Nordic Women in Tech Awards Gala Ceremony
2025

18:00 - 19:00 Registration and welcome reception

19:00 - 19:10 Welcome by the hosts
Kamilla Sultanova & Cristian Martinez

Kamilla Sultanova, an award-winning Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion consultant, a vibrant keynote speaker, and a skillful event moderator who has brought together CEOs, HR leaders, policymakers, and changemakers throughout the Nordics and Europe. She calls Aarhus, Herning, Helsinki her homes and spent more than half of her life in the Nordics as international student, spouse, entrepreneur, mother and mentor

Kamilla Sultanova

Kamilla Sultanova

DEI consultant, Moderator

Cristian is an HR leader with over ten years of experience in technology and marketing communications. He has worked with companies of all sizes — from startups to large corporations — helping them create workplaces where people feel supported and can thrive. In addition to his HR role, Cristian also works as a diversity, equity, and inclusion consultant. He believes that inclusive workplaces are fairer and more effective, and he's passionate about making DEI a practical part of everyday working life.

Cristian Martinez-Vuorivirta

Cristian Martinez

HR Leader, DEI consultant, Moderator

19:10 - 19:15 Few words by the organizers

Plamena Cherneva is an IT consultant, passionate entrepreneur and relentless Diversity and Inclusion advocate. She is a co - founder of NWiTA and WonderCoders, as well as a Board member of European Female Founders Network.

Plamena

Plamena Cherneva

Co-founder Nordic Women in Tech Awards

19:15 - 19:25 Saara Hyrkkö

Member of the Parliament at Parliament of Finland

Ms. Hyrkkö is a Member of the Finnish Parliament, representing the Green Parliamentary Group, where she serves as the group’s vice chair. Ms. Hyrkkö has been a Member of the Parliament since 2019 and currently serves as the vice chair of the Parliament’s Finance Committee. Ms. Hyrkkö is a dedicated advocate for human rights, and in the Parliament, she chairs the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Sexual Rights and Development. In addition to her role in the Parliament, Ms. Hyrkkö is the Chairperson of the City Council of Espoo. Ms. Hyrkkö holds a Master of Science degree in technology.

Saara Hyrkkö

Saara Hyrkkö

Member Of Parliament at Parliament of Finland

19:25 - 19:30Digital Transformation Leader of the year presented by Ms. Saara Hyrkkö

19:30 - 19:35 DEIB Champion of the year presented by Jari Jokinen, CEO of TEK

19:35 - 19:45Susanna Bairoh: Gender equality does not happen - it requires our actions

Susanna Bairoh holds a Doctor of Science (Economics) degree from Hanken School of Business and a Master of Social Science degree from University of Helsinki. She works as Research Manager at TEK (Academic Engineers & Architects in Finland) and is responsible for leading TEK’s research activities and the research team.
Susanna has conducted various quantitative and qualitative studies on gender equality in engineering/technology. Her work has been published in prestigious journals such as Work, Employment and Society, Journal of Engineering Education, and Gender in Management. Susanna is passionate about improving gender equality, diversity and inclusion in technology workplaces, studies and careers.

Susanna Bairoh

Susanna Bairoh

Research Manager, TEK

19:45 - 19:50 Teen of the year presented by Jennifer Montague, Senior Director GTM at Verdane

19:50 - 19:55Developer of the year presented by Pia Poutanen, Senior Manager Solution Engineering at Microsoft

19:55 - 20:00 Changing the Narratives - Celebrating Change Makers, Cecilia Naadensua Quarshie, Founder & CEO Ceci Educare Oy

Cecilia is a distinguished education leader, entrepreneur, and philanthropist based in Finland. She is the founder and CEO of Ceci Educare Oy, a company established in 2022 with its headquarters in Espoo, Finland, and a branch, Ceci Educare Filial, in Stockholm, Sweden. The company offers accredited CPD professional master class courses, business summits, education tours, internships, counseling services, global award ceremonies, and business consultations.

Cecilia

Cecilia Naadensua Quarshie

Educator

20:00 - 21:00 Dinner

21:00 - 21:05Miia Huitti - Sustainable Happiness Coach

Miia Huitti, a certified coach, keynote speaker, an author and Founder of Finnish Happiness Institute from Finland, with a decade of experience in guiding leaders, organizations, and individuals toward sustainable well-being and high performance.

Miia Huitti

Miia Huitti

Sustainable Happiness Coach

21:05 - 21:10Innovator of the year presented by Lauri Mäkinen, Regional Account Manager at Fortinet

21:10 - 21:15Social Impact Award presented by Adrien Fernandez, Key Client Manager | DEI expert

21:15 - 21:20Priyanka Banerjee, Partner at deidei

Priyanka is on a mission to create an inclusive future of work. Her several years of experience working and managing international tech teams got her passionate in helping companies to be more diverse, inclusive, innovative and empathetic. She provides solution oriented approach for tech companies in creating inclusive workplaces, managing diverse teams, cross-cultural sales, enhancing team productivity and creating a culture of innovation.

Anne Stenros

Priyanka Banerjee

Partner, deidei

21:20 - 21:25 Initiative of the year presented by Mari Kuha, CHRO at Vincit

21:25 - 21:30 Rising Star of the year presented by Ieva Ališauskaitė, People Business Partner, Signicat

21:30 - 21:35Investor of the year presented by Jan Ameri, Executive Chairman at ArcticStartup and Arctic15

21:35 - 21:45 Dr. Anne Stenros CEO & Founder, Creative Catalyst Oy, Advisor, Researcher and Speaker

Dr. Anne Stenros has 30 years of professional experience in creative leadership internationally: first at Design Forum Finland and Hong Kong Design Centre, later as Design Director at KONE, and as the Chief Design Officer CDO of the City of Helsinki. These positions have given her a unique range of leadership experiences and a wide global network, both on the personal and the organisational level, including experts in design, business, public organisations, cities, and academia. She has lectured globally and published scientific articles in leading international conference publications.
Currently, she is working as an independent advisor, researcher, and visiting lecturer. Over the past five years, she has published several peer- reviewed articles in international journals and conference proceedings.

Anne Stenros

Dr. Anne Stenros

CEO & Founder, Researcher and Speaker

21:45 - 21:50 Entrepreneur of the year presented by Magnus Mårtensson, CEO and Tech Lead at Loftysoft AB

21:50 - 21:55Women in Tech Ally presented by Ellie King, Co-founder at Equal IT

21:55 - 22:00The Liva Eschwald Award

22:00 - 22:05 Closing remarks

22:05 - Afterparty SkyRoom

P.S. NWiTA 2025 Program is a subject of change