Season of Docs announces the successful 2019 long-running projects

Season of Docs is happy to announce that all eight of the 2019 long-running documentation projects have finished successfully!

The successful long-running documentation projects are (in alphabetical order):

Apache Cassandra (Project Report, Project Description)

CERN-HSF (Project Report, Project Description)

Kolibri (Project Report, Project Description)

Mattermost (Project Report, Project Description)

MDAnalysis (Project Report, Project Description)

Open Food Facts (Project Report, Project Description)

Open Source Geospatial Foundation (Project Report, Project Description)

Tor Project (Project Report, Project Description)

Congratulations to the technical writers and organization mentors on these successful projects!

During the program, technical writers spent a few months working closely with an open source community. They brought their technical writing expertise to improve the project's documentation while the open source projects provided mentors to introduce the technical writers to open source tools, workflows, and the project's technology.

The technical writers and their mentors did a fantastic job with the inaugural year of Season of Docs! Participants in the 2019 program represented countries across all continents except for Antarctica!

You can view a list of the 44 successfully completed technical writing projects and read their project reports on the Season of Docs website.

What’s next?

Program participants should expect an email in the next few weeks about how to get their Season of Docs 2019 t-shirt (sure to be a collector’s item)!

If you’re interested in participating in a future Season of Docs, stay tuned for more information shortly—watch for posts on this blog and sign up for the announcements email list.

By Erin McKean and Kassandra Dhillon, Google Open Source

Source: Google Open Source Blog

Season of Docs announces the successful 2019 long-running projects

Season of Docs is happy to announce that all eight of the 2019 long-running documentation projects have finished successfully!

What’s next?

Source: Google Open Source Blog

Announcing TensorFlow Quantum: An Open Source Library for Quantum Machine Learning

Posted by Alan Ho, Product Lead and Masoud Mohseni, Technical Lead, Google Research

“Nature isn’t classical, damnit, so if you want to make a simulation of nature, you’d better make it quantum mechanical.” — Physicist Richard Feynman

Machine learning (ML), while it doesn’t exactly simulate systems in nature, has the ability to learn a model of a system and predict the system’s behavior. Over the past few years, classical ML models have shown promise in tackling challenging scientific issues, leading to advancements in image processing for cancer detection, forecasting earthquake aftershocks, predicting extreme weather patterns, and detecting new exoplanets. With the recent progress in the development of quantum computing, the development of new quantum ML models could have a profound impact on the world’s biggest problems, leading to breakthroughs in the areas of medicine, materials, sensing, and communications. However, to date there has been a lack of research tools to discover useful quantum ML models that can process quantum data and execute on quantum computers available today.

Today, in collaboration with the University of Waterloo, X, and Volkswagen, we announce the release of TensorFlow Quantum (TFQ), an open-source library for the rapid prototyping of quantum ML models. TFQ provides the tools necessary for bringing the quantum computing and machine learning research communities together to control and model natural or artificial quantum systems; e.g. Noisy Intermediate Scale Quantum (NISQ) processors with ~50 - 100 qubits.

Under the hood, TFQ integrates Cirq with TensorFlow, and offers high-level abstractions for the design and implementation of both discriminative and generative quantum-classical models by providing quantum computing primitives compatible with existing TensorFlow APIs, along with high-performance quantum circuit simulators.

What is a Quantum ML Model?
A quantum model has the ability to represent and generalize data with a quantum mechanical origin. However, to understand quantum models, two concepts must be introduced - quantum data and hybrid quantum-classical models.

Quantum data exhibits superposition and entanglement, leading to joint probability distributions that could require an exponential amount of classical computational resources to represent or store. Quantum data, which can be generated / simulated on quantum processors / sensors / networks include the simulation of chemicals and quantum matter, quantum control, quantum communication networks, quantum metrology, and much more.

A technical, but key, insight is that quantum data generated by NISQ processors are noisy and are typically entangled just before the measurement occurs. However, applying quantum machine learning to noisy entangled quantum data can maximize extraction of useful classical information. Inspired by these techniques, the TFQ library provides primitives for the development of models that disentangle and generalize correlations in quantum data, opening up opportunities to improve existing quantum algorithms or discover new quantum algorithms.

The second concept to introduce is hybrid quantum-classical models. Because near-term quantum processors are still fairly small and noisy, quantum models cannot use quantum processors alone — NISQ processors will need to work in concert with classical processors to become effective. As TensorFlow already supports heterogeneous computing across CPUs, GPUs, and TPUs, it is a natural platform for experimenting with hybrid quantum-classical algorithms.

TFQ contains the basic structures, such as qubits, gates, circuits, and measurement operators that are required for specifying quantum computations. User-specified quantum computations can then be executed in simulation or on real hardware. Cirq also contains substantial machinery that helps users design efficient algorithms for NISQ machines, such as compilers and schedulers, and enables the implementation of hybrid quantum-classical algorithms to run on quantum circuit simulators, and eventually on quantum processors.

We’ve used TensorFlow Quantum for hybrid quantum-classical convolutional neural networks, machine learning for quantum control, layer-wise learning for quantum neural networks, quantum dynamics learning, generative modeling of mixed quantum states, and learning to learn with quantum neural networks via classical recurrent neural networks. We provide a review of these quantum applications in the TFQ white paper; each example can be run in-browser via Colab from our research repository.

How TFQ works
TFQ allows researchers to construct quantum datasets, quantum models, and classical control parameters as tensors in a single computational graph. The outcome of quantum measurements, leading to classical probabilistic events, is obtained by TensorFlow Ops. Training can be done using standard Keras functions.

