Women in Templafy (WIT) is Templafy’s newest Employee Resource Group (ERG). Similar to TemplaPride, our LGBTQIA+ ERG, WIT aims to promote a positive and inclusive work environment while providing opportunities for women in networking, career advancement and mentorship.
To accomplish this, WIT focuses its work on three main pillars: Career, Culture, and Communication.
To highlight the great initiatives WIT is currently focusing on, we spoke with five founding members, including:
- Catherine Connor, Senior Marketing Campaign Manager (Communications Pillar Lead)
- Jane Elisabeth Haapoja, Director of Product GTM and Readiness Programs (Career Pillar Lead)
- Karen Thyssen Raaberg, Regional Lead – Customer Success (Career Pillar Lead)
- Viktoria Sophie Elizabeth Worm, Global Partnerships Manager (Career Pillar Lead)
- Claudia Stein, Account Executive (Communications Pillar Lead)
What inspired you to take a leadership role within WIT?
Catherine
Templafy has a great sense of office culture and team comradery, so I wanted to help make an additional impact to make sure women’s voices are heard at all different levels.
Viktoria
I’m passionate about all women in tech, but most specifically about women in Templafy. I wanted to be a part of continuing to build upon our culture and further highlight our women and what we contributed to the company.
Karen
I’m one of the female leaders in the New York office, and that comes with a personal responsibility for me to help advocate for other women, to speak up, to ask for what they want, and to continue to develop both personally and professionally.
I wanted to be a part of continuing to build upon our culture and further highlight our women and what we contributed to the company.
What’s it like to start a global ERG?
Viktoria
It’s been so fun because there are 15 of us leading it, with global ambassadors to help highlight the unique needs in each office. We all still have our own jobs and KPIs to balance the ERG work with – but we’re all extremely passionate and dedicated!
Karen
Whenever you’re starting a new initiative, finding champions is really important. It’s important that you set the framework, and then empower those champions to run with ideas. We’re grateful to have great support from our Executive Sponsor, Robin Stimac (Chief Product Officer) in helping us set that framework so members of the group can go on to do impactful work across our organization.
Jane
It has been an interesting learning curve! I’ve had the chance to participate in many discussions about what an ERG does, as it is not as common outside the US. I’m constantly surprised at how large of an impact we’re already making so quickly — all thanks to the incredibly motivated group members.
What are your main focus areas and goals?
Karen
Within the Career pillar, we have four core focus areas: (1) to advance women in their careers by providing additional tools and opportunities for collaboration; (2) to increase employee satisfaction and retention; (3) to continue to progress towards a 50/50 distribution of men and women in the workforce; (4) to contribute to Templafy’s brand by advocating for diversity.
Viktoria
Templafy has also partnered with Women in Sales Everywhere (WISE) which is an amazing organization that brings together women in tech sales roles across all organizations. WISE provides us with valuable resources and knowledge sharing so that we’re able to learn from others in the space as well as continuing to up-level each other.
On a bi-weekly basis, we also have a Profile of the Week where we highlight a different woman and her contributions to Templafy. It’s a fun way to highlight the successes and hard work each of us is doing.
Claudia
I’m part of the Communications Pillar, so I’m helping to support the messaging around relevant world and local events, while also serving as the eyes and ears on the ground down here in Sydney!
What impact has WIT had on Templafy and its culture so far?
Karen
I think the impact so far has increased awareness at the baseline. What I’m most proud of is our Mentorship Program, which is a three-month program connecting our women workers in all our global offices with Templafy leadership for advice and support in both professional and personal development.
Catherine
The formation of WIT has allowed us to all start conversations that weren’t previously being had regarding women’s issues globally. We’ve also been able to put an emphasis on mentorship, which I think is super special.
Viktoria
It’s given women in Templafy a place to grow and learn from other women. For me, I love the bi-weekly meetings with the WIT Pillar Leads. I’ve learned that since we’re a global ERG, women in different locations will bring up different issues based on their own experiences. WIT has given us a safe place to speak up, ask for help, and learn how to talk about these various issues.
Claudia
I've been a part of the mentorship program, and that’s had the strongest impact on me so far. Having access to and guidance from leaders I wouldn’t necessarily speak with on a day-to-day basis is something I’m really enjoying.
The formation of WIT has allowed us to all start conversations that weren’t previously being had regarding women’s issues globally. We’ve also been able to put an emphasis on mentorship, which I think is super special.
Which of WIT’s initiatives do you most look forward to this year?
Karen
I’m excited to see what comes out of the mentorship program. Understanding how we can do better and rolling it out again will be exciting.
Viktoria
I hope that the mentorship program will continue to aid in mentees’ professional development. I’ve already learned so much from my mentor, she’s taught me so much in such a short period of time!
Claudia
We just got off a call about some fun events we’re planning for the end of the year! We’re hoping to have a charity event where we can give back to some awesome women-specific programs.
What’s one thing you've learned about women in Templafy since joining WIT?
Catherine
The women here are passionate! Having such a strong willingness to participate is super exciting. I feel like a year from now we’ll have seen so much growth.
Jane
I’m learning how gender equality is being talked about in different parts of the world. I've been able to hear many different perspectives, different women’s issues, and it’s been quite eye opening.
Karen
We have more badass women than I even knew! The women here are just extraordinary, and it’s been very rewarding being a part of something much bigger than just myself.
Claudia
We’re all boss ladies!
Stay tuned for future spotlights and check out our other posts to learn more about life inside Templafy.
