Zailab founder and CEO Nour Addine Ayyoub invited female members of the team into his home for a special Women’s Day meal inspired by his travels through Africa.
This is what he had to say:
‘The Iron Lady Margaret Thatcher once said; ‘What you think is what you become’. This is something I live by daily. The transformation of women in society has been a journey of empowerment and self-discovery for some. Despite awareness initiatives that are geared towards supporting and empowering women, the ongoing gender equality battle in the tech industry is sadly still a struggle.
This became evident to me in my recent video project, Voices of Humanity, where a small team and I traveled across the African continent to capture the voices of the people we encountered. The women we interviewed in various countries spoke often about gender inequality – that was the defining moment that made me realize this was a global problem.
I made a conscious decision to challenge and change current inequalities by making sure that I empower women where I can. I have come across many amazing female colleagues who play a pivotal role in the success of Zailab.
The tech industry has been dominated by males for many years. Today we find that the face of the game is changing with the number of females doing incredible things in various tech roles. The industry has opened up many roles to women, from CEOs, CTOs, product owners, business analysts, testers, developers, designers and many other specialist roles within tech companies. However, women are still far from reaching a status of equality.
As a husband and father, I know that without my wife and my three daughters I would not be the same person that I am. They make me softer and stronger at the same time. In my quest to be the change I want to see in the tech industry, I am celebrating South African Women’s Day by being of service to ten amazing women in our Cape Town office and treating them to a nine-course meal, which I have been preparing for the past eight hours.
This is a token of my appreciation towards the women who go above and beyond in making strides in their crafts every day. Let us take the time to celebrate these pioneers, mavericks and inspirational leaders. These are a few of the unsung heroes out of the many awesome women we have at Zailab who work behind the scenes of our globally renowned SaaS company – Zailab. Happy Women’s Day!’
Watch the video highlights:
Want to read more about the amazing team at Zailab? Meet our queens of tech here.