February 2021, Volume 5, Issue 1 - AIWC Frankfurt
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February 2021, Volume 5, Issue 1
2
CONTENTS
profiles
7 Encouraging Women Worldwide: 29 Creating Websites: Debbie Hastings tells
Bev Bachmayer tells us about lifting us about how she came to learn how to
women up via tech. create webites.
11 Creating 40 Overcoming
Impactful Obstacles One
Social Media at a Time:
Posts: Adelina Maria Barros
Matinca talks Weiss talks
about finding a about the many
new career with
obstacles she’s
social media.
had to
overcome.
18 Developing “Curious Mind TV”: 50 Specializing in
Irem Sunar tells us about the new re- Web Security:
source she has created for children. Susan Spälti
discusses her time
dealing with web
24 Keeping FAWCO security.
Tech Savvy: Cat
Conner talks about
her life as a
technology
consultant.
Advertisers Index
We appreciate the support of our advertisers!
The Short List p.2 The Short List assists students with the college admissions and application process.
Ask your club to schedule a webinar to acquaint members on how to get started.
London Realty Intl. p.4 London Realty Intl. is owned by AWC London member Lonnée Hamilton, a
worldwide property consultant. Her firm works with the best agents across the globe to fulfill your
property needs.
London & Capital p.10 Whether you are a US Citizen living abroad, or a foreign entity with US
reporting, their dedicated teams take care of your wealth, giving you time to concentrate on the things
that matter to you. London & Capital has been supporting FAWCO since 2016.
Lauren Mescon, Rodan + Fields p.17 Lauren, member of AWC Amsterdam, has been an independent
skincare consultant for the past decade. Rodan+ Fields is world-renowned for their products.
Ponte Travels p.23 Ponte Travel Operating Director and FAWCO member Mary Stange offer
customized service and exclusive access to the world’s most fascinating places while working
responsibly to give back to local economies.
Janet Darrow Real Estate p.31 Around the corner or a world away, contact Janet Darrow, FAUSA
member, to find the best properties.
The Pajama Company p.46 The Pajama Company, founded by Ellie Badanes, member of FAUSA and
AW Surrey, sells pajamas that are cozy, cheerful and online!
3
features
14 Women in Get Work
36
Technology: A Done and
historical Have Fun
perspective on Virtually: A
influential step-by-step
women in guide to how to
technology. collaborate
virtually.
44 ThePajamaCompany.com and Me:
Setting up an online business –
21 What is Data Privacy?: What does it challenges and rewards.
mean when people talk about this
knotty topic? 47 Googling My
Way From
Journalism to
27 FAWCO and Tech in Times of Engineering
COVID-19: What changes have and Back:
using Google as
happened for FAWCO in the last 12
a way of finding
months? answers and
help.
Introducing
32 53 Why I Design for the AIWCD: Does
AWC Perth,
Australia: Club giving your time, for free, to your club
have any benefits for you personally?
President and
FAWCO Rep
tells us more
about their
club.
in every issue
5 Letter from the Editor
6 Rewiring the
Power: Magazine
founder Elsie
Bose looks at how
to find the gold
ring.
56 Inspiring You
57 The Inspiring Women Team
57 Acknowledgements
58 The Next Issue
59 “That’s Inspiring!”
60 Featured Photos
4
Letter From The Editor
From a technological point of view, I am very much on the user rather than
creator side of the fence. Mathematically capable, certainly not gifted, I
definitely did not take after my Mum in this field. She was a mathematical
wizard who absolutely loved solving those complex mathematical equations
that gave so many of us heartache at school! She did things like solving
calculus problems for fun!
Mum was a Mathematics professor at the local university throughout my childhood, so whilst I did not
have her fascination for the field, I do think the fact that a woman could excel in this area was very
obvious to me. It’s not the case for all girls, sadly.
I also got first hand experience of her ability to teach this sometimes baffling subject to those less
personally gifted at maths. I remember vividly her setting me maths puzzles over breakfast for many
months in the lead up to an exam I was due to sit. Her relentless drilling got the desired result when,
against the odds, I got the top grade in “O” level Mathematics.
At the memorial service held to celebrate Mum’s achievements in an all too shortened life, we all loved
the image a former student, who spoke at the service, painted of her up in heaven teaching the angels
maths. Ever the teacher.
Today I am fortunate not to need to do more complicated mathematical puzzles than those involved in
household finances, grocery shopping and so on. But I am a big user of technology, although I
understand the mechanics of it very poorly indeed. How on earth does a mobile phone work? How does
Google tell me the answer to my latest query? How does Netflix get the latest episode of The Crown or
Bridgerton straight to me?
The women in this issue are so much more tech savvy than most of us. They have embraced tech and
used it in so many different ways both academically and practically, all of which you can read about in
the stories in this issue. As long as women like these understand tech for us, like the bumble bee,
maybe we can continue to fly anyway.
In the middle of a global pandemic, we have needed our tech, even more than we’d probably thought
possible, to maintain contact with our families and loved ones. Sometimes endless meetings on Zoom
can be exhausting, but I can not imagine how much harder this challenging time would be without tech
savvy people having come up with ways for us to stay in touch. So I give thanks that, like my Mum, these
tech savvy women have been using their skills and talents on our behalf. Thank you, ladies, and keep up
the good work!
I hope you enjoy this tech savvy issue. A request from me if I may: there is a short, five question survey
about the magazine here (p. 56.) We really would appreciate it if you could find a few minutes to
respond so we can keep improving the magazine for you, our readers.
Please stay healthy, happy and safe.
Liz xx
“A
Best, inspiringwomen.editor@fawco.org
erodynamically, the
bumble bee shouldn't be
able to fly, but the
bumble bee doesn't know it so it goes on
flying anyway.” Mary Kay Ash
5
Rewiring
the Power
Technology careers aren’t for everyone, but they
are an option for all women. Inspiring Women
Magazine founder Elsie Bose, FAUSA, has been
thinking about power and women.
