Berlin Geekettes arbeitet mit Telekom zusammen
Wer Jess Erickson in der Startup-Szene der Hauptstadt noch nicht über den Weg gelaufen ist, hat sich vermutlich in der letzten Berliner Eckkneipe versteckt. Die US-Amerikanerin aus Minnesota studierte an der LSE in London, befeuerte als PR-Managerin den Hype um die 6Wunderkinder, machte dann Stopp bei der PR-Agentur Four Sektor und brachte anschließend General Assembly nach Berlin. Eine Netzwerkerin. Heute hat man das Gefühl, dass ihr Traum wahr wird. Ihr Herzensprojekt, Berlin Geekettes (www.berlingeekettes.com), eine Plattform für Frauen, die Technologie-Innovationen leben, wird zur Vollzeitpassion.
Die Non-Profit-Organisation, die die Amerikanerin vor gut einem Jahr gründete, wird künftig von der Deutschen Telekom unterstützt. Gemeinsam mit dem deutschen Telekommunikationsriesen, der schon länger Gefallen an der Startup-Szene gefunden hat, wollen Jess Erickson und ihre Mitgründerin Denise Philipp Frauen in der Technologie-Szene fördern. Über die Höhe der Beteiligung ist nichts bekannt. Das Engagement in Berlin soll auf Hamburg ausgedehnt werden. Eine Internationalisierung des Netzwerks ist wohl nicht ausgeschlossen.
Telekom will eigene Innovationskraft steigern
Die Telekom verspreche sich von der Zusammenarbeit auch einen Innovations-Schub für die Kultur des eigenen Unternehmens, so Marion Schick, Vorstandsmitglied bei der Deutschen Telekom. Mitarbeiter von der Telekom sollen mit Frauen aus der Szene vernetzt werden. Gemeinsam wollen die Berlin Geekettes und die Telekom Frauen Werkzeuge und Ressourcen an die Hand geben, um zu gründen und sich in der Technologie-Community zu vernetzen.
Die Telekom hatte bereits in der Vergangenenheit großes Interesse an der Startup-Szene gezeigt. Neben dem Inkubator Hub:raum und dem neuen Accelerator-Programm verfügt die Telekom mit T-Venture bereits lange über einen aktiven Startup-Investitionsarm. Für die Berlin Geekettes dürfte sich die Zusammenarbeit trotz aller Skepsis gegenüber Corporate-Startup-Engagement lohnen. Denn aus einer Leidenschaft wird so eine Vollzeit-Berufung. Und Fokus ist bekanntlich förderlich.
Mentoren und Weiterbildung
„Wir freuen uns auf die Schaffung einer stärkeren Plattform, um Frauen zu unterstützen“, sagt Jess Erickson. Mit der Partnerschaft wolle Berlin Geekettes ein umfangreiches Weiterbildungsprogramm schaffen, das Mentoren-Programm ausbauen und im Herbst den ersten Berliner Tech-Gipfel mit weiblichem Fokus veranstalten. Dieser solle die Gelegenheit für weibliche Unternehmer, Designer und Ingenieure werden, zu netzwerken und Ideen zu pitchen.
Das Netzwerk wird von zahlreichen Frauen aus der Szene unterstützt. Dazu zählen Etsy-Europachefin Caroline Drucker, Erin Grüber von Google und Ilya Levtov, der Gründer von Qupcake. Gründerszene sprach mit Berlin-Geekettes-Macherin Jess Erickson über ihr Projekt.
What does Berlin Geekettes mean to you?
Berlin Geekettes is an organization that aims to bring new ideas to the table. Ideas that come from women, an underrepresented gender in the tech world. I wanted to surface women that designed, women that developed, women that took the chance to start a company of their own – and connect them all together.
In a broader sense, Berlin Geekettes is a start of a revolution. A revolution that pushes for gender balance in the tech sphere. We know there’s an imbalance and a misrepresentation, and we know the old saying „actions speak louder than words“. Berlin Geekettes takes a positive and productive step by initiating helpful actions to create a gender balance in the tech sphere. We encourage women to strive for what they believe in, to take risk, to mentor one another and inspire the next generation of women to pursue careers in technology.
You have been in some important positions, why didn’t you make your full-time business before?
It just struck me one day that I needed to go full-time with this organization. If I truly want to make an impact and really close the gender gap, I needed to devote 100 percent of my time. I always wanted to do more but never had enough time with a full-time position. Now I have the opportunity, attained more skills and have the fundraising to make this a reality. There’s no better time than now!
Where is your office? Who is in the team?
Our office is located at Winterfeldtstrasse 21, Berlin, in the Deutsche Telekom building, first floor on the left.
How did you find Denise?
Denise and I met each other at the first Rails Girls meet-up last year. Together, we were learning how to program our first lines of code. We definitely clicked and later worked together on building General Assembly here in Berlin. I’ve seen her work, her passion and focus over the past year and I couldn’t think of a better person to partner with. It’s a bonus that she is actually a born and raised Berliner.
And why is Deutsche Telekom the right partner? How do they support you?
Telekom is absolutely one of the biggest multinational companies in the world. They seem dedicated as of late to the burgeoning startup scene, which is their way of bridging the young and old business worlds together to form something stronger, more robust, and wiser for the future. They have illustrated their passion and commitment to this ecosystem and we’re thrilled to be partnering with them. Deutsche Telekom will support us by providing space for us to run our events, to run our daily operations, open up their network and provide funding to allow us to run Berlin Geekettes full-time.
For which kind of women is Berlin Geekettes?
I believe that connecting like-minded women who share the same goals is the answer. Each woman has a certain level of knowledge, accumulated experience, vision and commitment to their work. It’s about bringing these talented women together, sharing their stories and inspiring the next generation of female innovators.
What is your plan for the next twelve months? What will be the specific tasks you will do? Mentoring, conferences, cetworking – what else?
We are now 500 women strong but I hope to reach 1,500 by next January. Beyond that, tens of thousands, and hundreds of thousands. I want the Berlin Geekettes to be the place aspiring. And I want established women in tech to come to us and consult us when they’re looking to improve, to connect, and to learn.
And when we talk of aspiring female geekettes, we’re also talking of the generation to come. Let’s get them interested and involved in the tech scene. How about high school students and Berlin Geekettes workshop day? For girls aged 16 to 18 years and with three workshops build around: web development, hardware development and robotics. Field trip for high-school students to see female led startups and to meet the ‚mini geekettes‘.
I think it’s important to get women and girls interested in the fields of technology, science, engineering, and math. That’s the future, where innovation is and where women can make great careers.
Berlin Geekettes’ purpose resonates across the globe. With this in mind, additional chapters of the Berlin Geekettes movement will be created in other tech hotspots around Germany. The next stop? Hamburg!
Will you also support in terms of financing or finding investors?
As of now, we’re not actively trying to approach investors. However, there is a chance that Berlin Geekettes could spawn into an incubator someday. It would also be wonderful to explore the idea of creating a network of angel investors who’d like to fund female-led startups. We don’t know what the future holds but the possibilities are endless.
What’s your personal advice for women that want to found a company?
Follow your dream. All successful entrepreneurs have a strong idea they want to pursue. They see an opportunity to solve a need. Do you have a dream and a new product in mind? I say go for it now! Don’t wait and hold yourself back.