As part of this year’s International Girls in Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Day celebration on April 25th, AT&T hosted simultaneous live events at our offices in Slovakia! Organized by the AT&T Europe Women’s Network (AEWN), AT&T employees in 3 locations across Slovakia (2 in Bratislava; 1 in Kosice) hosted girls at our offices to celebrate this very special day. The girls were introduced to the IT sector and to AT&T as a company, learned from a presentation on cybersecurity, and attended a panel discussion featuring women from AT&T’s offices in Central and Eastern Europe.
International Girls in ICT Day is held every fourth Thursday in April, with the goal of supporting the creation of a global environment that empowers and encourages girls and young women to consider education and careers in the information and communication technology (ICT) field, and in the tech field more broadly.
An initiative of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), which is led by Secretary-General Doreen Bogdan-Martin, International Girls in ICT Day also aims to bridge the digital divide and promote gender equality. Elected in 2022, Secretary-General Bogdan-Martin is the first woman to ever hold the organization’s top position in the more than 150 years of its history.
This year’s International Girls in ICT Day theme was ‘Leadership.’ The ITU selected this theme with the aim to, “underscore the critical need for strong female role models in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) careers,”2 and we at AT&T are also committed to this aim. We were so pleased to give attendees of the event in Slovakia the special treat of watching a video of inspirational remarks from AT&T’s women leaders across the globe.
The fantastic leaders featured in the video were Mary Beth Asher, AVP, Sales Management (Hong Kong); Monica Aspe, CEO, AT&T Mexico (Mexico City); Cheryl Choy, SVP, Network Planning and Engineering (Dallas, Texas); Rhonda J. Johnson, EVP, Federal Regulatory (Washington, DC); Mayra Rivera, VP, Supply Chain and Logistics (Dallas, Texas); Nicole Rodríguez Van den Branden, VP and Chief Technology Officer, AT&T Mexico (Mexico City); Claudia Selli, VP, International External and Regulatory Affairs (Brussels); and Exa Whiteman, VP, Service Delivery (Dallas, Texas).
Participants also were inspired by a video from ITU Secretary-General Doreen Bogdan-Martin herself, where she emphasized that “our shared digital future needs women leaders who are not just technologically skilled, but visionaries with a voice to advocate for a more inclusive, equitable and sustainable world – online and offline.” You can view her full video here.
According to the ITU, since 2011, over 377,000 girls and young women have taken part in more than 11,400 International Girls in ICT Day celebrations in 175 countries. Governments, national ICT regulatory authorities, ICT companies, academic institutions, UN agencies, and NGOs across the world are all encouraged to join the movement and celebrate International Girls in ICT Day. 3
AT&T is proud of our continued participation in recognizing this important day, both this year and in the past. Looking forward, we challenge ourselves and others to continue efforts to close the gender digital gap and inspire girls and young women to pursue careers in ICT.
And in case you missed it, you can catch up on our 2023 International Girls in ICT Day celebration here.
1 International #GirlsinICT Day (itu.int)