I have been thinking a lot about power these days. Not just the power that
the new technology requires – electrical power, bandwidth, speed etc. – but
the power it exerts as it enters and pervades every corner of our lives.
Capturing and controlling that power is the gold ring to the future.
I think, like most, the introduction of tech into our lives was a combination
of curiosity, amusement, frustration and eventually, acceptance. And while
most of us were working out what was happening, the industries that are
“technology” marched forward.
Unfortunately, for the most part, women were not part of the parade.
The women profiled in this issue are attempting to change that. A brief glance at their backgrounds and
experience truly blows the mind. They are software engineers, web security experts, logistic specialists,
web designers, graphic designers, social media mavens and more. What they “do” is incredibly
interesting and, at times, unbelievably mind-boggling! But the significant and important piece in all of
their stories is how they use technology and their skills to bring others along.
Their desire to share, teach and to encourage other women or youth will help to demystify the aura that
surrounds those who hold the power in the technology world. It will level the playing field. And like so
many other fields before this one, women will march forward on it and make their grab for that gold
ring for themselves.
Elsie advertising@fawco.org
6
PROFILE
Encouraging
Women
Worldwide
Bev Bachmayer, member and
current FAWCO Rep for AWA
Vienna, tells us about her efforts
to lift women up to a better life
with tech.
I was born in San Mateo, California, but moved to
the Central Valley of California when I was four; I
grew up in the rural community of Waterford. In Bev Bachmayer
order for me to start kindergarten early, my
mother changed the birth date on my birth
certificate, as I was reading and writing early in My father believed I was his first son, my brother
my fourth year. My parents built a house next to being younger than me. I was encouraged to help
my paternal grandmother’s, so I always could him in the heating and air conditioning business,
walk next door and spend hours with her. As my troubleshooting air conditioning units that were
mother worked most of the day, my grandmother not working. I remember crawling under houses
was my sounding board for everything. Most of to help with units and testing them in the shop. I
my days were spent either swimming in the was fascinated with finding out how to test
canals in summer or sitting with my grandmother something to make it work.
and learning to sew.
High school and beyond
At 16, I entered my senior year of high school. As I
had completed all of the math and science classes
offered at my high school, I began taking
“computer classes” at the local community
college. Mind you, this was in the late 60s, and the
“computer” was a huge mainframe; plugging in
the wires for the “program” board made perfect
sense to me after working on AC units. I excelled
in this class and at the typing of the data on the
punched cards – as I had learned to type, like
most women were encouraged to do.
I am fascinated by technology and always have
been; troubleshooting is my forte, which is a
requirement for identifying issues. Whether it is
Our family in 2005 learning how to sew a complicated sleeve or
debugging a program, I easily identify the steps to
get the ideal result.
At 18, I married, quit college, and two years later,
had my first daughter. The second followed two
years after that. I moved to Oregon with my
husband, but four years later, found myself a
single mother with no real skills.
College was the first thought in my mind, so I
signed up at the local community college and
restarted my computer science degree,
With my older sister Karen when I was about four graduating in 1983 with my bachelor’s degree. (In
7
Being in Europe gave me huge opportunities to
really begin working on standards and
optimization documents and algorithms.
Additionally, I started doing optimization trainings
for universities and discovered I really like
teaching people. I loved to see eyes widen when
someone understood the concepts.
At Intel, I worked deep in the processor, defining
the functionality of performance and debugger
counters in the processor. My patent, now
expired, defined use of parts of the processor,
proving the usability of performance counters for
debugging. Most of my career was spent on
performance analysis of programs, improving the
speed of instructions through the processor, as
well as teaching both professors and post docs
Appearing as part of an Intel campaign on diversity how to make their programs that analyze data
execute faster.
time, I went on to study for an MBA with a minor
in modelling and simulation.)
More recent involvement in the field
In those days studying computer science, I had to Since 2005, I have worked both through Intel and
cope with fellow students not understanding that I with the Association of Computing Machinery
knew what I was talking about. As the only woman (ACM) to increase the number of women in
in the class, I obviously was there to find a husband computer science. After the Grace Hopper
and couldn’t have a clue about computers. Conference in 2006, my goals changed, and I
started working with ACM to improve
opportunities for women studying computer
Within nine months of graduating, I lost both my science in Europe. In 2013, when I became vice
beloved grandmothers... and achieved their dream chair of the ACM-W Europe committee, we
for me. I was hired by Intel and started working on founded womENcourage, an event providing a
my career – with two young girls in tow. venue for women in computer science to network
and meet like-minded women.
From Intel to Austria
I worked for Intel for 34 years; about 12 years in, AI (Artificial Intelligence) and machine learning
while on a business trip, I met the man who is now have huge potential, and I believe the entry of
my husband. As both my daughters were adults, I women into these fields will change the world. I
picked up and moved to Austria and started a new spend my time encouraging up and coming
project at Intel. These days I live just outside women to strive to be the best they can be
Vienna, Austria. through membership in ACM and IEEE (Institute of
Electrical and Electronics Engineers) and
volunteering. I know that a greater number of
With delegates at the womENcourage conference in 2015
8
One of the biggest recent rewards came from a
young woman who contacted me to know if I was
the “Bev Bachmayer” who had mentored her as an
undergraduate in CS 20 years ago. She is now an
engineering manager and says that my
encouragement and mentoring is why she is
successful today.
Just as Fran Allen encouraged me, I hope to have
the same impact on young women I know.
