About Us
Meet the amazing team behind Hack4Her
Our History
The story began in October 2021, when Isabella Venancia Gardner (Bella) and Mylène Brown-Coleman founded the first Diversity Committee within the BETA student association, STORM, at VU Amsterdam. This initiative was in response to encountering racist and sexist comments among classmates and identifying a lack of clear channels for reporting and seeking assistance.
Bella served as the Co-founder and Chair of the Diversity Committee, with Mylène as the Vice Chair, up until their graduation. Their efforts were directed towards fostering an environment of inclusivity and respect.
During Mylène's time as the AAPPCie committee secretary, she observed a significant underrepresentation of women at the Amsterdam Algorithm Programming Preliminary (AAPP). This lead to the idea of organizing a female-focused hackathon, aimed at creating a more inclusive and supportive environment for women in competitive programming.
With Dr. Katja Tuma as scientific lead, the first Hack4Her took place in June 2022, at VU Amsterdam. The event was women-only and attracted 35 attendees.
In 2023, the event was expanded to welcome all genders while maintaining a focus on women in tech. Held at the Booking.com office with Booking.com as the main sponsor, the participation increased to 75, with a total of 100 attendees. This iteration emphasized a broader learning and networking experience.
Hack4Her was founded to create a supportive and inclusive tech community. Its evolution reflects a commitment to these principles, with each event building upon the last to advance diversity in technology.
Our Mission
Hack4Her is dedicated to fostering a women-centered space in the technology sector. Our mission revolves around providing women with increased opportunities for hackathon participation and project experience, educating all individuals on the importance of women-centered technology and inclusivity, promoting diversity within the tech community, and facilitating connections among people from various backgrounds.
Meet Our Team
Click on any of the volunteer profiles to find out more!
Anca Strulea
Project Lead
Lieve Jilesen
PR Team Lead
Lara Popović
Finance Team Lead
Eduardo Emanuele
Challenge Creation Team Lead
Katja Tuma
Scientific Lead
Isabella Venancia Gardner
Advisory Board Member
Mylène Brown-Coleman
Advisory Board Member
Arshana Ramautar
Registration Team Lead, Venue Team
Carmen Toyas Sanchez
PR Team
Eda Cetinkaya
Visual Designer, PR Team
Joey Laarhoven
WebDev Team
Josephine Dode
Challenge Team
Laura Stampf
PR Team
Nehir Kirkgoz
Social Media Manager, PR Team
Ruveyda Günsili
PR Team, Finance Team
Tuana Durmayuksel
Challenge Team
Scientific Committee
Our scientific committee members serve as consultants for our challenges, assist in promotion, and help ensure impartial and fair conduct of our hackathon.
- Mengyuan (Maggie) Zhang, Assist. Prof. at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
- Ana Oprescu, Assist. Prof. at the University of Amsterdam
- Anna Sperotto, Associate Prof. at the University of Twente
- Jan-Willem Bullée, Assist. Prof. at the University of Twente
- Lavinia Paganini, Doctoral candidate at Eindhoven University of Technology
- Lu Cao, Assist. Prof. at Leiden University
- Mairieli Wessel, Assist. Prof. at Radboud University
- Çiçek Güven, Assist. Prof. at Tilburg University
Our Sponsors
We thank our sponsors for their support in making Hack4Her possible and helping us empower women in technology.
