In her TechCrunch article, Swati Mylavarapu of Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers posed the question, “how can we collectively work to improve women’s participation in the tech industry at each key stage of their careers?”

In honor of International Women’s Day, I spoke with Tuxera’s own Eva Rio to take a closer look at how our company is working to answer this question. Eva is Service Designer and Marketing Manager at Tuxera, and also one of the lead organizers of the Finnish Android Association (now Google Developers Group Helsinki). Read on for the interview!

What does Tuxera do to support women in the Finnish tech scene?

Eva: What we do is a combination of initiatives that come from the company as a whole, and from personal contributions from our employees. For example, I am an active member of Girls in Tech and Women Techmakers. Through Girls in Tech, I also mentor women who have recently graduated and are interested in technology. Also, our Head of People Operations organized coding classes, which placed special emphasis on coding skills for girls. So just looking at some of our own personal efforts as Tuxera ambassadors, we have support for girls and women in tech from elementary school to university.

And Tuxera as a company has also been closely involved with Girls in Tech as well as other initiatives, right?

Eva: Yes, that’s correct. We’ve arranged visits and meetups for girls and women that study computer science or are otherwise involved in STEM. For example, we invited TKT-AKAT, the association of women studying computer science at University of Helsinki, to our office to learn more about our inclusive working environment.

We’ve also hosted a Girls in Tech Bootcamp, which was a three-day intensive course in design, business, and software. We contacted several influential people in the Finnish tech industry, along with our own people, to coach women interested in those tracks, and arranged workshops with them.

In general, we have an open offer to help Girls in Tech and other groups and associations for the same cause with whatever support we can. If we have some expertise in an area and they need it, we are always here for them. I think they appreciate that support.

Do you have anything inspiring you’d like to share for International Women’s Day – perhaps specifically about the Finnish tech industry?

Eva: Speaking about Finland as a whole, I think we are doing a pretty good job of supporting women in tech – especially compared to my previous experiences living in other countries and from speaking to a lot of women of other nationalities who now live here. Let’s keep up this high level of support for women and girls of all ages and always strive to improve. We should be an example for other countries to follow – that’s what matters.