Quick-fire questions for Bev
1. If you could change one thing about your past,
what would it be? I would have stayed in college
after getting married, even against my ex-
husband’s wishes. I needed to be more persistent,
Educating children in electronics in Rwanda in 2015, we
but that was not how I was raised.
taught 120 girls from nine countries about electronics over 3
-4 weeks at the Rwanda Steam Camp. 2. What things about your career in technology do
smart young women studying computer science you apply to your daily life? Troubleshooting is used
will have a greater impact on new technology as a constantly in daily life. Just look at any goal and
tool for positive change. how do you get there: that is troubleshooting.
3. If you could work with one famous person, past or
Working in a worldwide position means working in present, who would it be and why? This is a funny
different cultures; I am amazed how, in some question, because working with ACM, I am among
countries, women are encouraged to enter highly the women who are making the most difference in
technical fields and how their proportion in these this world. I cheered when ACM elected an all-
fields might drop from 30 to 40% in one country female board; I personally know all of them
to 5-10% in another just a few borders away. As a through my work encouraging women. It’s hard
data scientist, I love to understand the numbers work, but all of us together have achieved one
and how different cultures work. In our group, goal. Now we are working toward the goal of an
having 50% of the members born outside of the equal number of women and men in our field.
country of work put another twist on the group
culture, as you might imagine.
4. To whom would you dedicate your memoirs and
why? All the young women now entering the
Meeting a role model industry – they are our future, and it is for them
Fran Allen is not really a mentor, just a woman I that we work so hard to give them
look up to. A developer of computer language, in encouragement and hope.
1993 she was developing compilers at IBM, and
she was one of the few women in the industry 5. If your life or career had not been in technology,
that you could strive to be like. I met her in person what would you have pursued? I think it would have
at the Grace Hopper Conference in the fall of been teaching, perhaps math or science. I love
2006, after she won the Turing award. She sat and helping people succeed.
talked to me for almost an hour. She told me, “I
had no idea that I would be so encouraging and
that so many women would be inspired because I
did my job.”
My successes over the years
My most significant award is the Intel
Achievement award I received for my work
optimizing the code for a customer in 2001. In
fact, I have at least 30 Intel award plaques.
My job is fun, and even to this day, I continue to
work on technical topics. Learning new things is
what keeps me going in these COVID times. I am
building a robot, learning to sew complicated
quilts and volunteering – for ACM and as the
FAWCO Rep for AWA Vienna. My goal is to
promote women worldwide, lifting them all up to
a better life. Teaching kids about electronics in 2016
9
10
PROFILE
Creating
Impactful Social
Media Posts
Adelina Matinca, member of the
AIWC of Cologne, Germany,
describes learning her way
around social media as a career.
I was born in Constanta, a small town by the Black
Sea in Romania. I had an extremely memorable
childhood, and I count myself lucky in many ways. Adelina Matinca
Due to my grandmother’s career, she took me
along when I was still a small child to quite a few
official functions with people from all over the After leaving home
world. After the Revolution, a time of turmoil, I I grew up in Toronto, where I lived all the way
spent most of my summers in the south of through finishing my BA at University of Toronto. I
Germany, where my family had been running a loved the multicultural aspect and had friends
business. We later emigrated to Canada. from all corners of the world. If you look at a city
map of Toronto, you can literally sketch out Greek
As I look back, this is where I began to build town, Chinatown, Little Italy – there is even a
resilience and where I started to understand how “Little Mogadishu.” Aside from this wonderful
quickly things can change. The full impact these aspect, I always thought the city was too big with
events had on me is probably lost, because I was way too much concrete. So I did something
simply too young to process and analyze my about it…
surroundings. But what they did leave me with is
compassion, flexibility and never taking anything
for granted. As soon as I finished my BA degree and with a job
locked in, I decided to drive across Canada to
Vancouver. For me, this was a ritual experience. I
felt like I was shedding youthful layers and settling
into an adult job. Working in a law firm in the
trademarks department gave me a lot of
independence. Every weekend I would be
outdoors in nature, hiking, swimming, skiing,
biking, surfing, sailing – taking in all the beauty of
the Pacific Northwest. It was also at this job that I
met a lot of fantastic people and had a great
number of mentors. They all became my work
family and it was the best working environment I
Our family in 2005 could possibly have as a young adult.
I fell in love with Vancouver, created a tribe and
remained there for seven years.
From Vancouver to Cologne
While living in Vancouver I met my now husband.
He was doing an internship at the same law firm.
Chances would have it that we met during his last
week on the job. We continued to date long
distance, which, take it from me, is not easy. After
about a year, we decided that it might make more
sense for us to be under one roof and see what
As a young girl with my grandmother
11was learning about content creation, content
moderation, the power of algorithms, ads, and
managing analytics, metrics and growing traffic. I
was able to successfully use a lot of my learning in
my own business.
The arrival of COVID-19!
When COVID-19 hit, I was forced to close down my
catering business – there simply were no more
events. This is when I knew I had to take it to the
next level. I took a step back and I pivoted towards
the tech skills I had spent so long developing in my
previous roles.
The desire to create content and graphics, design
PR kits, and manage social media platforms
Kayaking in Haida Gwaii, B.C., Canada blossomed naturally from there. Now, I work with
companies and brands all over the world to help
happens. After living together in Canada, we knew them with branding and managing their social
this was more than a one-time fling, so we were media accounts, while providing effective and
faced with the decision of whether to stay or go unique marketing strategies. I love my work!
to Germany.
We decided to give Germany a try and, fast Common misconceptions I face
forward to almost eight years later, here we are, I meet a lot of people who believe that social
living in Cologne, a city that’s grown to be my third media is just uploading selfies as you go along. In
home. At the beginning, Cologne made me use a a business context this couldn’t be further from
lot of my resilient powers I developed early on in the truth. I often explain all the work that goes into
my childhood. I was in a new environment, with creating a post with an impact and a message. The
(very) limited language skills and nobody I knew. process can be described as more like an art form.
