Winners 2021
This year we received over 200 nominations for NWiTA. Out of those 48 were selected, and then our judges had the hard job of selecting 1 winner for each of the 10 categories. Our judging committee was made up of a group industry experts across the Nordics, combining years of knowledge and experience.
Everyone in the audience at the award ceremony had the chance to vote online for their favorite of all the nominees in the 10 categories. They chose the winner for the People’s Choice Award 2021.
We can finally share with you, all of this years winners. Big congratulations to the winners and thank you for being with us in 2021.
01 Developer of the year
Is awarded to an individual who has made a meaningful and lasting contribution to the technological area of software development and has achieved or was a part of outstanding projects, and who has developed creative solutions to problems that were solved with code.
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I am a Coder at heart and professionally a Data Engineer/ML Specialist as a consultant. I have worn different hats since the beginning and have been working in various projects from airline, banking, medical, electric vehicles all the way to sustainable food industry. I love solving problems that involve combining knowledge from different fields like Software Engineering, design to AI. I am also the founder of a company in Finland where I find it fulfilling to build apps that can solve problems of customers using my expertise."
02 Digital leader of the year
A person in a digital position within Tech industry, who has demonstrated successful results in the area of digital innovation in the last 24 months.
"I'm a computer scientist with a passion for digital solution, tech devices, photography, mobile development, user experience and process improvement. I'm so fortunate that my work is my passion otherwise I would not survive.
In May this year I was offered a newly created position as the Director of Digital Development at Isavia and a brand new department. Isavia is one of the biggest company in Iceland and owns all the airports and air navigation over the North Atlantic."
03 Diversity leader of the year
This category focuses on a specific diversity initiative or project that has been established to promote diversity in IT in a specific company or for the wider community. Judges will assess the impact of this project and how successful it has been based on its tangible results in closing the gender gap and promoting diversity in tech.
"I am the CEO of FotoWare. A Co-founder of ODA Nettverk, women in Tech, the largest women network in the Nordics, with 14.000 members.
Love how technology changes peoples lives, and how technology brings knowledge to everybody around the world. Technology is used by everybody, and so it must be made by both men and women. My skill is that I am able to bring great people together and build strong teams."
04 Entrepreneur of the year
Is awarded to an individual, who is an owner or main shareholder of a tech start-up with significant growth over the last 36 months and who is ready to demonstrate a successful commercial plan in achieving their goals.
"I am Founder and CEO at Bill Kill.
Six years ago, I discovered that it was technically possible to simplify financial processes so that it would be easier for consumers to get a simple overview to avoid unnecessary reminder fees and debt collection cases, and it would also reduce costs for companies.We believe that tech has no restrictions when it comes to the workforce. Bill Kill has focus on skills in tech and does not differentiate between age, citizenship, gender or ethnicity."
05 Initiative of the year
Awarded to honor an individual or organisations that has raised the bar and serves as an example to the industry and has also demonstrated exceptional initiative to show that women are a significant part of a tech project’s success. This could involve education, training, and various other types of campaigns.
"ReDI School is a non-profit IT/tech school who works for digital empowerment & inclusion for women with refugee and migrant backgrounds. Thanks to the support from volunteers, businesses and foundations we offer a free program with IT/tech courses on several levels, 1-1 mentoring, company visits, soft skills workshop, social events, career summits and much more."
06 Innovator of the year
This category focuses on an individual or technology company who has created or implemented exceptional innovation/inventions, client successes, and deployment in the last 24 months.
"Creative problem solver who is passionate about disrupting and improving the healthcare system. Impact maker to the core.
Co-founder of Kura- the Healthcare omni channel.
Kura connects patients with their caregivers, and increase continuity and efficiency. Kura is the only healthcare application you'll need- gathering the whole healthcare chain in one place. No need for 5 different apps to communicate with your care providers at different healthcare centers."
07 Investor of the year
An individual or organisation who has invested in female-led tech startups.
"Nordic Female Founders was founded in November 2020. We want to make it easier to be and to become a female entrepreneur. We do that in three ways:
1. We invest in startups with diversity and we help female investors unite and invest as a group in different startups with diversity.
2. We educate current and future female entrepreneurs and give them the possibility to meet other female entrepreneurs through our Nordic Female Founders network and Female Founders House.
3. We help female entrepreneurs develop and scale their companies through our NFF Growth-programmes."
08 Mentor of the year
Awarded to honor a person who has provided significant support and guidance by empowering a less experienced person to develop his/her skills in an IT or Technological field. As a result, the mentee/pupil has achieved vital knowledge growth and results in their field.
"I am a Latina black immigrant woman who moved from Brazil to Sweden in 2018 to work as Head of Product at a Swedish Tech Company. I am also a Social Entrepreneur whose heart beats to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion in the tech scene and founded my first non-profit organization this year - Beela is a support network that empowers women and non-binary immigrants in Sweden to pursue a career in tech. I believe mentoring is a tool of transformational change and I have been a mentor and mentee since I arrived in Sweden aiming to share my story and my example to inspire others, create role models, and challenge the status quo."
09 People's Choice Award
The audience at the ceremony had the voice to vote for People's Choice Award. And you certainly did use your voices. We registered 68 votes in our online voting. Find bellow, who was that and why we agree with you that she deserves the trophy.
"I have a background in Human Computer Interaction and a passion for AI. I do a lot of cloud engineering atm, Data Modeling and engineering has been my jam and I have my nose pointed towards Language Technology.
I know diversity will lead to better products, services and workplaces. Diverse teams are the most successful and it's better for users if they have representation amongst systems designers/devs. I want everyone and anyone to feel like they belong in tech, because they do."
10 Rising star of the year
Recognises an up-and-coming tech professional in the last five years that has demonstrated exceptional creativity or ability within the industry; who is recognised by others as having the potential to become a future leader in their industry and presents significant evidence of a promising future.
"I'm the founder of GEMMAQ, a social impact venture that uniquely rates and visualizes gender balance among corporate leadership, to show the real impact women have on the market economy, and create the opportunity to invest directly in women empowerment.Before formally launching GEMMAQ in 2019, I built a career in financial & legal services, and was a Director at the Central Bank of Iceland (The Federal Reserve) and Head of the Capital Controls Exemption Unit, and participated in a financial advisor team at Merrill Lynch Bank of America in the Seattle area."
11 Women in Tech advocate of the year
Recognising an inspirational organisation or person for their accomplishments as leaders in business and visionaries of technology who have made a difference in their community and have gone out of their way to support the cause of attracting more women in the tech industry over the last 24 months.
"As the co-founder and CEO of imagiLabs I am working to make creating and playing with code fun and relevant for 8-13 year old girls. The imagiCharm, a programmable companion (think Tamagotchi for the TikTok generation) is a small gaming device that can be customised through coding in the imagiLabs app. Beyond play and self expression, the imagiLabs app allows users to share their projects with each other, this way growing a community of creators."