To provide some intuition on how to use quantum data, one may consider a supervised classification of quantum states using a quantum neural network. Just like classical ML, a key challenge of quantum ML is to classify “noisy data”. To build and train such a model, the researcher can do the following:

Prepare a quantum dataset - Quantum data is loaded as tensors (a multi-dimensional array of numbers). Each quantum data tensor is specified as a quantum circuit written in Cirq that generates quantum data on the fly. The tensor is executed by TensorFlow on the quantum computer to generate a quantum dataset.
Evaluate a quantum neural network model - The researcher can prototype a quantum neural network using Cirq that they will later embed inside of a TensorFlow compute graph. Parameterized quantum models can be selected from several broad categories based on knowledge of the quantum data's structure. The goal of the model is to perform quantum processing in order to extract information hidden in a typically entangled state. In other words, the quantum model essentially disentangles the input quantum data, leaving the hidden information encoded in classical correlations, thus making it accessible to local measurements and classical post-processing.
Sample or Average - Measurement of quantum states extracts classical information in the form of samples from a classical random variable. The distribution of values from this random variable generally depends on the quantum state itself and on the measured observable. As many variational algorithms depend on mean values of measurements, also known as expectation values, TFQ provides methods for averaging over several runs involving steps (1) and (2).
Evaluate a classical neural networks model - Once classical information has been extracted, it is in a format amenable to further classical post-processing. As the extracted information may still be encoded in classical correlations between measured expectations, classical deep neural networks can be applied to distill such correlations.
Evaluate Cost Function - Given the results of classical post-processing, a cost function is evaluated. This could be based on how accurately the model performs the classification task if the quantum data was labeled, or other criteria if the task is unsupervised.
Evaluate Gradients & Update Parameters - After evaluating the cost function, the free parameters in the pipeline should be updated in a direction expected to decrease the cost. This is most commonly performed via gradient descent.

A high-level abstract overview of the computational steps involved in the end-to-end pipeline for inference and training of a hybrid quantum-classical discriminative model for quantum data in TFQ. To see the code for an end-to-end example, please check the “Hello Many-Worlds” example, the quantum convolutional neural networks tutorial, and our guide.

A key feature of TensorFlow Quantum is the ability to simultaneously train and execute many quantum circuits. This is achieved by TensorFlow’s ability to parallelize computation across a cluster of computers, and the ability to simulate relatively large quantum circuits on multi-core computers. To achieve the latter, we are also announcing the release of qsim (github link), a new high performance open source quantum circuit simulator, which has demonstrated the ability to simulate a 32 qubit quantum circuit with a gate depth of 14 in 111 seconds on a single Google Cloud node (n1-ultramem-160) (see this paper for details). The simulator is particularly optimized for multi-core Intel processors. Combined with TFQ, we have demonstrated 1 million circuit simulations for 20 qubit quantum circuit at a gate depth of 20 in 60 minutes on a Google Cloud node (n2-highcpu-80). See the TFQ white paper, Section II E on the Quantum Circuit Simulation with qsim for more information.

Looking Forward
Today, TensorFlow Quantum is primarily geared towards executing quantum circuits on classical quantum circuit simulators. In the future, TFQ will be able to execute quantum circuits on actual quantum processors that are supported by Cirq, including Google’s own processor Sycamore.

To learn more about TFQ, please read our white paper and visit the TensorFlow Quantum website. We believe that bridging the ML and Quantum communities will lead to exciting new discoveries across the board and accelerate the discovery of new quantum algorithms to solve the world’s most challenging problems.

Acknowledgements
This open source project is led by the Google AI Quantum team, and was co-developed by the University of Waterloo, Alphabet’s X, and Volkswagen. A special thanks to the University of Waterloo, whose students made major contributions to this open source software through multiple internship projects at the Google AI Quantum lab.

Source: Google AI Blog

How a Local Guide helps women achieve financial freedom

Three years ago, my world changed completely. Three different surgeries after a road accident left me bedridden and confined to one room for a year and a half. I wondered if I would ever fully recover. I wondered if my career would suffer. I wondered if I would be able to do what I loved—traveling, eating out, and meeting new people. I wondered if I would be happy again.

Thankfully, an optimistic friend planted an idea in my head: “Why don't you leave Google Maps reviews for places you have already visited?” I had no idea this was a possibility. I began to write Google Maps reviews without ever leaving my room in my hometown of Vapi, India—starting with a local restaurant I adore called Sam's Alive Again. I sensed my mood changing daily; I was helping people make better decisions about places to go and things to do.

Quickly, my numbers added up; I contributed more than 700 reviews and 2,000 photos that have been seen more than 3 million times. In 2018, I was selected to attend Google’s annual meet-up of Local Guides, where top Google Maps contributors from around the world come together in San Francisco. I made new friends and learned about the amazing things they do for their communities, like adding accessibility information on Google Maps to help people with disabilities and arranging volunteer events. I felt helpful and inspired for the first time in a long time.

Being financially independent frees you from the opinions of others. Priyanka Upadhyay

My growing involvement with Local Guides taught me that photos are powerful. Reviews can transform a business. And technology gives a voice to women. I’ve seen this firsthand. My cousin runs a cake shop called Baker's Love out of her home in Vapi. Now that I’ve added her to Google Maps, she receives orders from far away places online. (She makes the most amazing chocolate cake, by the way.)

And I loved teaching Urmila, the owner of Dimple Beauty Parlor, how to claim her business on Google Maps, maintain her photos, and respond to reviews. Urmila told me that she saw a jump in her weekly customers, and her business is doing fine. As Urmila says, “It’s essential to be able to stand on your own feet.”

There are so many social and economic hurdles to start a business—and I believe these multiply when you’re a woman. Financial independence frees you from the opinions of others, and I get excited when a woman is motivated to do her own thing. Through Local Guides Connect, our online forum where Local Guides swap tips and network from around the world, I run a group called “Empowered Women of Vapi, India.” Together, we identify stories about women in Vapi; in 2020, we’re organizing 28 meet-ups in all 28 states of India (yes, all!). At each meet-up we will visit the state capital, gather women business owners, improve their Google Maps place pages, and forge connections between Local Guides.

This is my way of encouraging women to keep going—no matter the obstacle. Women are strong, inspiring, and resilient. Today, I’m fully recovered, and looking back, I’m so grateful I didn’t allow my surgeries to stop me.

Source: Google LatLong

How a Local Guide helps women achieve financial freedom

Being financially independent frees you from the opinions of others. Priyanka Upadhyay

Source: The Official Google Blog

Career development for journalists-turned-parents in Korea

Managing work and home life is never an easy task, and parents around the world would agree that it doesn’t get any simpler with children. Now couple that with a career in journalism: if parenting is a full-time job, the news never stops either.

For reporters in Korea, the pursuit of worabael, or "work-life balance," means making a difficult choice between advancing their careers and spending time with their families. Taking parental leave can be a major career setback—so parents working in the news industry either don’t take leave, or suffer the consequences when they do. It’s a situation that disproportionately affects women, even as thenumber of female reporters in Korean newsrooms grows.