But my experience of moving around helped a lot There are two components: word art and the
– I knew things would improve, and I had the tools image art. There is also the technical component
to shape that development. I took German classes such as key words, hashtags, tags etc. You want
and joined associations, and soon the language the post to be discoverable and discovered by as
was no longer a barrier. I even went back to school many people in your target audience as you can,
at the University of Cologne and got an MA so you have to think about what words will
degree! New acquaintances started to transform resonate with them. I think it’s important to
into strong connections and partnerships. distinguish between a personal account, which can
of course showcase a selfie with you and your dog,
and a professional account, which purposefully
Blogging and cookery
When I moved to Germany, I started a blog, so I
could talk about traveling around Europe, my
experience as an expat and the food culture here
in Germany. I self-taught myself the ins and outs
of creating a website from scratch, making sure
my posts were search engine optimized, and all
about Google Analytics. I loved the technical side
of creating posts as well as the aesthetic side.
I have always had a passion for cooking, so I
started up a catering and events business in
Cologne. Again extremely hands on, I learned
about marketing and creating presences on
different social media platforms. At the same time,
I was also freelancing for a major social media
platform doing content review, and for a
marketing company as a social media manager.
These two positions taught me the ins and outs of
social media. From one side, I was working with
brands and companies, which gave me an insider
perspective on different strategies and marketing
niches. I basically started to understand what
companies are looking for. From the other side, I
Relaxing on the balcony
12The main purpose of much of the content that is
posted on her blog is to reveal something new
that you might not yet know. I like the
controversial aspects as well – she doesn’t shy
away from big taboo topics, she approaches them
head on. For me, this is where the sweet spot lies -
creating current content, trendsetting and
challenging concepts. Bonus would be if she gives
her employees free products :)
2. To whom would you dedicate your memoirs and
why? I would dedicate them to my grandmother.
She embodies many of the qualities I look up to.
She is incredibly up to date with the latest
technology, sending me text messages and writing
emails at age 84. She has been the driving force
behind a lot of my endeavors.
When I look back at my life, she has constantly
been rooting for me, encouraging my creative
My daily work setup
initiatives and pushing me to reach my full
chooses to connect with its audience on a much potential. She is also the one that taught me
deeper level. creative writing – we often wrote poems together
side-by-side. Moments I will never forget…
The future for social media
I reckon social media will continue to grow. We 3. If your life or career had not been in technology,
saw the importance of social media once the what would you have pursued? I love this question. I
pandemic hit. Now, a lot more companies are don’t believe that everyone is destined to have
understanding the significance of it. When it one career their whole life. I believe that you can
comes to social media, things are constantly have more than one. When I am not sitting in
changing. In terms of marketing strategies that front of my computer, you can find me in the
companies will be using, you can expect to see Namibian bush being involved in wildlife
more inclusive strategies, with a strong focus on conservation projects – I spent a few months
giving back to their communities. Right now, there researching for my master thesis.
brands are focused on coming up with
environmentally friendly solutions to elevate their I love the excitement and challenge of working
products and make them stand out from others. with clients from all over the world. I equally love
being in the field with temperatures roaring in the
Teams are changing and have a worldwide reach, high 40s talking to locals about human-wildlife
now more than ever before. Now that a lot of conflict in their area. I mean, how can I choose
people work from home anyway, teams and between these two passions? Good thing I don’t
business relationships are becoming even more have to.
global. For example, one of my clients is a Dutch
journalist based in Africa, and on that project I
work with another content creator based in
North Macedonia.
My work is 100% remote and I correspond with
people from all over the world on a wide range of
projects. Basically, without this mix of cultures I
would be out of a job right now. It’s a necessary
piece of many businesses.
Quick-fire questions for Adelina
1. If you could work with one famous person, past or
present, who would it be and why? I would love to
work with Gwyneth Paltrow at Goop. I love her
approach and what her brand stands for. The
experimental component of her brand has
revolutionized a lot of different marketing
approaches and content creation.
Preparing for a Zoom call!
13FEATURE
Women in Technology
FAUSA Member Denise Woods looks at some of the women who
made significant contributions in the field of computer technology.
I worked in the field of computer technology for
30 years as a head of software development in
industry and then as a professor. When I first
started studying computer programming in the
1970s, I was one of the few females in any of my
classes. As I researched the history of computers
in my early courses, I realized how many women
there were. Here are the female pioneers who
helped make computers as ubiquitous as they
are today.
ENIAC Programmers
The ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator and
Calculator) was the first electronic computer used
for general purposes, such as solving numerical
problems. It was developed in 1946 by two men in
research sponsored by the US military. The
programmers of the ENIAC were six female
mathematicians. The technology that resulted
from the work of these six women included the
development of computer memory and storage.
Adele Goldberg
Had it not been for pioneer Adele Goldberg (born
1945), the Apple desktop would not look like it
does. She was the only woman, together with a
group of men, who developed the infrastructure
and design of GUI (Graphical User Interface) that
Ada Lovelace we use on computers today. She was told to show
Ada Lovelace (1815-1852) was considered to be this new technology to Steve Jobs, who said after
the first computer programmer. In fact, one of the he viewed it he believed that GUI represented the
earliest programming languages, Ada, was named future of computing.
after her. She was one of the few people who
recognized the possible uses for computers early Karen Spärck Jones
on. The second Tuesday in October is Ada The search engines that we utilize daily today
Lovelace Day, during which the contributions of would not have become a reality without the
women to science, technology, engineering and discovery of the concept of inverse document
mathematics are honored. frequency by Karen Spärck Jones (1935-2007). She
introduced the use of wordlists into language
processing, allowing a computer to recognize
similar words. This technology is used to assess
the importance of words contained in documents
when searching for information.
