy and Innovation. As a student of Geotechnical Engineering in the Eighties, she has known gender bias as an everyday companion since. “In a way, the mocking of female students in the classroom boosted my tenacity, but I want a different environment for my daughter — one where her career is determined by her merits, and her gender plays no role.”
Having relocated to Switzerland with her family while at the top of her career, Anna Maria had to redefine her professional identity—“As a non-German speaker at the time, my professional seniority suddenly had been erased.” Her experience taught her the value of self-leadership and genuine intellectual curiosity. “But do not forget networking — at work, like in society, it is all about relation.”
Iris Hunkeler
Software Engineer and IT Consultant
Iris Hunkeler
My name is Iris and I work as a Software Engineer and IT Consultant. I enjoy building elegant technical solutions for my clients to assist them in solving their daily challenges. There are many fascinating, varied and fulfilling jobs in IT. It is sad that women less often choose technical jobs and thus profit less from this. I believe that the reason for these choices lie often in unfounded biases that are stuck in our minds. Because of this, it is important that girls can experience technology as early as possible in a suitable context to counteract such biases. I would like to work in teams with larger diversity and thus would like to encourage especially women and girls to dare step into the IT field. It is worth it!
Alain Gut
Chair at Education, Skilled Workforce and Diversity Committee
digitialswitzerand
Alain Gut
As chair of digitalswitzerland’s Education, Skilled Workforce and Diversity Committee, I have been addressing the question of how to get more women interested in technical professions (STEM) for many years, as it is essential that key technologies as well as innovative product developments are conceived by mixed workforces. This requires not only knowledge of technology and programming, but also communication and teamwork skills.
My proposed solutions are: teach gender appropriately, soften segregation, and boost girls’ self-confidence. To get young women interested in STEM, we need not only (female) role models, but above all a change in thinking. In the family, at school, at teacher education universities, in career counseling, among employers and in education policy! We can thus draw the following conclusion: It is not the women who need to change. We all do!
Myrto Zehnder
Head of Sales and Business Development
Myrto Zehnder
Modelling the world around us, supporting people with great products and to solve problems for good – these are my favorite things about working in tech. You can go in the fields that interest you and learn a lot about them while creating their representations in the digital world. Tech is not only programming, it is also project leading, designing products so users have a great experience, testing them, managing companies and developing people. Many skills and diverse teams are needed to make a great product. I started in tech as an intern designing web pages, studied Computer Science and went afterwards into consulting. I had my first team lead role and became a project lead, and later a CEO and board member. Becoming a CEO was not planned at the beginning of my career. It came with my professional and personal growth. Today I coach tech teams and companies.
Andy Maier
CIO
Axa Switzerland
Andy Maier
Andy is CTO at Axa Switzerland. In his role, he understand how imporatnt Diversity is for his team and the company. For Andy, Diversity shall become the term for a working envrionment, where everybody will feel respected, valued and safe. Everybody shall be able to develop personally and in technology or data matters.
For him, Role Models for more diversity in tech are pure inspiration for professionals at any age group.
Anisah Alyahya
Scientific Lead data42
Novartis
Anisah Alyahya
To me, diversity and inclusion extends beyond gender and racial diversity. At the core of the idea of diversity is the notion that differences in experiences lead to differences in thinking styles. In an organization where innovation is important or even crucial, diversity among individuals leads to the proliferation of new ideas that deviate from the status quo. Diversity is therefore a ‘must have’ as opposed to a ‘nice to have’ for any organization that is serious about making an impact on the world. Diversity in Tech is particularly crucial especially in leadership positions where decisions are made. Progress is still slow but we can kick-start the process by encouraging more women and minorities to embark on a career in Tech and slowly building their capabilities towards being the leaders of tomorrow.