To help overcome these barriers, the Google News Initiative (GNI) has partnered with the Journalists Association of Korea and HeyJoyce—Korea’s largest community for women—to create a leadership program that supports reporters’ career development while on parental leave, so they’re ready to return after a period away. The 10-week curriculum aims to develop the journalists’ understanding of newsroom operations and how to introduce new technologies and business models, with instruction and mentoring from senior editors and academics.

What’s different is that all the participants are invited to bring their children along. While the first cohort of 18 journalists attend sessions, they don’t have to worry about childcare. Professionals from JARANDA—a childcare-matching platform led by Seojung Chang, a member of Google’s 2017 Campus for Moms initiative in Seoul—look after the kids. And catering company Unor, founded by a mother-daughter team, provides the food.

Korean startups provide child-minding and food for journalists taking part in the courses.

The classes help new parents keep up their skills and learn how to lead through change in the news industry.

The program aims to show a different, more positive approach to work-life balance in Korea.

Naree Lee, the CEO of HeyJoyce, knows how critical this kind of support for new parents can be. “I worked for 20 years as a journalist and experienced serious difficulties keeping up with work and caring for my children at the same time; I considered quitting every day. I was also anxious about falling behind my colleagues in such an intensely competitive environment,” she said. “Programs like these will help build concrete skills, so the participants won’t have to go through what I did.”

“Throughout the decade I spent working at a newspaper, I had many concerns about the future of journalism,” said Sewon Yim, a reporter from the Seoul Economic Daily. “Through this program, we were able to express our worries and share possible solutions.”

The pilot program in Korea will conclude this spring and, together with our partners, we plan to expand it to returning parents in newsrooms across Asia-Pacific.

Source: The Official Google Blog

International Women’s Day spotlight on 6 Canadian YouTube creators

We’re lucky to have so many amazing women YouTube creators on our platform who offer a diversity of perspectives that you can’t find anywhere else.

On International Women’s Day, we want to shout out some of the Canadian YouTubers who inspire us each and every day with their creative and entrepreneurial spirit. They’re making a positive difference in the world and embracing success on their own terms.

The Sorry Girls

Becky Wright and Kelsey MacDermaid, a.k.a. The Sorry Girls, are two Canadian YouTube entrepreneurs who have paved the way for other women creators in the DIY space. With millions of subscribers and billions of views, their lifestyle content educates and empowers young women to ‘do-it-themselves’, whether that’s making a tool purchase or renovating an apartment on a budget.

What are you most proud of from your work on YouTube ? (Kelsey)
There are honestly so many things that make me proud when I take a step back and look at my YouTube career. But here are just a few: being able to employ recent graduates and foster talent, challenging myself and testing my comfort zone, and being able to have a sustainable career on YouTube for a whole decade.

Who is another female entrepreneur that inspires you? (Kelsey)
The first person that comes to my mind is Rachel Metz, she’s a power tool queen and truly just doesn’t care what anyone else thinks. It’s inspiring.

What is one important lesson learned from being a YouTube entrepreneur? (Becky)
One of the best lessons we've learned, that continues to guide us, is to "stay true to who we are". I think it's our authentic passion for what we do that keeps people engaged in our content and acts as a great compass to rely on when making decisions. If the ideas and goals are something we're excited about, regardless of trends, viewers will notice and we'll usually find success!

What is one piece of advice you'd want to give to other female YouTube entrepreneurs? (Becky)
There is a space for you! Whether you think you're not the right "demographic" for the type of content you want to make, or think that topic may already be too saturated, there is always a unique spin waiting to be told and your voice needs to be heard!

Aysha Harun

After years of dabbling with beauty products, Aysha Harun created her YouTube channel as a way to try out her favourite beauty and fashion looks. Her channel has an incredibly passionate and loyal following, and it’s no surprise why -- with her fresh content and soft glam looks, Aysha acts a voice for an audience of women who don’t often see themselves reflected in traditional beauty publications.

What are you most proud of from your work on YouTube?
I am most proud of the impact I've been able to make in social media as a visibly Black Muslim Woman. Being able to inspire a very underrepresented group of women to go after their passion and succeed is and always has been my number one goal.

What is one important lesson learned from being a YouTube entrepreneur?
INVEST IN YOURSELF FIRST!! No one will be willing to invest in you if you don't believe in yourself enough to invest in factors that will help you grow on the platform (ie. equipment, conferences, software, product etc.).

What is one piece of advice you'd want to give to other female YouTube entrepreneurs?
Support one another. Collaboration over competition is KEY! You can learn so much from other women and in return you'll both be able to grow and succeed.

Who is another women YouTube creator that inspires you?
Jackie Aina inspires me on the daily. Seeing what she's created for herself as a black female YouTuber inspires me to grind harder. Plus she's incredibly supportive of my content as well and it's refreshing to see someone so successful want to bring others along with her!

WITHWENDY

WITHWENDY all began in 2010, when Wendy uploaded a YouTube sewing tutorial while completing her business and chemical engineering degrees. Now she inspires over 900,000 subscribers to make their own clothing and discover their style.

What are you most proud of from your work on YouTube?
I love one of my recent videos, which got some really positive audience feedback, where I made four different statement red carpet accessories, complete with a photoshoot and dress rentals from a local business. This video represents a lot of growth for me. I’m creating honest content for my audience about the ups and downs of DIY, instead of trying to present my DIY's in a clean and streamlined style. To me, transparency and human adventure is something I've always loved about YouTube and I'm proud to inspire others through my videos.

What is one piece of advice you'd want to give to other female YouTube entrepreneurs?
There are people out there ready to love you as their online gal pal or big sister, let's make YouTube a great place for us all to hang out and blossom.

Who is another woman YouTube creator that inspires you?
There are so many amazing women on YouTube! Lately it's been Claire from Bon Appétit - I love watching her facial expressions as she gets ideas, makes mistakes, and triumphs. She inspires me to embrace the creative process as much as the end result.

Sheepishly Me

Sandi Brock is a farmer...a sheep farmer to be more specific. On her channel Sheepishly Me, she offers candid insights on her day-to-day exploits as a farmer in Ontario, from shipping fails to sheep chores. Sandi is a shining example of the growing community of farming creators on YouTube who are educating the next generation on the ins and outs of the industry.

What is one piece of advice you'd want to give to other female YouTube entrepreneurs?
Never give up, treat YouTube as a business, and do not feel shame when others may turn on you. Know your why and your audience, and communicate with that audience as much as possible. And ask your audience how you can help them, how you can add value to their lives.