14computer science and had always advocated for
women in the computer field.
Mary Allen Wilkes
Mary Wilkes (born 1937) was a computer
programmer who worked in the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology’s Lincoln Laboratory. She
is most well known for working on the LINC
computer, which is now recognized as the world’s
first personal computer. She was considered to be
the first person who had used a personal
computer in a home.
Grace Hopper
Grace Hopper (1906-1992), a rear admiral in the
US Navy, was known as “the mother of
computing.” She helped develop a program that
converted instructions into a machine code (i.e.,
low-level code) that could be read and executed
by a computer. This led to a computer language
known as COBOL (Common Business Oriented
Language) that still runs many of the world's
largest data systems today, 60 years later.
Sister Mary Keller Pioneers of Today
Sister Mary Keller (1913-1985) was a Roman The women highlighted above are pioneers in the
Catholic nun who helped develop the BASIC field of computer technology who helped to make
(Beginners All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code) all of the technologies that we rely on today
programming language. She believed strongly possible. Think what the world would be like
that computers had the potential to increase without computer programming languages,
access to information and to promote education. search engines, graphical user interfaces (GUIs)
She was the first woman to receive a PhD in and personal computers. In addition to the
pioneers, I want to feature one of my former
colleagues at Purdue University who continues to
influence young women in the computer field, as
a pioneer of today.
Alka Harriger
I had the pleasure of working with Professor Alka
Harriger when I was a professor at Purdue, and
she was always inspiring to me. Professor
Harriger has been teaching software development
courses in the Purdue University Department of
Computer and Information Technology (CIT) since
1982. Early in her career, when she saw only one
woman in the freshman orientation for CIT, she
applied for and received a $1.2M grant for the
SPIRIT (Surprising Possibilities Imagined and
15allows women to build solutions to enhance lives
in areas that they are the most passionate about.
Their perspectives on teams will allow companies
to produce better solutions for a larger segment
of the population. When/if their passions change,
computing skills will allow them to move to a
different career path/domain area.”
Denise Woods is an active member of FAUSA who grew
up in Hobart, Indiana. During her career in industry,
she traveled to Europe extensively overseeing the
installation of computer systems. Denise then moved
on to academia where she became a tenured
professor at Purdue University. She has written
hundreds of research papers and dozens of books on
computer technology and has spoken at conferences
around the world. Although Denise now enjoys
retirement, she is currently enrolled as an online
student at Purdue studying health and wellness.
Realized through Information Technology) project,
which allowed the faculty to administer summer
workshops for high school teachers, counselors
and students. The goal was to change
misperceptions about who does computing and
show them that computing can be fun, important
and rewarding. The teachers were expected to
incorporate lessons using Alice, a computing tool
that can be used to create interactive stories and
games. The counselors had more accurate
information to better advise their students. The
students saw first hand that computing could
offer them an excellent career option. Alka’s latest
project TECHFIT (Teaching Engineering Concepts
to Harness Future Innovators) is the recipient of a
$1.2M NSF (National Science Foundation) grant.
It targets middle schoolers instead of high
schoolers because one of the things she learned
during the SPIRIT project was that changing
misperceptions needs to start earlier. The goal is
to address obesity and physical inactivity by
combining technology and exercise, allowing
student teams to create their own exergames (i.e.,
technology-supported fitness games.) A second
grant that built on TECHFIT was funded at $2.5M
and allowed them to transform TECHFIT from an
afterschool program to include an in-school class
instead. I asked Alka what she would say to young
women considering careers in computer
technology. She said, “Computing or information
technology is a great career option for women
because it applies to all aspects of life, and that
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17PROFILE
Developing
“Curious Mind
TV”
Irem Sunar, member of the AWO
Moscow, gives us the details
about her latest project to keep
kids engaged in learning during
the pandemic.
I grew up by the seaside in Izmir, a historic
Aegean city in Turkey. Spending most of my
childhood crossing the oceans on ships where my Irem Sunar-Ozat
dad worked helped me connect with different
cultures and see the world from a different
perspective. Even at a younger age, I was here since then. Moving to Moscow was more
concerned about environmental issues and social than a change of address for us; as many fellow
inequalities. So when I grew up, I decided to work expat women would agree, it always is. I knew
for social change, and that’s what I did at the UN that was the end of my hard-earned career, and I
and other international organizations for more quickly realized that I had to gain a different skill
than 15 years. set if I wanted to keep on working and making use
of the “free time” I had, which was also quite a
new concept for me.
I moved to Moscow, Russia when my husband got
a job offer five years ago and have been living
Redesigning my life
After whining and complaining for a few months, I
decided to embrace this change and opened my
mind to different possibilities. I had degrees in
Psychology and Political Science. I had no
education in any tech-related subject. On the
other hand, digital media was becoming a bigger
part of my work life each year, and I was drawn
into the idea of learning everything online.
My first inspiration came from the hobby that I
learned a decade ago. Actually, it was not about
the hobby itself, but about how I learned that new
hobby. I was on my maternity leave; I decided to
learn sewing, but I couldn’t leave my baby alone.
Our family in 2005
So I started following sewing and craft blogs
online. It was quite a new thing back in the day,
unlike the COVID-19 period today, where you can
find an online course or a webinar about
anything! This experience had not only given me
some awesome sewing skills (yay!) but also
opened my mind to the possibility of gaining
completely different skills online. Then everything
else became easier. When I needed to learn
something new, I just looked for the right online
resource and learned it by doing.
In addition to my new hobby, I was becoming
With my family in Riga, Latvia more interested in the design part of digital
18How you present things is almost as
important as the content
When I open a new website, the first thing I notice
is how the information is presented, instead of the
information itself. Shallow, yes. But the way you
present something is also an important part of the
message you want to give. My academic
background in psychology helped me understand
how people perceive and learn new things, so I
tried improving my professional skills in
presenting information in the best way possible.
