International Women's Day 2023: Embrace Equity

This year’s theme for International Women’s Day is #EmbraceEquity, a movement that aims to promote equitable opportunities for all women – no matter their race, religion, or socioeconomic status.

Over the years, there have been many ways the women at Tatari have practiced the values of #EmbraceEquity in the workplace. Let’s take a look at a few examples:

• This month, Tatari is hosting a volunteer event to support three women’s shelters located in the same cities as our offices, San Francisco SafeHouse, The Dwelling Place NY, and Downtown Women Center. For this event, each office will assemble toiletry kits that contain essential items such as a toothbrush, soap, and shampoo for women in need. In addition, each location will also collect toiletry items requested by the shelters that are not included in the kits. Our remote employees will also have the opportunity to participate via our Amazon registry!

• At Tatari, we believe that it’s important to support the careers and development of our women employees. Tatari’s Women in Tech (“WIT”) group, started by Thuy-Van Watts (Senior Data Engineer) was launched to do exactly that. By holding monthly meetings focused on career-building, organizing educational sessions on various tech-related topics, and providing a space to share how others navigate the tech industry as a female/minority, WIT is always working to uplift and nurture its fellow women techies. In June, the group will host its third annual women's leadership panel, featuring female leaders from different department

  s who will share pivotal moments from their careers and experiences as women in tech.

• The “ladies-of-tatari” slack channel has become a digital community for Tatari’s women to support each other, laugh together and grow as a team. Throughout the week, members are often offering their support for work-related achievements such as leading a meeting, speaking at an event, winning an award, and receiving a promotion.

Now that you’ve had a glimpse at our community of women, let’s hear about some of the ways a few individuals practice #EmbraceEquity in their lives. We asked each woman the following questions:

1. How do you embody the values of #EmbraceEquity outside of work?

2. How have you helped promote the values of #EmbraceEquity within the company?

3. Tell us about a project that you’re most proud of.

Mala Munisamy, Director of Engineering

• #EmbraceEquity means creating the same level playing field for women and underrepresented groups. It means looking at the potential rather than actual skills when hiring, recognizing their strengths, understanding how one learns, and advocating to provide the tools & environment where one can thrive. I coach and mentor students, leaders, and entrepreneurs from underrepresented (women, HSBCU) communities to seek opportunities and provide resources to support their growth & success

• At Tatari, I am an active participant of women in the tech group and actively mentor female engineers & leaders in my group. It is a fantastic place with tremendous support. Go Tatari! As an engineering leader, I have actively sourced and hired female & underrepresented engineers and leaders to Tatari and elsewhere. I have built mentoring and hiring programs at my previous workplaces to create equity in the hiring pipeline and build diverse teams. I strive to create a psychologically safe, diverse, inclusive culture and environment where everyone in the group can do their best regardless of their experience and background & not shy to share their ideas, even if unpopular and feel heard.

• It is hard to point to one project I am proud of; however, I am proud of hiring women and underrepresented engineers and leaders at Tatari. Equity starts with hiring. We doubled the number of women in the engineering organization in ~2 years. As a leader, I am proud of creating a culture and psychologically safe environment for anyone to share ideas and critical feedback

  at Tatari and other places, even if it is not a popular idea.

Erika Clingerman, Client Services Manager

• I try to embody the values of #EmbraceEquity outside of work by supporting and voting for leaders who push for services for marginalized communities and who align with initiatives that help to promote equity across all communities. I also continue to educate myself on the systematic inequalities that exist and listen to and amplify marginalized voices. I also think it is very important to support policies and practices such as maternity leave and abortion rights for everyone so that everyone has an equal chance in the workplace and more importantly at experiencing life.

• I do my best to promote equity in the workplace by encouraging a more inclusive workplace culture. One way I do this is by doing my best to keep an open mind when I get the chance to sit in and contribute to interviews. I think it is important when interviewing and hiring people at Tatari that we consider candidates with diverse backgrounds and experiences.

Mihaela Panteva, Sr. Media Buyer

• I ensure to always keep inclusivity and growth at the forefront of my mind in everything I do. It's so important to embrace other women and understand them, learn from them, and grow with them. I've volunteered with a YMCA youth program for years that gives high school students the opportunity to learn about and act in a mock state government. We ensure students of all races, cultures, religions, and socioeconomic statuses have the opportunity to participate in all levels of the program. It's always so rewarding knowing you've helped inspire, support, and uplift others and even open their eyes to new avenues.

• I think all of us women at Tatari do a great job of breaking down "traditional" stereotypes and beliefs of women in tech. We hold leadership positions, we embrace learning from one another, and we challenge ourselves to continue growing and excelling. Our "Women in Tech" group gives us an open forum to discuss issues, learn from each other, and find ways to continue our individual growth within this community.

• I recently helped lead some large-scale negotiations for one of my clients which has helped their business grow. These negotiations went through several rounds and at times got fairly difficult, but in the end, we reached an agreement that greatly satisfied the client. It feels empowering to be able to handle these types of scenarios and provides confidence for myself in future negotiations.

Kallana Rampersad, Office Manager

• I try to #EmbraceEquity in my everyday life, even if it’s small things like shopping at small, local businesses. This supports those in my community by helping their businesses thrive and in return, sourcing what I need. I believe that gender equity is not a nice-to-have, but a must-have, and I will do whatever I can to support this initiative.

• A big part of my job as an Office Manager is focusing on People and Culture, and since we're a hybrid company that includes remote and international employees, I always try to be as inclusive as possible, especially as we're spread across different time zones. I also try to tailor events to specific locations- ie. for our volunteer event last October, NYC did a beach cleanup, LA beautified a local school garden, and SF helped out with some harvesting and planting agriculture at a community garden. We're also lucky enough to have fully stocked kitchens and weekly lunches, and I always make sure to have vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free, etc options available that everyone can enjoy!

Anna Koicheva, Business Development

• I try to #EmbraceEquity outside of work by being an active member of communities that support women’s rights, such as The Women in Programmatic Network, as well as mentoring young girls from Ukraine and helping them further their adtech careers.

• In my career, I try to serve as an example and inspiration to women and girls everywhere. I always try to lead based on empathy and I believe Tatari is a unique company whose culture is built on these values.

• A project that I’m proud of is a social program that I initiated 10 years ago in Ukraine. The program aimed to educate women on how to design a life and career of their own, during a time when society believed that they belonged at home, taking care of the family. The program challenged conventional beliefs by exposing young girls and women to different possibilities and giving them access to resources to make their own life choices.