Who is another woman YouTube creator that inspires you?
I watch YouTube for two things: to learn and to be entertained. The two women who have drastically helped me on my YouTube journey are Sunny Lenarduzzi, and more recently Vanessa Lau. But for entertainment, my editing style hero is Emma Chamberlain. And Colleen Ballinger is the one person I feel connected to on a human level… like a long lost friend I would love to grab a coffee with.

Simply Nailogical

If you love nail polish, then chances are you’re already familiar with our next creator, Cristine Rotenberg. With over seven million subscribers, her channel, Simply Nailogical is one of the top nail art channels on YouTube. Cristine is an entrepreneur with a capital 'E": she recently launched her own nail polish line, Holo Taco, bringing delightful holographic colours to her fans in Canada and around the globe.

What is one piece of advice you’d want to give to other female YouTube entrepreneurs?
Don’t let your audience or other people’s perception of your ‘brand’ define you or box you into a single persona. Just because you might make lighthearted comedy videos for entertainment doesn’t mean you aren’t capable of having serious conversations or meaningful thoughts on social issues. You can be both the content you choose to put out and more behind the scenes. Acknowledging that no one else should impose rigid boundaries on your skills and abilities early on will help you navigate through sometimes tough online criticism. Your content can and should change over time as your interests, passions and what you want to share with the world shifts.

Who is another woman YouTube creator that inspires you?
Although she may be 13 years younger than me, Joanna Ceddia inspires me. She shares her experience as a student in university in a way that is endearing, entertaining, and with a touch of comedic apathy about the workload while still offering an underlying message about the importance of education for young people. Creators like Joanna show young people, especially young women, how to have fun, be yourself and not be afraid to be a little silly while also dealing with the very real pressures of school as a young adult and taking your future seriously.

Molly Burke

The inspiring Molly Burke is a 25 year old blind beauty vlogger and motivational speaker from Ontario. Her career in public speaking started at the age of five when she became an ambassador for the Foundation Fighting Blindness, following her diagnosis of Retinitis Pigmentosa, a degenerative eye disease. Today, Molly Burke has dedicated her life to sharing her message and inspiring audiences with videos that range from beauty and fashion tutorials to stories about her life and navigating the world as someone who is blind.

What are you most proud of from your work on YouTube?
I’m proud of the awareness I’ve raised, the important conversations I’ve helped start, the people I’ve impacted, and the change I’ve helped create.

What is one important lesson learned from being a YouTube entrepreneur?
You can’t do it alone and it’s okay to rely on others for support in areas where you have “pain points” such as business decisions, editing, or scheduling.

What is one piece of advice you'd want to give to other female YouTube entrepreneurs?
Reach out to your community and ask for support, and support them in return. Be authentic, get involved, and remember that practice makes perfect and everyone starts at the same place - ground zero. One thing I wish I had done and recommend others try is filming a few videos and editing them to get comfortable in front of the camera and get your style and flow down before you make and post your first “real” YouTube video. I feel like this tip could potentially lessen the embarrassment of your first few videos years down the line!

Source: Official Google Canada Blog

Celebrating International Women’s Day with 20 tech trailblazers

Posted by Google Developer Studio

Today is International Women’s Day and we’re kicking off the celebration with a profile series featuring 20 tech trailblazers who have made significant contributions to the developer community. Many of the women we spoke to work directly with some of our educational outreach and inclusivity programs like Google Developer Groups and Women Techmakers, while others are Google Developers Experts or Googlers who do amazing work around the globe. One thing they all have in common is a dedication to making the developer community more approachable and inclusive for generations of women to come.

Read the interviews below to learn more about these amazing individuals whose passion and drive contribute to a better workplace and world.

We’re proud to celebrate #IWD2020 with them.

Garima Jain

Bengaluru, Karnataka, India ??

Android GDE
Photo of Garima Jain

Photo of Garima Jain

Tell us about something you’re working on?

I am currently working on learning OpenGL for my next task on Over’s Android application, i.e. porting image filters to use OpenGL. Last time, when I implemented filters, I used RenderScript with Lookup Tables (LUTs), which was an educational journey in itself. The team recently migrated to use OpenGL for some other features on the application and I am excited to learn and apply it to port image filters. This could then be extended and will act as a building block for video filters in the future. Personally, I am exploring Kotlin Multiplatform (KMP) as I believe multi-platform is the future and looks quite promising for it.

What is one tip you would give your fellow women developers or developers in general?

My suggestion to fellow developers is to believe in yourself and focus on positive things. The world is full of both enablers and disablers, do what is best for you :)

Do you have any special interests, hobbies, or other fun facts you’d like to share?

I love watching TV shows, dancing, and playing basketball. Recently, I have a new hobby of creating and sharing videos on TikTok :P

Moyinoluwa Adeyemi

Lagos, Nigeria ??

Android GDE, Women Techmakers Ambassador, GDG Lagos Photo of Moyinoluwa Adeyemi

Photo of Moyinoluwa Adeyemi

Tell us about something you’re working on?

I’m currently preparing to give two talks. The first one will introduce two programming concepts to beginner Android developers. I’ll also teach them how to build a portfolio which will come in handy when they are job hunting. The other is a Keynote Address for a developer festival focusing on my journey to becoming a GDE.

What is one tip you would give your fellow women developers or developers in general?

Keep learning. That’s probably the only task that’ll remain constant throughout the span of one’s career.

Do you have any special interests, hobbies, or other fun facts you’d like to share?

Ich lerne Deutsch and I run marathons for fun.

Amanda (Chibi) Cavallaro

London, United Kingdom ??

Assistant GDE, Women Techmakers Ambassador, GDG London

Photo of Amanda (Chibi) Cavallaro

Tell us about something you’re working on?

I’ve been currently working on presentations about Actions on Google, Firebase and web technologies to give presentations and share the knowledge.

What is one tip you would give your fellow women developers or developers in general?

If you’re a beginner in tech, one thing I wish I knew before is how to study, model and understand the problem and then try to code it - ask ‘why?’ and ‘what if?’. To practice as much as I could. Not just read books and other resources but to challenge myself into practising more.

Do you have any special interests, hobbies, or other fun facts you’d like to share?

I’m an aikidoka and practicing martial arts helps me both physically and mentally. I’ve also created an action about aikido you can check it out here.

Eliza Camberogiannis

Utrecht, Netherlands ??