So now, I not only create unique content but also
present it with engaging designs. Hence, the
opening line of my personal website is “Let’s make
your information look pretty!” (iremsunar.com)
With my son Derin, planting trees as part of a campaign Back to working for social change: Curious
Mind TV
media, as I had been working on the content part In mid-2020, when almost all the schools around
for many years. Awareness-raising activities were the world had to shut down, I decided to use all
an important aspect of my projects, and I was my skills and experience to help children keep
always looking for ways to improve methods of engaged in learning as much as possilbe. So I
presenting the information to our target audience. designed a new website, and then a YouTube
It started with the need to design websites in a channel targeting elementary school children
more user-friendly way. Social media was also called Curious Mind TV. Launching February 1,
raising the bar for better information presentation 2021, it is totally free and only aims to encourage
every day. That’s when I started practicing basic children to love learning and researching. I’ve
graphic design skills and website development. been super busy preparing high-quality and fun
educational videos for kids for the past few
When we moved to Moscow, I had at least some months. I also started learning how to make
idea about what I could do next if I wanted to keep animated videos too. I love it! This project is very
my professional life active. I became a member of near and dear to my heart, as it is a perfect
the American Women’s Organization soon after we combination of my newly gained tech skills and my
moved here and began working as the love of writing, and at the same time contributes
publications editor. It was a great experience to to social development. If you want to help me out
prepare all those newsletters, printed materials, to spread the word, please subscribe to
and the new logo for the Club. If you’re interested Curious Mind TV.
in seeing what we’ve been up to, take a peek at I’d love to get your feedback and comments!
our magazine stand here:
https://issuu.com/awomoscow.
Finishing the web design for a recent project : tired eyes, but proud of my work!
19I can work anywhere: working on my blog in Red Square, Moscow
Technology makes change much easier, for born right into technology. It changes the way
better or for worse they look at the world completely. I wish I had had
I’m from a generation who grew up without the that flexible approach when I was younger. If I
advantage of the internet, but I did my best to could change anything from my past, it would be
make use of all the good things it has brought to to give myself more credit and encourage myself
our lives. This puts me and my generation in quite to diving into uncharted waters more freely,
a unique position in human history, I guess. :) because technology makes change much easier, if
When I develop educational content for children, I you’re up for it.
try to keep both the traditional ways of learning
and playing as well as the new online approaches
in balance. I “learned” to become tech-savvy at a
relatively older age, but the new generation is
A photo shoot for a crafts magazine
20FEATURE
What is Data Privacy?
Fintan Viebahn received the Caroline Newton Humanities Award
from the FAWCO Foundation in 2018. She used the award to fund a
study trip to Moscow in which she learned more about data
practices. Here she explains the importance of data privacy for us all.
What Is Data Privacy? Why Is Data Privacy Important?
Data privacy can be understood as the desired Data privacy is often considered a fundamental
absence of tracking of an individual’s activities in right. The idea behind this is that individuals
the form of data. It can also be understood as the should be empowered to control all of the data
degree of control that individuals have over the about themselves.
extent and form of tracking.
From an economic perspective, privacy is a
feature of products exchanged on markets. ¹
Some people might be willing to pay more for
more privacy. For example, there are fee-based
email services and search engines whose selling
points are that they offer relatively high security
standards or anonymity. Others might not be
willing to pay. Or they might even prefer
personalized advertising, for example on
Facebook or Google, or other personalized
settings, such as curated newsfeeds, Netflix
recommendations or Spotify playlists.
Five sisters playing a game involving data
Put more simply, data privacy is the control of
individuals over how their personal information is
collected and used. Examples include how easy it
is for an individual to find out which data
Instagram has about her, to store her medical
records digitally, to donate her personal data to
research, to search anonymously on the web, to
research government spending online or to delete
her data from Amazon’s servers.
Data privacy is also known as information privacy
or data protection. Data in the making
¹Acquisti, A., C. Taylor and L. Wagman (2016), “The Economics of Privacy”, Journal of Economic Literature 54 (2), 442–492.
21What Problems Currently Exist in Regard
to Data Privacy?
One issue is that information about oneself can
be indirectly disclosed through others’ data.²
Correlation in datasets means that, for example,
data about the everyday life of young women as
captured by their internet activity is likely to
provide information about a young woman who
may not wish to share her data.
Another concern are privacy policies. Nearly all
devices and activities generate data with a
personal dimension. Consumers cannot
reasonably be expected to engage with the
privacy policies and terms of use that govern that
data. Reading the privacy policies one Exploring “Meitu” filters popular in China
encounters in a year would take 76 work days –
and that was in 2012. ³
factors that affect energy consumption, such as
weather conditions. This information would allow
Why Is Privacy Not the Only Important an assessment of how energy consumption could
Aspect in Regard to Data? be shifted to better match energy production.
Sharing data potentially has many benefits for For example, heating in winter, when a person is
individuals. Sharing data with researchers can at home, is unlikely to be flexible, but running a
improve the quality of studies, thereby increasing washing machine or dishwasher may well be.
the value of research for individuals. Energy production and costs could be reduced.
Regarding energy, for example, researchers Data on health can help us identify problems
could analyze data on energy use in homes by (e.g., early detection of strokes ⁴, detection of
type of device, time of day and year and other influenza outbreaks through search queries ⁵)
and new solutions (e.g., personalized cancer
drugs ⁶, models to calculate healing processes ⁷).
Greater amounts of data on the use of public
spaces and political process ⁸ would amount to
more transparency and accountability.
From a business point of view, sharing data can
open up new and better products and services.
