Earlier this month, the She Codes Plus cohort in Sydney attended VGW’s Sydney office for Immersion Day. The day began with a warm welcome message from the CEO Laurence Escalante, who set the tone for the day stating:
“The future of the global economy is set to be dominated by STEM industries and as we continue to grow, we want to ensure that women are widely represented at all levels. That’s why VGW supports projects like the She Codes Plus Sydney Program.”
Following the welcome, the cohort heard from Lee Campbell, VP of Engineering – Growth, who discussed the development cycles at VGW, learning and development culture and some of their community engagement initiatives. He noted that community engagement is important because “rising tides lift all boats”and that teaching helps you learn, and growing the community is beneficial for everyone.
Following this, Peta Demidenko, Data Protection Manager, discussed what it’s like being a senior female leader in the tech industry and went on to express that leadership is like putting together lego pieces, you need to dream big, choose your own adventure and build your experience. Peta concluded her talk by providing the cohort with some tips on how to succeed, stating it’s important to control yourself, alter your thinking and delete negativity.
She Codes Alumni and VGW employees Ellen Marinko and Laura Santi engaged the cohort by taking them through a live coding white board activity, which was followed by Head of People Operations, Siobhan Rayner who presented on the employee experience within the company and touched on what VGW is doing in the diversity, equity and inclusion space.
The next talk featured Head of Learning and Development, Clare Wilkes, who asked the cohort what they have learnt about themselves through the course of the Plus program. Some of the things the women shared included that they can do more than they thought they can, they don’t give up easily and that they’ve all grown as people.
Next, Victoria Murphy, Poker Operations Coordinator, introduced the cohort to VGW’s social poker product Global Poker, and followed this with the cohort participating in a mini speed social poker tournament, which everyone enjoyed.
To conclude the day, the cohort got to network over some drinks with the rest of the VGW team, where they connected with others from the marketing, finance and creative departments.
We’d like to say a huge thank you to program partner VGW, for inviting the cohort in for Immersion Day, and sharing their company culture with the women. They got to learn a lot about what a day in the life of a developer at VGW looks like, and learnt many insightful lessons from leads within the company who presented.