Assistant GDE, Women Techmakers Ambassador, GDG Netherlands Photo of Eliza Camber

Photo of Eliza Camber

Tell us about something you’re working on?

As I work for a creative tech agency, most of the apps and tools we develop are under NDA, so, unfortunately, I can't share something specific. I am lucky enough to work somewhere I have the chance to play with all the different Android and AoG SDKs, and not only! From pilots to doctors and from athletes to anyone that takes a bus, seeing something you've built making someone's life easier or better is priceless.

What is one tip you would give your fellow women developers or developers in general?

To ask themselves every day: if not you, then who? Sometimes we assume that someone that "knows better" will reply to that Stackoverflow question; that someone else can give that talk because "I don't have something interesting to say"; or that someone else will raise their voice about the lack of inclusion in the tech world because "what do I know about this"? And at the end, we end up with dozens of unanswered questions, or only a handful of people talking about diversity, because everyone made the same assumption.

Do you have any special interests, hobbies, or other fun facts you’d like to share?

I'm a person with 100 hobbies! I get easily bored so I try to learn and do as many things as possible. One day I'll be learning how to knit, the next how to box, the other one how to decorate cakes and it goes on and on. The only two hobbies that I have since I can remember myself are books and puzzles.

Evelyn Mendes

Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil ??

Firebase GDE, Women Techmakers Ambassador Photo of Evelyn Mendes

Photo of Evelyn Mendes

Tell us about something you’re working on?

Today I am a mobile architecture consultant and software engineer, helping my team improve the software we develop, both in the back-end and front-end and, of course, implementing Firebase in mobile applications.

What is one tip you would give your fellow women developers or developers in general?

For women, never give up. I know, sometimes it's hard to wake up every day and fight something that never seems to end, facing people who never appear to learn that we just want a place to work like anyone else without worrying about harassment, sexism, prejudice or other kinds of discrimination. Together we will end these places and create more and better places, not just for women, but for all people, because I believe this is equity, this is the future, and we just want to be respected, happy and welcome where we work.
Always remember, we are together, we fight together, we win together! <3

Do you have any special interests, hobbies, or other fun facts you’d like to share?

I always pay attention to what happens in the IT world when it comes to Trans issues and about how companies and people are dealing with it. I work a lot for inclusion and diversity. After all, for me, it's not just values and attitudes. They are part of my life, my struggle, and represent who I am.
I love to find new ways, new technologies, to teach people the things I know, and even express myself better to make the learning experience more pleasurable.
I don't know if I have a fun fact. I consider myself so boring. I spend most of my time in front of the computer or watching series, or, of course, defending my girlfriends on the internet =D

Niamh Power

Wrexham, United Kingdom ??

Firebase GDE Photo of Niamh Power

Photo of Niamh Power

Tell us about something you’re working on?

I currently work at the bank, Monzo, in the UK. Mainly on iOS, but occasionally on Android tasks that pop up too. I’m in the borrowing team, so I work on the flows for applying for a loan, managing it, and making the experience as delightful as possible. We’re also working on some new tools to help our users understand their credit scores, which is really exciting.

What is one tip you would give your fellow women developers or developers in general?

I think a tip that I would give would be to never be afraid to be wrong and to ask questions. I spent a lot of time in my first few years worrying about what others would think, which only slowed down my own development. Another one would be to get involved in the community side of things - pursuing the GDE program. Speaking and participating in events helped my networking massively and it’s really boosted my career progression.

Do you have any special interests, hobbies, or other fun facts you’d like to share?

I work remotely, living in North Wales, so I get to go on hikes and mountain bike rides straight after work or even at lunchtime. Working in an industry which offers such flexibility is fantastic and not having to commute is such a game changer! I’ve also just returned from a month long skiing holiday in the alps, and hoping to go back again for three weeks in the summer for some mountain biking!

Joannie Huang

Taipei City, Taiwan ??

#Flutterista Photo of Joannie Huang

Photo of Joannie Huang

Tell us a bit about something you’re working on?

I’m now mainly working on the EdTech, teaching kids coding like Scratch and Python basics. I enjoy cultivating a new generation with tech ability through my computer science background. I've also run the Flutter Taipei with some passionate female developers since 2018 and just officially established the local branch in 2020 in order to encourage people to start using/learning Flutter!

What is one tip you would give Flutter developers?

Flutter has a strong and friendly community around the world. I would recommend searching meetup.com to see if there are any local workshops in your city. And just walk in to meet people! People always tell us that following the examples on the flutter.io is a good way to start.

Do you have any special interests, hobbies, or other fun facts you’d like to share?

I love walking in the alleys in Taipei and seeing the combination of old and modern. You might discover unique coffee or noodles from a generational street vendor. You won’t get bored while living in Taipei, a small but energetic city.

Nilay Yener

Sunnyvale, United States ??

#Flutterista, Program Manager

Photo of Nilay Yener

Tell us a bit about something you’re working on?

I work for the Flutter Developer Relations team as a Program Manager, specifically working on community programs. Community is an important part of Flutter. The goal of our community programs is to build, support, and foster the communities around Flutter and make the Flutter developers successful. Some of the programs I work on are, Flutter Google Developer Experts (GDEs) and Flutter meetups.

What is one tip you would give Flutter developers?

I encourage Flutter developers to contribute to Flutter. This has many benefits like improving the technology you work with, as well as improving your existing skills, meeting other people and giving back to the community. Flutter is an open source project and there are many ways to contribute. Flutter has a great team that welcomes everyone to join the project. You are very welcome to contribute to Flutter's code via pull requests, filing issues on Github, adding to documentation, or contributing to packages and plugins. You can help other people by asking questions in the chat channels. You can join Flutter's community programs, be a GDE, and give talks or run a Flutter meetup in your city to help other developers locally.

Do you have any special interests, hobbies, or other fun facts you’d like to share?

Before joining Google, I was one of the Google Developer Groups organizers and ran a Google meetup as a "hobby". Years later, I joined Google and now Google pays me for what I did as a hobby.

Shoko Sato

Tokyo, Japan ??

GDG Tokyo Lead, Women Techmakers Ambassador Photo of Shoko Sato

Photo of Shoko Sato

Tell us about something you’re working on?