Contemplating all the data being processed in this
photograph of the Chicago Board of Trade
² Mantelero, A., “Personal Data For Decisional Purposes in the Age of Analytics: From an Individual to a Collective Dimension of Data Protec-
tion”, Computer Law & Security Review, 32(2), 2016, 238-255; Bergemann, D., Alessandro B., and T. Gan, “The Economics of Social Data”,
Cowles Foundation Discussion Paper No. 2203, 25 September 2019; Choi, J. P., D. S. Jeon, and B. C. Kim, “Privacy and Personal Data Collection
With Information Externalities”, Journal of Public Economics, 173, 2019, 113-124.
³ Madrigal, A. C. (2012), “Reading the privacy policies you encounter in a year would take 76 work days”, The Atlantic, 1 March. Available
at: http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2012/03/reading-the-privacy-policies-you-encounter-in-a-year-would-take-76-work-
days/253851/ (accessed 22 April 2016).
⁴ https://www.mobihealthnews.com/news/machine-learning-app-scans-faces-and-listens-speech-quickly-spot-strokes
⁵ Ginsberg, J., Mohebbi, M., Patel, R. et al. (2009), “Detecting influenza epidemics using search engine query data”, Nature 457, 1012–1014.
⁶ https://healthitanalytics.com/news/deep-learning-model-could-enhance-cancer-precision-medicine
⁷ https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2733183
⁸ https://kleineanfragen.de/
22How Did My 2018 Education Award Enable
Me to Learn About Data Privacy?
My 2018 Education Award enabled me to study
abroad at the Higher School of Economics in
Moscow, Russia, for one semester. I was able to
take classes on statistics, econometrics and
philosophy of data. Through this time abroad, I
was able to acquire a solid understanding of this
field. I was even able to take part in a research trip
to Hong Kong and China to study data practices
there. I am very grateful to the FAWCO
Foundation and every one of the wonderful
women who provided me with this once in a
lifetime learning opportunity.
Fintan Viebahn is a research assistant with Stiftung Prior to her current positions, Fintan held
Neue Verantwortung and the economics department internships in strategy consulting and at the District
of Humboldt University Berlin. She supports the Court of Berlin. She holds a fellowship with the
think tank’s work on data economics and the German Academic Scholarship Foundation. In her
university’s work on behavioral economics. In 2018, free time, she is an avid debater and loves playing
she was honored to receive the Caroline Newton piano with others.
Humanities Award from the FAWCO Foundation.
Fintan studied for a B.A. in economics and
philosophy at Humboldt University and an LL.B. at
Potsdam University. She spent semesters at
Columbia University and the Higher School of
Economics in Moscow.
23PROFILE
Keeping FAWCO
Tech Savvy
Cat Conner, member of the AWC
Hamburg, Germany and FAWCO’s
Web Manager, reveals how she
got involved in internet
technology consultancy.
I was born and raised in Fort Worth, Texas.
Although overall it was a lovely place to spend a
childhood, I grew up in a relatively conservative
society where I didn’t always feel I belonged. Girls Cat Conner
in that time and place were generally discouraged
from being too academic. Even though my family
valued education, and sent me to a very Leaving Texas
academically-oriented school, I was unhappy that I left Texas to go to Princeton University in New
many girls there had already internalized the idea Jersey, USA. My plan was that after I took my
that they just weren’t “suited” to math or science. bachelor’s degree (in History, with a specialty in
Medieval/Renaissance European history) I would
I’ve always had an interest in technology. When I continue on the academic track through a
was six or seven, I used to take apart the doctorate and a career as university faculty.
telephones in our house to see how they worked.
Luckily for me my father loved gadgets and new
technologies so our house always had new tech But when graduation came, I wanted some
toys for me to play with. I first learned to program professional experience before focusing on that
BASIC on a TRS-80 computer, and enjoyed career, and worked variously in public relations,
tinkering with Commodore 64 and Apple IIs to see human resources, and project management for
what I could make them do. government-funded research projects. All of
those jobs required using my computer skills
which I had acquired using my first Unix computer
network while at university.
Once I entered the professional world, my interest
in learning everything I could about all the
technology systems around me meant that I often
became the go-to staff member responsible for
tech support and system maintenance, regardless
of what my official tasks were. Eventually that
turned into a (unexpected!) career as by the time I
was working with the research projects, I was
Our family in 2005 building databases and websites to analyze and
disseminate data.
From there I made a lateral move to being a full-
time consultant, working for software consulting
companies, and later went independent as a
freelance internet technology consultant.
Getting to Hamburg
During my time working as a consultant for
software companies, I travelled full-time. I
enjoyed that immensely, and volunteered for
every international project I could – including one
Me a few years ago! in London. While there, I met a German man who
24Learning about computers
I am mostly self-educated. I studied quite a lot of
science in school (my first professional ambition
was to become a chemist!), and I have done quite
a lot of technical training and professional
development over the years, but my university
degree is in History. Lucky for me that in the
computer world, especially twenty-five years ago,
having a formal computer science degree isn’t
always as important as having real-world
implementation experience. But I do think my
biggest obstacle has been proving my expertise
and value despite my lack of formal technical
degrees – especially to myself.
Being a woman in the Tech world
It’s been challenging being a woman in the
Making punch cards
computer tech world which does have a bit of a
was also working in my company’s London tech “bro” culture. I can remember in my early days of
support office. We had a loooooong distance consulting often being the only woman in project
relationship (BostonLondon) for a year before meetings full of male developers and managers. In
we decided we wanted to be together on at least one instance, a planned “team-building” exercise
the same continent. My tech qualifications made it concluded with a visit to a (heterosexual-male-
very much easier for me to get a work permit in oriented) strip club. They were very surprised
Germany than his did to get one in the USA, so we when I opted to attend; I was not going to miss the
decided on living together in Europe. I took a professional networking opportunity, and I was
consultant position with a German tech firm and pleased to make them all uncomfortable with their
moved to Hamburg. Eighteen years later, my exclusionary choices. This situation is continually
husband and I are still living together here in improving and is much better now than 25 years
Hamburg where I am now working from home ago, but there’s still a ways to go.
as a freelancer.
