In Celebration of International Women's Day 2021
Tags: wecoded, theycoded, choosetochallenge
Published: 2021-03-09 16:49:58

---
title: In Celebration of International Women's Day 2021
published: true
date: 2021-03-08 03:51:44 UTC
tags: shecoded, theycoded, shecodedally, choosetochallenge
cover_image: https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/omg8lnmgcwhf0do14moh.png
canonical_url: https://learn.vonage.com/blog/2021/03/08/in-celebration-of-international-womens-day-2021
---

The official theme of [International Women's Day](https://www.internationalwomensday.com/) 2021 is "Choose to Challenge." At Vonage, we believe that together, we can choose to challenge and call out gender bias and inequity. We can choose to seek out and celebrate women's achievements. Collectively, we can *all* help create a more inclusive world.

Each year, in honour of International Women's Day, the global Vonage community comes together to celebrate the incredible journeys, stories and voices of our colleagues and the amazing people around us. 2021 is no exception.

## Stories and Journeys From Our Colleagues

In [2020](https://www.nexmo.com/legacy-blog/2020/03/10/in-celebration-of-international-womens-day-2020), we began the tradition of collecting personal stories from the Vonage community for Dev.to's "[Nevertheless, She Coded](https://dev.to/devteam/shecoded-2021-stories-from-women-building-software-and-the-allies-supporting-them-49pf)" initiative. Dev.to's annual celebration has blossomed into a beautiful collection of experiences, with each voice adding powerful perspective, wisdom, and advice. We're proud to help amplify the voices of the Vonage community and support members in participating in this incredible program.

### [Biochemist turned Solutions Engineer](https://dev.to/vonagedev/biochemist-turned-solutions-engineer-23k3)

**Siobhan Lettice** is a **Solutions Engineer** for Vonage. Siobhan shares how her experiences in tech drove her to create a Women at Vonage Employee Resource Group, focusing on removing barriers to entry and empowering women seeking to move into leadership roles.

> Everyone deserves an equal voice and opportunity

### [A Plea, an Apology, and a Passing Reference to Batman](https://dev.to/marklewin/a-plea-an-apology-and-a-passing-reference-to-batman-pgf)

**Mark Lewin** is a **Technical Writer** for Vonage. Mark talks about the ways in which privilege has shaped his life, the importance of diversity in the industry, and implores those previously dissuaded from pursuing a career in tech to join now.

> If you are a woman or non-binary person who has been put off joining us in the past, I plead you to reconsider now. You're not the heroes we deserve, but you are the heroes we need

### [Nevertheless, I changed my goals](https://dev.to/bb_loft/nevertheless-i-changed-my-goals-3hnf)

**Bethany Loft** is a **Community Manager** for Vonage. Bethany reflects on the previous year and emphasizes the importance of normalizing goals changing to adapt and accommodate new interests.  

> My message for others is to take time to rest amongst challenging situations, protect your energy and if you have some to lend, spread it around your community to those who could benefit

### [How I improved my coding skills in 2020/21](https://dev.to/danielaf/how-i-improved-my-coding-skills-in-2020-21-1fl5)

**Daniela Facchinetti** is a **Developer Education Coordinator** for Vonage. Daniela shares the progress she has made to improve her coding skills and advice for others in the same pursuit.

> You will never be done learning or improving, but carrying on gets easier with practice

### [We Need YOU! I'm Andrew Rice, and I encourage women devs in 2021!](https://dev.to/integrator9004/we-need-you-i-m-integrator9004-and-i-encourage-women-devs-in-2021-imh)

**Andrew Rice** is a **Head of Information Security (API)** for Vonage. Andrew discusses the importance of creating an inclusive industry and shares advice on attracting top talent to Cyber Security.

> We needed different thinking, we needed a broader pool of talent, we needed equality, we needed to encourage the brightest minds and guess what, they are not always men

### [Nevertheless, I Will Continue to #ChooseToChallenge Myself](https://dev.to/czajkowski/nevertheless-i-will-continue-to-choosetochallenge-myself-3egb)

**Laura Czajkowski** is a **Developer Relations Manager** for Vonage. Laura outlines how she is pushing past her comfort zone and choosing to challenge herself this year.

> This year will no doubt be challenging. However, I know that I have allies, supportive colleagues, and I'm fortunate to know some amazing people that inspire me daily

### [Nevertheless, Lauren Focused on Community](https://dev.to/lolocoding/nevertheless-lauren-focused-on-her-coding-community-13h8)

**Lauren Lee** is a **Developer Education Manager** for Vonage. On the second anniversary of Lauren's [\#WeBelongHere podcast](https://webelongpodcast.com/), she shares key lessons learned from those conversations and the community of career changers and those diversifying the tech industry.

> As a bootcamp grad and career changer myself, I remember craving community and wanting to know that I was not alone in my journey to tech

### [I'm Aida Pourshirazi, and I support women devs in 2021!](https://dev.to/vonageaida/i-m-aida-pourshirazi-and-i-support-women-devs-in-2021-25k3)

**Aida Pourshirazi** is a **Support Engineer** for Vonage. Aida reflects on how her upbringing inspired her to follow an engineering path.

> My message to others is that life is shorter than we think, so we should do what we like and enjoy the path to achieve our goals

### [The Importance of Self-Advocacy for Career Advancement](https://dev.to/nahrinjalal/the-importance-of-self-advocacy-for-career-advancement-2nh6)

**Nahrin Jalal** is a **Developer Educator** for Vonage. Nahrin shares the practice that has made the most significant impact on her career advancement to date: self-advocacy.

> It's time to think about yourself as the protagonist of this story and share it with others

### [My Journey in Tech](https://dev.to/imclarisseng/my-journey-in-tech-2263)

**Clarisse Ng** is an **APAC Community Manager** for Vonage. Clarisse reflects on how she ended up in tech by pure coincidence. She also discusses the importance of caring for yourself while working towards goals.

> It was the constant struggle of getting stuff done, making sure I remain creative, relevant, and giving meaning to my work, while staying on top of everything else going on in my life, including my role as a daughter, sister, friend, etc.

### [I'm Luke, and I support women in tech.](https://dev.to/lukeocodes/i-m-luke-and-i-support-women-in-tech-23gk)

**Luke Oliff** is a **Developer Educator** for Vonage. Luke shares the work and content of some of the folks who have inspired him.

> Last year I wrote about things I advocated that we can all do to further equality in tech. This year, I'd rather give space to those in tech who have or do inspire me

### [Resilience is key to my success](https://dev.to/vonagedev/resilience-is-key-to-my-success-2ajo)

**Tatiana Xyda** is an **Enterprise Relationship Manager** for Vonage. Tatiana reflects on her journey to tech, the struggles she has had to overcome along the way, and an important message for others.

> I deserve credit for never giving up on what I wanted and the path I took to get there. I learned to receive a ‘No’ and learn from it

## International Women's Day 2021 Panel

{% youtube t5wPcUK4lpI %}

To kick off the celebrations for International Women's Day 2021, we held a panel discussion with some of our Vonage leaders on March 2, 2021. Featured speakers Amitha Pulijala, Danielle Vergara, Lauren Lee, Marina Serrano Montes, and Nahrin Jalal provided insight into their experiences, both as women and as advocates for women in technology. Through their stories, we learned how they navigated the tech industry and what their experience has taught them. Watch the recording on [YouTube](https://youtu.be/t5wPcUK4lpI)!

## In Closing

We are proud to be elevating voices and shining a light on issues women and non-binary folks face in the software industry this International Women's Day. At Vonage, we will continue to choose to seek out and celebrate women's achievements in an effort to help create a more inclusive world.