Sophos Celebrates International Day of the Girl

October 11 marks International Day of the Girl. To celebrate the occasion, Sophos’ Women in Technology (SWIT) network is hosting special guest speaker, Kyla Guru, the 19-year-old Founder and CEO of Bits N’ Bytes Cybersecurity Education, which educates and equips people with cybersecurity skills and awareness. 

As well as our guest speaker event, Sophos is also offering a special training session for employees to look at the specific challenges women encounter in negotiation, and to explore approaches that can be taken to be more effective in negotiating at work. 

Finally, Sophos’ Director, Software Development and SWIT member, Chloe Acebes, has recorded a special edition of the Closing the Gender Pay Gap Podcast to share her experience of building a successful career in cybersecurity and the challenges and barriers for women working in the sector. You can read more about Chloe’s interview in our other blog post. 

Sophos continues its global efforts to encourage girls to embark on careers in tech and to reduce the barriers to equal education. Sophos employees around the globe participate in various endeavors to support the next generation of women in tech.  

Some of those efforts include:  

• A dedicated program in Ropada, India where we work on improving education and gender equality. You can read more on our social impact page of our new careers website.   
• This year, Sophos has provided a substantial $100K investment in RISE, a non-profit organization aimed to dismantle barriers and examine the path required to successfully upskill women. Through our partnership, Sophos has provided scholarships to 100 women pursuing equitable upskilling programs. By alleviating financial barriers, we hope to encourage more women to pursue careers in the STEM fields.  
• Sophos Germany hosts an annual girls’ day event to encourage schoolgirls between 11- 14 years old to consider a career in tech and to explain the routes into the industry.   

• In partnership with the Sophos Support team, we are in the process of setting up CAD $18k in bursaries for students identifying as female to progress technical tracks at four different colleges and technical schools across Canada.   
• Members of our SWIT team take time out as volunteer mentors, such as Marketing Director Christina Nairn, who supports the Sauder School of Business Executive Mentorship Program at the University of British Columbia, and developed one of their students as a Sophos marketing intern this summer.  

International Day of the Girl is recognized annually on October 11 to raise awareness of gender inequality faced by girls worldwide, including access to education, nutrition, legal rights, medical care, and protection from discrimination, violence against women, and forced child marriage.