Hi! My name is Shoko, I'm one of three organizers of GDG Tokyo and I host various types of meetups, hands-on workshops, codelabs, and tech conferences. I was also involved in the management of Women DevFest Tokyo which focused more on the career of women engineers. I like promoting activities that support women in different industries related to IT as an engineer. I feel that our tech conferences and others need to be gender-balanced. To achieve this, I have been working to arrange a daycare center at the venues, share information on events to ensure psychological safety before the event, increase the number of women involved, and focus on creating easy access to the event.
I believe an event that women can easily participate in can be one, where anyone, regardless of being a man and a woman, is welcomed. Therefore, I am taking the initiative to create a community where people can easily join.
In my private time, I spend a lot of time planning and going to activities for GDG Tokyo. Professionally speaking, I actually work in Developer Relations at an IT company in Tokyo to support engineers; including technical public relations and tech conference management. I would like to support both the minority and majority, regardless of gender, age, nationality, corporate history, and all types of attributes and layers, working to create a place where each one of engineers can shine.

What is one tip you would give your fellow women developers or developers in general?

You don't need to compare gender, age, nationality, company history, career, and so on to others.
"I'm sure you’re doing great! You should have confidence and believe in yourself."
If there are 100 people, there are 100 ways of living. It may be important to look for a role model thinking, "I want to be like that person in the future." You don't have to think you are inferior, compared to others. What really matters to you? It’s that “you have confidence and you believe in yourself.”
I would say you should work on what you like with confidence. And have a diverse group of friends. If you have any concerns, your friends will help you.

Do you have any special interests, hobbies, or other fun facts you’d like to share?

I spend a lot of my time and work planning activities related to "engineers’ empowerment." The purpose of those activities is different but the basic idea is the same. I have experienced many kinds of jobs and setbacks before. They often told me in the past that life would be difficult because I’m a woman, so I constantly wished I was born as a man. It was an unpleasant experience and I do not want the next generation to experience that.
A lot of people see things in their culture following their experiences, so I think it's inevitable that there is an unconscious bias. This is why I would like to change that bias. I am keen to create organizations and communities where a wide variety of engineers can spend time together. I will continue to work in such a manner so that my work and my personal life can be linked to different activities, leaving eventually a positive impact on the entire IT industry.

Neem Serra

Missouri, United States ??

Women Techmakers Ambassador, GDG St. Louis Lead

Photo of Neem Serra

Tell us about something you’re working on?

I just finished working on a chapter for the Swift For Good book! All revenue from the book goes to Black Girls Code. I wrote my chapter on extensions in Swift, and examples of how a mommy class would interact with a baby class. I plan on writing more things in the future that use real-world examples to make complicated technical topics more understandable.

What is one tip you would give your fellow women developers or developers in general?

Find a safe group of friends that will act as your board of advisors and help you grow towards your best self. Some days, it feels like there can only be one person that can succeed, but it's not true! Every time you feel the urge to tear someone down, try to instead find someone to help out instead.

Do you have any special interests, hobbies, or other fun facts you’d like to share?

I thought that I would have to take a step back after having my baby, but I've learned that I've become laser focused on doing what I want to do. I was able to write a new technical talk with a mommy class learning how to handle a baby class and I even brought my baby on stage while giving the talk at a conference.

Lynn Langit

Minneapolis, United States ??

Google Cloud GDE Photo of Lynn Langit

Photo of Lynn Langit

Tell us about something you’re working on?

I have been contracting with bioinformatics research groups, providing guidance and artifacts as they adopt public cloud for analysis.
Projects included reviewing, creating and delivering cloud pipelines and training materials. Clients include The Broad Institute, CSIRO Bioinformatics and Imperial College of London. As part of this work, I created an open source course on GitHub `GCP-for-Bioinformatics'.

What is one tip you would give your fellow women developers or developers in general?

Build and iterate often. Get feedback from actual customers. I also say this as `MVP-often`. For my team, this has meant building minimum viable genomics pipelines. I wrote about one example of this, using the `blastn` analysis tool, on Medium.

Do you have any special interests, hobbies, or other fun facts you’d like to share?

I learned Calculus at age 51 from Khan Academy and 3Blue1Brown (Grant Sanderson). I love math.

Daniela Petruzalek

London, United Kingdom ??

Google Cloud GDE Photo of Daniela Petruzalek

Photo of Daniela Petruzalek

Tell us about something you’re working on?

I’m currently working on a follow up project to my Pac Man from Scratch tutorial. I’ve built this tutorial to teach the Go programming language using game development as a background. Now the next phase will be to make a second game that will be used to teach about cloud technologies and streaming using WebRTC.

What is one tip you would give your fellow women developers or developers in general?

Make a list of the things you hate and study those, and try to understand them to the best of your capabilities. The things that we love are usually easy to learn, but the things that we hate are our weaknesses. You don’t need to become an expert in any of them, but by just understanding you will be able to overcome your weaknesses and maybe even start to love them, at which point they become less of your weaknesses and start compounding to become another part of your strengths.

Do you have any special interests, hobbies, or other fun facts you’d like to share?

I really love video games, and they are the main reason I’ve started my career in IT. I never became a game developer, but I really like how games challenge you to solve cool problems while also allowing your creativity to run free. Nowadays I’m slowly starting to introduce game development as one of my hobbies and I still dream of someday publishing my own indie game. When not working on game development, I’m really into playing classic games from the 8 and 16-bit era.

Katerina Skroumpelou

Athens, Greece ??

Google Maps Platform GDE Photo of Katerina Skroumpelou

Photo of Katerina Skroumpelou

Tell us about something you’re working on?

Right now, I'm working on an enterprise application using Angular and the Google Cloud. I usually have a side project running, and at the moment my side projects include experimenting with features of the Google Maps Platform!

What is one tip you would give your fellow women developers or developers in general?

I don't know if that feeling exists because I am a woman, or if everyone feels the same, but here it goes: I have most usually worked in teams where there are no other women developers. So I have always felt like I have to push myself and constantly work harder to prove I am worthy of that position "despite being me/despite being a woman". Well, don't do that. Work hard and push your limits if you want to and if it makes you happy. But do it for yourself, if you want to. Don't do it for others. Nobody is in any position to judge you or measure you or question your worthy-ness.

Do you have any special interests, hobbies, or other fun facts you’d like to share?

I love walking and hiking. It clears my mind, and it's one of the few places I really feel "at home". I also like to pole dance, and I have a quest to visit as much of the world as I possibly can. I have an actual paper map, and I pin actual metallic pins on it with all the places I've visited! Fun fact, though, I've lived in the same neighbourhood for all my life, with cats all around me.