Driving practice!
25information they need to make good decisions for
themselves, either personally or professionally.
And vice versa, to communicate business
concerns back to technical staff, so they can
implement solutions that actually solve problems
the users have. I have often found myself in
meetings “translating” between technical staff and
business staff – even though we’re all actually
speaking English!
Quick-fire questions for Cat
1. If you could change one thing about your past,
what would it be? If I’d known earlier where my life
would take me, I would have started learning
German much earlier :-D
2. What things about your career in technology do
you apply to your daily life? Almost everything,
really. There aren’t many aspects of modern life
On vacation at Falling Water that aren’t touched by the need to use technology.
Basic knowledge about how email works, how
Looking at web pages smartphones work, how computers work, and
When a lay person first visits a website they see how internet connections work are things most of
words and pictures on a screen, but I just see the us need every day. Some of these things can be
things I see as mistakes, especially from a usability quite complicated; I’m very sympathetic to non-
standpoint. These are mainly in three categories: tech people who might struggle with this. Because
tech is everywhere, but it’s not always easy!
1. Functionality -- maybe a menu whose usage
isn’t intuitive or a section where color contrast 3. To whom would you dedicate your memoirs and
makes something hard to read. why? To my mother, father, and sister. They have
2. Design -- objects that aren’t 100% aligned, off had the longest-standing impact on determining
by a few pixels, or not arranged well for the what kind of woman I have become.
current screen size I’m using.
3. Structure -- if I can’t immediately find content 4. If your life or career had not been in technology,
or a feature that I’m looking for, or if a process to what would you have pursued? Being a history
achieve something isn’t logical. professor is my one big “what-if” path. I’m happy
with the patchwork career I’ve had, and think it
has given me a wider variety of skills than I might
Misconceptions about web design have developed as an academic. But sometimes
it’s nice to fantasize….
Probably the biggest misconception about the
internet is that it is one big well-ordered,
quantifiable, coherent system, when in fact it’s just
a ginormous number of machines around the
world talking to and through each other using
mutually-agreed-upon standards.
It’s a wonderfully complex and chaotic system that
only works because hardware and software
makers have voluntarily agreed to follow those
standards (some more than others, I’m looking at
you Internet Explorer!). The more I learn about
how the internet REALLY works under the covers,
the more surprised I am that it can do everything
it does!
The future for the industry
I work with people all over the world, from many
different cultures, but one skill I’ve found to be
incredibly important no matter what cultures are
involved: the ability to present complex tech
concepts for less technically-knowledgeable
people in a way that provides them the
At a FAWCO Conference with my husband
26FEATURE
FAWCO and Tech in Times of COVID-19
Emily van Eerten, President of FAWCO, explains how the organization
had to adapt its online presence to cope with the pandemic.
One week before the 2020 Interim Meeting in time, meaning that it was still a passive program
Luxembourg, the FAWCO Board took the for most tuning in. We thought that we could
excruciating and difficult decision to cancel the handle that, but then we had to cancel our Fall
gathering because of the increasing health Open Regional, again not being able to travel and
concerns and travel advisories as a result of the meet in person. We started to look for more
COVID-19 virus. Without the ability to gather in interactive platforms we could use.
person, we had to get creative. FAWCO and the
board were already in the process of learning and
using G Suite Applications. This Google
environment was working extremely well
together. All of our volunteers with @fawco.org
email addresses had access to Google Drive,
Calendar, Docs, Numbers, Slides, Forms -- and
Google Meet (among others) and all of these apps
allow collaborative work and excellent interaction
with each other. At that moment, however, it only
allowed meetings for up to 25 people. We needed
a way to host online virtual sessions for
considerably more.
Using Zoom
We signed up for our first FAWCO Zoom
account. At that moment, Zoom wasn’t considered
a very secure platform. We learned how to set up
meetings using particular protocols that ensured
that random streakers could not disrupt our
online meetings and we started scheduling Zoom Finding Hopin
sessions to replace the in-person sessions we had Initial research led us to companies that wouldn’t
prepared for Luxembourg. Onboarding for this talk to us unless we committed to plans in the
platform presented a few challenges, but we tens of thousands of dollars. These weren’t
mostly managed to work through them. We all options. But we kept looking and we found Hopin,
learned how to navigate and get beyond the initial a company that was offering plans in the tens of
audio and video challenges, even as “we can’t hear thousands, but importantly, they were also
you, you’re on mute,” became a common Zoom offering relatively affordable DIY plans. We could
lament. We learned to share screens for have access to the same Stages, Sessions,
presentations, and then moved on to how to Networking and Expo Booths on their expensive
share screens with sound. We all progressed and plans, but we’d have to do it without access to
regressed with our home lighting and Zoom special branding or support. And we accepted.
blouses. Most of us
took care to wear
makeup and a nice A FAWO first, a virtual Regional Meeting
Zoom top, but then we When we cancelled the in-person meeting in
learned that we didn’t November 2020, we were able to announce that
HAVE to have the video we would host a Virtual Open Regional instead on
turned on. Sometimes we ate on camera, the same weekend. We scheduled our speakers
sometimes we forgot to turn off our mic when for time slots on the Main Stage or in Sessions
there were other noises in the room. But even and FAWCO volunteers went to work, learning
though Zoom solved some of our sadness from how they could each set up a virtual Expo Booth
not being able to gather together, it also was using a Google Slide Presentation or YouTube
frustrating. We could have dozens on camera, but videos as on-demand content. The Hopin platform
interaction still needed to be one person at a was evolving with new features even as we were
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