Ay Ty v IT (“You, too, in IT”) has been nominated for the UNESCO Girls and Women Education prize on behalf of Slovakia. This non-profit organisation, established in 2012, seeks to break down societal stereotypes about women’s activities in IT, and works with girls from the age of 8, through high school students to special educational programmes designed for adult women to help them start their careers in IT. It also cooperates intensively with higher education institutions. Since its inception, Ay Ty v IT, through workshops, courses and other events, has trained almost 14 thousand girls and women in more than 30 Slovak cities. The COVID-19 pandemic has pushed the association into the intensive development of online education, opening the door to IT courses even further for girls and women living in the more remote parts of Slovakia. Petra Kotuliakova, the founder and CEO of Ay Ty v IT, is also an active member of the CEPIS Women in ICT expert group, and one of the members of the core team behind the CEPIS DiversIT Charter.