Kristina Simakova

Oslo, Norway ??

Google Maps Platform GDE

Photo of Kristina Simakova

Tell us about something you’re working on?

I have recently started working on a side-project: wall decoration AR app. When I moved to a new place, I was struggling with trying to imagine how and where I should place wall decorations, so I hope to solve it with AR.

What is one tip you would give your fellow women developers or developers in general?

Be an expert in your field but keep an eye on other technologies. Challenge yourself, experiment and keep learning. Are you an Android developer? Do Flutter Codelabs, learn about actions for Google Assistant.

Do you have any special interests, hobbies, or other fun facts you’d like to share?

Fun facts:
I have been on a research expedition for 7 days on an icebreaker ship somewhere between Greenland and Svalbard studying ice :)
I made the “Around the World” trip alone.
Hobbies: travel, reading stories about startups, trying to cook Asian cuisine, making cakes when I cannot solve a problem in my code.

Moonlit Beshimov

Mountain View, United States ??

Partner Development Manager, Google Play Games, Google Photo of Moonlit Beshimov

Photo of Moonlit Beshimov

Tell us about something you’re working on?

I am a Business Development Manager on Google Play's Games business development team. My baby brother thinks that this means that I can play mobile games all day long, which is half true. :) I partner with the best-in-class mobile game developers to help them grow their businesses on Google Play, working together on new games' go-to-market strategies as well as evolving their business models and monetization designs. Representing the world's largest mobile gaming platforms, I often share market and industry level insights that help all developers grow. At the same time, representing the complex ecosystem of mobile game developers, I work with Google Play's product teams to ensure developers' feedback, pain points and needs are addressed by us!

In the past two years, I've been leading a global initiative to boost growth and adoption of a recent monetization innovation in the mobile gaming industry: in-game subscriptions. I partnered with the early innovators to teach other developers, and also consulted developers on how to incorporate the new model into their existing design. Rising tide raises all boats. I love my job because even though the mobile gaming industry is competitive, there are tons of opportunities to learn from each other, build on each other's ideas, innovate and grow together. As leaders of the industry, we also discuss difficult questions such as digital well-being in the context of mobile gaming. More to come on this, let me know if you have ideas!

What is one tip you would give your fellow women developers or developers in general?

Your most valuable asset is your unique perspectives and crazy ideas. Women developers are still the minority in the workforce, but women consumers are a major business opportunity. Your ideas and points of view, especially the ones that no one else seems to have thought of, are the ones that will make the biggest difference. So confidently offer your most unique perspectives and craziest ideas, speak up. Be brave, not perfect!

Do you have any special interests, hobbies, or other fun facts you’d like to share?

I love challenging myself with hobbies that I'm not naturally good at, such as public speaking and athletics. I've been doing Toastmasters to overcome my fear of public speaking. I shared this journey in my recent TEDx talk. I was also that chubby kid growing up, so I signed up for Tough Mudder, Spartan races with my friends and colleagues (peer pressure is the best motivator to work out regularly!) and picked up rock climbing. However, mostly recently, my new found love is my three-months old daughter! Motherhood is probably the most challenging activity I've ever done. Hats off to all the working moms out there!

Vesna Doknic

London, United Kingdom ??

Strategic Partner Manager, Google Play - London, Google Photo of Vesna Doknic

Photo of Vesna Doknic

Tell us about something you’re working on?

I am currently working as a Strategic Partner Manager on Google Play, helping developers from all over Europe be more successful on Android. I have been in the mobile space for most of my career, working in Mobile Product Management before joining Google.

What is one tip you would give your fellow women Product Managers or Product Managers in general?

Product management work is extremely cross-functional, and it pays to remember that relationships are everything. Making sure all the pieces fit together calls for master planning and lots of trust, so make sure you invest and nurture your key working relationships.

Do you have any special interests, hobbies, or other fun facts you’d like to share?

My other great passions in life are food (I run a culinary blog and have a robust appetite), cinema and its history (Mark Kermode = god), music and festivals (but sadly not the muddy kind), and corgis (especially my own - Taxi. He is a good boy.)

Alexandrina Garcia-Verdin

Sunnyvale, United States ??

G Suite Developer Advocate, Google Photo of Alexandrina Garcia-Verdin

Photo of Alexandrina Garcia-Verdin

Tell us about something you’re working on?

I am interested in making the word "developer" be more inclusive of citizen developers and creating samples, tutorials, videos, and hopefully a podcast for that audience. These are folks like myself, who do not come from traditional computer science backgrounds but love learning about how to build apps as a hobby or learn from tinkering with projects at work. You see, a "developer" is someone who builds apps or automations on a computer, sometimes it's with code and sometimes it's with programs that abstract code, but people have a strong association with the word as only meaning "coder" exclusively. What that does is it creates limiting beliefs about what content to explore because they see articles with the title "developer" included and think "oh that's not for me", omitting content that is indeed for them. I am actively interested in changing the conversation to make the "developer world" a more inclusive place where anyone who builds SQL queries, dashboards, workflows, or code -- all understand they are developers aka "builders" on computers. I believe this would also make content accessible to more diverse audiences. Google has created so many amazing products, and with user experience always in mind, I think it's important for everyone to feel comfortable reading what's out there before making a decision on whether it's for them, because I have personally found myself building all types of things because of the sheer ease of use of the products, and this is thanks to opening myself up to learning from all developer content.

What is one tip you would give your fellow women developers or developers in general?

My peer Jennifer Thomas upon returning from her first coding bootcamp said it best. She learned there is no "one way" of doing things, and that "every person builds things in their specific area of expertise." I think this is a powerful reminder that "I am enough" whenever we are haunted by imposter syndrome. I strongly believe that conversations like these, where we expose limiting beliefs and create safe spaces for vulnerable and empowering exchanges, are the biggest accelerators to making developer communities more diverse. When people feel like they can be themselves in their own happy capacity as a builder (without expectations imposed), we will rapidly help each other to thrive.
So please keep talking and sharing about your learnings, it helps support everyone on their journey.

Do you have any special interests, hobbies, or other fun facts you’d like to share?

