Written by Julia Gumeniuk, the ambassador of the Community of Kiwi.com Women
As part of the Femme Palette Ambassador Program, Kiwi.com got to organize a Community of Women to boost the employees’ development and engagement.
Last year’s ongoing pandemic and home office policy triggered many companies to think differently about employees’ engagement and development. They were introducing online team buildings, online cooking workshops, or encouraging the exchange of different skills between employees. Kiwi.com also followed the trend and enrolled in Femme Palette Ambassador Program with Julia Gumeniuk as their main ambassador. The goal was to establish the Community of Women within the company, kicking off monthly online development sessions.
The original idea was based on statistics coming from Kiwi.com, stating that back in 2020 women to men ratio in the company was 42% to 58%. The goal of the community was to support women in their career journeys and provide development tools to strengthen their position. The project was supported by Femme Palette, a Czech-based community of professional women offering mentoring, coaching, leadership programs, and networking sessions.
The first introductory session was held back in December 2020, when everyone interested was invited to discuss their motivation to be a part of the community. In the following 11 months, the community covered many interesting topics and was led by many interesting speakers. Professional coaches and experts in their fields presented topics such as Imposter Syndrome, Mindfulness, Work-Life Balance, Stress Management, Gender Bias, and many others. As topics were relevant for everyone in the company, men were welcome to join the sessions and be involved in discussions.
Kamila Shodieva, Junior SEO Specialist at Kiwi.com and a regular attendee said, “I really enjoyed being present at the sessions and especially being part of the discussions that some sessions sparked, like gender bias or highly competitive culture. The biggest learning that I remember from the sessions is to remember to breathe. If I have an important meeting coming up, I try taking a few minutes to do breathing exercises to relax and collect my thoughts.”
Julia Gumeniuk, our Femme Palette Ambassador and sessions moderator added, “We found the right time to introduce the Community of Women and kick off the monthly sessions. It was a sad time of the second lockdown here in the Czech Republic and these online events felt like a fresh breeze after being stuck at home. We got to discuss many important and interesting topics, asked professionals and coaches to share their opinion, and learned from each other. Although the official 12-months ambassador program comes to an end, we will think of ways to keep the community alive and continue with regular development workshops. Because life is a constant learning process!”
Over the entire program, Kiwi.com held 12 online sessions led by five professional Life Coaches and heard inputs on topics from at least three women occupying C-level roles. More than 100 people became part of the community, including team contributors, managers, or even company Chiefs and Directors from all possible company departments.
Interested in joining Kiwi.com and being involved in this and similar activities? Check our open positions!