THE CONCEPT
deploy(impact) is a hands-on software development program for social good.
Learn how to develop a product from A to Z following an agile methodology of a product's full life-cycle: from business requirements definition to proof-of-concept together with the product owner.
Running remotely, for a duration of six weeks (part-time), participants will form interdisciplinary teams to work on tech projects for social good. Selected solutions can directly benefit a social cause and will be guided in the technical implementation phase.
TIMELINE 2023
Deployment of projects
Demo sprint
Onboarding: Participants meet their team and POs to define project requirements
Selected participants confirmed by Sep 15
NGOs and participants take the lead in deploying projects after program completion. women++ supports process on demand
Participants applications open Jul 17 - Sep 3
NGOs/ project announcement
Sep 23
Nov 4
Jun
Jul
Sept
Sep 18 - Sep 22
We are live!
On-site get together
Kick-Off
Program dates confirmed and projects for social good are being defined
Sep 19 in Zürich (with remote stations) to meet with mentors, participants and everyone involved!
On-site event (with remote stations).
1st project sprint starts!
Project Presentations
and award ceremony. On-site event (with remote stations).
All project teams present their MVP solutions and learnings.
PRIORITIZING LEARNING VS. COMPETITION
The main focus of deploy(impact) is to give participants the opportunity to gain real-life experience in the full life cycle of software development projects in a supportive and safe space.
Workshops & mentorship support during the program
Mentors will introduce key concepts and methodologies in the sprint relevant to the development of the project, as well as provide feedback to project teams throughout the 6 sprints. Topics include agile workflow, project management, project architecture, UX design, pitch design, critique/feedback sessions and other project-related tech topics.
Develop project management and team-building skills
Teams are not expected to deliver a fully running solution with all features implemented, but to deliver an MVP solution. To facilitate successful project completion, project teams receive mentorship on project management and team-building topics from the very beginning.
Hands-on client management experience
Experience all the rewards and challenges of working with real people as your project clients/ product owners and real-life project needs. Teams will have a biweekly feedback session with POs to ensure project requirements are met.
Learning and collaborative approach
Fostering collaboration between participants during deploy(impact), is highly important to women++. As 3 teams will be working towards solving the same project, collective sessions to share learnings and different approaches to a solution will be promoted. This will allow teams to learn from each other and keep their focus on learning rather than "winning" the final prize. During the award ceremony, there will be a prize for the best solution per project and a prize for team learning voted by the teams themselves.
STATISTICS 2023
PROTAGONISTS
PROJECTS FOR SOCIAL GOOD
More than ever organizations with a social cause behind are in need of technical solutions to advance their missions. They bring real-life tech projects for participants to solve during deploy(impact).
As project owners, they designate a product owner from their organization to give feedback to the teams creating tech-based solutions to their challenges during the six-week agile workflow program.
PARTICIPANTS
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Monday - Friday 11:00 - 18:30
Saturday 11:00 - 17:00
Sunday 12:30 - 16:30
Software developers, data scientists, UX/UI designers, project managers, communicators, creative minds, business experts, and members of STEM fields. Tech enthusiasts with different experience levels and backgrounds will be the key to building successful solutions to advance social good.
This program is aimed at women advancing their careers in tech. For anyone transitioning to tech, trying a new tech role, or who needs tech project experience to land a job in the industry
COMPANIES
Companies supporting diversity in technology in Switzerland bring know-how to help project teams develop extraordinary solutions while honing their skills. Networking and career opportunities can help participants boost their career in tech or find the right environment for transitioning into tech.
Discover all the sponsoring benefits and register your interest below. Our team will get in touch soon to explore the sponsorship opportunities together with you:
WHAT WE OFFER
MENTORSHIP & PREP WORKSHOPS
30+ mentors from the different participating sponsors provided mentorship support in 2021, bringing their industry know-how in specific areas to help participants develop their solutions. During the 6-weeks program, your team will have access to mentor feedback sessions and workshops in topics like: agile workflow, PM, software development, UX/UI design, pitching, etc.
AGILE WORKFLOW
Agile values applied to our programme:
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Fostering Individuals and interactions: interdisciplinary teams aligned from requirements to implementation.
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Customer collaboration: weekly check-up sessions with the product owner (NGO).
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Adapting to change: iterative improvement on a weekly basis based on customer feedback and mentorship guidance.
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Producing working results: selected solutions can be deployed within the NGO.
PARTICIPATING SPONSORS
VENUE SPONSOR
PROJECTS PARTNERS
HANDS-ON CHANGE
women++ is on a mission of helping individuals and companies to increase and harness diversity in order to improve the quality of their products & working environments.
+1K
Participants joining our programs
>80%
of participants joining our programs are women. We design programs to be inclusive and gender diverse
+50
Women supported in their transition into tech
TECH WORKSHOPS
Besides mentorship and prep workshops for programme participants, sponsors will facilitate webinars for anyone interested, in the latest tech-related topics in the industry. Apply now!
SOCIAL IMPACT
Offering a course on project management or development is one thing, but we know we can do even better. women++ wants to offer our community the chance to work on something real, tech projects that make a measurable impact. Therefore, the resulting product from project teams can directly benefit the selected NGO.
“Deploy(impact) gave me great experience working in a specialised team where each person had their designated function i.e PM, developer, UX etc. This was my first experience working in a scrum configuration with sprints, which was especially helpful when I transitioned to my next role as the start up was just implementing scrum and I was able to help guide them with useful tips and tricks that I had picked up from my project and team”.
Alexandra Bödtker, deploy(impact) participant 2021
“Over the six-week-long project, collaborating as a team for a good cause and the networking opportunities that were available to me during deploy(impact) were extremely helpful. It is such an amazing programme to not only improve my technical skills but also work alongside other developers, programmers and UX/UI designers towards a common goal. Importantly, it has also opened up job opportunities for me in the tech space”
Emilie Humbert, deploy(impact) participant 2021
After completing the project, I included it in my portfolio and CV. I did a new round of applications, which was really successful. I was invited for a lot more interviews and it was the project I mainly spoke about. Also, it was a real project and not a case study, which helped a lot. Now I have my first full-time #job in #UX, I'm a junior user researcher".