Stellar Speakers at Women in Tech 2019

With tickets to be released on Thursday, Women in Tech now reveals some of the speakers for this year’s main event, which kicks off on International Women’s Day on March 8.

Sandra Cauffman is the Deputy Director of the Earth Science Division in the Science Mission Directorate at the NASA Headquarters. She provides executive leadership, strategic direction, and overall management for the entire agency’s Earth Science portfolio, from technology development, applied science, research, mission implementation and operation. Her story is how a Costa Rican girl from a poor family nurtured an improbable dream about space travel, and despite the obstacles, made that dream come true. Sandra’s determination and perseverance fueled her ability to achieve what many people thought she should not even consider.

Sarah Cooper left Google to make people laugh. She’s a comedian, speaker, and author of bestselling books “100 Tricks to Appear Smart in Meetings” and “How to Be Successful Without Hurting Men’s Feelings”. She did not mean to make her book titles rhyme. Sarah hosts the weekly podcast Unprofessional, writes a monthly column for Financial Times and co-hosts monthly standup comedy show You’re So Brave as well as being the co-producer of tech comedy show, Comedy vs. Nerds. Cooper built her comedy career in between working for companies like Yahoo! and Google, where she was fed free lunches and lots of material. Expect witty satire that speaks to anyone who’s ever worked with or within a tech office.

Finally, we are excited to announce this year’s moderator, Unn Swanström! During the day Unn works at Doberman, an international experience design firm based in Stockholm and New York. She enjoys helping large organisations make better things, is currently working with Spotify as a Product Designer. Previous clients include ICA, Swedish Radio, Telia and Expressen. At night she transforms into a glitter clad, horseback-riding, ballet-dancing human shaped being. Fighting boredom one cat picture/design meet up/adventure at the time. Unn is co-organiser of Designers in Stockholm meet-up. Loves her cat Arnold. Won the award IT Woman of the Year 2015.

Here’s Unn Swanström’s reaction to getting the job!

“As soon as I got the question: “Do you want to host WIT?” my gut reaction was to shout YES and do a little happy dance. I cannot think of a better way to spend International Women’s Day than to discuss the future of technology with some of the most inspirational people in our industry!

In my everyday life as a User Experience Designer I want to make sure that the apps and services we use everyday work well for everyone. So naturally, the tech industry should be an inclusive place enabling as many talented individuals as possible to make life better for tech-users everywhere. I have a long standing commitment to tech and equality, I have been involved in in Nordic.js, Geek Girl Meetup, The Code Pub, DataTjej, Designers i Stockholm and I’ve attended the WIT conference several times. So this feels like going on and adventure with a thousand future friends.”

“2019 year’s keynote lineup really reflects the diversity and breadth of the WIT agenda. We cover everything from MARS missions to boardrooms power structures. Topics that are equally significant, and more intertwined than ever, in times like these. Our astonishing speakers all have done amazing work within their respective tech fields but they also have interesting and moving personal stories that have shaped their career paths and lives. At WIT there is room for sharing both sides of the story.” says WIT Program Curator Paulina Modlitba.

More speakers are already or will be announced on the site womenintech.se, we are super proud to be joined by Anna Ryott, Chair of Board at Summa Equity; Mozhgan Tavakolifard, Heading Data Science and Artificial Intelligence at Accenture Norway; Linda Lindström, CO-Founder and Behavior Strategist Beteendelabbet and Suzan Hourieh Lindberg, Head of Diversity Management, M/Volvo Car Mobility, to name just a few.

Last week, the sixth annual WITsthlm was announced, this year backed by a record number of Partners and Sponsors. Next week, on January 31 at 12 pm the tickets will be released. At that time, all who have registered at womenintech.se have the chance to book a ticket for the event – but it’s still first-come, first-serve. Considering the huge interest from 5,000+ members, competition for the 1,500 seats will be tough – last year, all tickets were booked in a record 90 seconds!

As in previous years, WITsthlm is free, thanks to support from the sponsors. WITsthlm is open to both women and men. The event will be held at Folkets Hus at Norra Bantorget in central Stockholm, and can be followed live via streaming service Viafree and on WIT’s homepage.

For more information on the program, go to Program. You can follow the event on social media via #WITsthlm2019.

Contact:

Elin Eriksson
Brand Manager, Bonnier
elin.eriksson@bonnier.se, +46706388016

Rikard Steiber
President Viveport and SVP Virtual Reality, HTC and Founder of Women in Tech
rikard.steiber@gmail.com

Women In Tech’s mission is to inspire talented women to consider a future, or stay within the wonderful world of technology.

Women in Tech started as an event on International Women’s Day in 2014. Since then, it has grown into a community, a platform and a movement. The mission for WIT is to inspire women to choose careers within technology and media – as well as support and enlighten women already in the industry to stay in the field – through providing the network and experience from successful women and men from the wonderful world of technology. WITsthlm is open to both women and men, we need to be allies in order to push for a more inclusive future.

The upcoming #WITsthlm2019 event on March 8, 2019 is hosted by Founding Partners Accenture, Bonnier, Cybercom Group, EY, HTC Vive, Kindred Group, Nordic Entertainment Group, Scania and Tieto, together with Supporting Sponsors Betsson Group, Catena Media, Electrolux, Hemnet, Microsoft, Nasdaq, Play n Go, Salesforce, Schibsted, SEB, Swedbank, Telenor Sverige, Tobii, Veoneer, Visma, Volvo Cars och M, the mobility service.