I am extremely passionate about everything I can learn on regenerative ecological design, which is a framework for living in a harmonious way with our planet by optimizing my habits (inputs and outputs). My top three subjects at hand are being plastic free (zero waste), growing food via permaculture methods, and building cob homes (earthquake and fire proof earthen homes). As such l took a week long course to learn how to build a home out of cob (a monolithic structure made of clay, sand, and straw) at Quail Springs (a nonprofit in Santa Barbara). I am in love with how accessible it makes home building, and am working on making that content available on YouTube for my teachers Sasha and Johno. I am also volunteering to modernize a nonprofit's website that has written building codes for cob structures called CobCode.org. Their work is amazing, and I wish to support the movement in whatever way I can so more people can legally build healthy and affordable homes.
Follow updates and content by AGV on Twitter at @TechAndEco

Anu Srivastava

New York City, United States ??

G Suite Developer Advocate, Google Photo of Anu Srivastava

Photo of Anu Srivastava

Tell us about something you’re working on?

G Suite Solutions Gallery
I created a gallery for both Googlers and external developers to showcase how developing with G Suite solves real business problems. Our goal is to inspire new developers to create meaningful integrations to boost productivity and collaboration like team time management solutions and event planning, etc.

What is one tip you would give your fellow women developers or developers in general?

Find a mentor and create a strong network of developers in your community.

Do you have any special interests, hobbies, or other fun facts you’d like to share?

I used to be a dancer in a group that recreated pop music videos in local performances around the SF Bay Area.

Margaret Maynard-Reid

Seattle, United States ??

Machine Learning GDE, Women Techmakers Ambassador, GDG Seattle Photo of Margaret Maynard-Reid

Photo of Margaret Maynard-Reid

Tell us about something you’re working on?

I recently curated an awesome-list of TensorFlow Lite models, samples and tutorials on GitHub. This is a project that could be very impactful for the TensorFlow community by helping those who want to implement their models on mobile and edge devices. I’m working on engaging the community to further expand the list. ML practitioners, engineers and researchers can contribute.

What is one tip you would give your fellow women developers or developers in general?

Stay curious and keep learning. My emphasis on continuous learning opens doors for me. It has helped provide the greatest opportunities to solve interesting problems with cutting edge tech.

Do you have any special interests, hobbies, or other fun facts you’d like to share?

Outside of work I write blog posts, speak at conferences, and lead tech communities. I’ve always wanted to study art - I recently started drawing and I absolutely love it! I’m excited about applying AI/ML to art and design.

Lesly Zerna

Cochabamba, Bolivia ??

Machine Learning GDE Photo of Lesly Zerna

Photo of Lesly Zerna

Tell us about something you’re working on?

I am working on a project to get started with teaching machines to play and compose!
I was inspired by this book: "Generative Deep Learning" by David Foster.
I have loved music since I was a child! And since the first time I learned about Google Magenta, I wanted to learn more about teaching machines about music and art in general.
This is a great opportunity to get started with something a bit different from what I have done before, but one that helps me to combine my passion for technology and music.

What is one tip you would give your fellow women developers or developers in general?

Give it a try!
I think when you are new to something it is normal to be nervous or scared, but everyone should take that first step! It is not easy but it is rewarding. Either you learn or win!
Don't be afraid to try something with tech, just baby steps and you'll have fun!

Do you have any special interests, hobbies, or other fun facts you’d like to share?

Oh I love music, learning about tech and traveling to meet new cultures, people and landscapes. I love outdoor activities as well as staying home or being at a coffee place studying. Also, sharing knowledge and helping other people to find new perspectives to see the world.

_____________________________

Interested in becoming a part of the Google developer community? Here’s more information on the programs we’ve shared above:

The Google Developer Groups program gives developers the opportunity to meet local developers with similar interests in technology. A GDG meetup event includes talks on a wide range of technical topics where you can learn new skills through hands-on workshops. The community prides itself on being an inclusive environment where everyone and anyone interested in tech - from beginner developers to experienced professionals - all are welcome to join.

Join a Google Developer Group chapter near you here.

Apply to become a Google Developer Group organizer here.

Follow Google Developer Groups on Twitter here.

Subscribe to the Google Developer Groups YouTube channel here.

Founded in 2014, Google’s Women Techmakers is dedicated to helping all women thrive in tech through community, visibility and resources. With a member base of over 100,000 women developers, we’re working with communities across the globe to build a world where all women can thrive in tech. Our community consists of over 740 Women Techmakers Ambassadors across over 100 countries. These ambassadors are the north star of our movement. They are leaders committed to their communities, using Women Techmaker resources to build space and visibility so that all women could thrive in tech.

Become a Women Techmakers Member here.

Follow Women Techmakers on Twitter here.

The Google Developers Experts program is a global network of highly experienced technology experts, influencers and thought leaders who actively support developers, companies and tech communities by speaking at events, publishing content, and building innovative apps. Experts actively contribute to and support the developer and startup ecosystems around the world, helping them build and launch highly innovative apps. More than 800 Experts represent 18+ Google technologies around the world!

Learn more about the Google Developers Experts program and its eligibility criteria here.

Follow Google Developers Experts on Twitter here and LinkedIn here.

Source: Google Developers Blog

9 womenbosses who inspire us on YouTube

Every time International Women’s Day rolls around, it’s an opportunity to reflect on all the women who push YouTube to be even better. They make this community the best that it can be.

Here are nine women, from around the globe, who inspire us with their creative and entrepreneurial spirit. They’re teachers, leaders and artists. They’re often in traditionally male-driven communities, breaking glass ceilings, everywhere they go. We’re proud to feature some of their answers to our Q&A, and we’re so, so lucky to call them YouTubers.

1. Rachana Phadke Ranade

Rachana is a chartered accountant, faculty member at the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, trained in Indian classical music, a mom, and is at the helm of a 400K+ strong YouTube channel, where she educates her viewers on finance, business, and markets. Her channel team has grown from two people to five, including researchers and a video producer.

A NextUp Women to Watch winner in India, she's passionate about equipping women to be financially independent. She’s one of the few creators in a traditionally male-driven arena of financial education in India.

YT: What are you most proud of from your work on YouTube?

Rachana: “I feel proud of the fact that my most viewed lecture on Youtube which has crossed 2.4 million views is a 1.5 hours lecture! Encouraging people to click on such a long lecture and keeping them glued to it for a substantial time makes me feel really good.

I also feel proud that people from the Indian Navy, Indian Airforce and Indian Army also watch my lectures. I have received many comments from them on many of my videos! So, I feel proud of the fact that I am able to serve those who serve our nation!”

2. Emma Jakobi, mmmEnglish

Emma Jakobi is an English teacher from Australia and is also the brain behind mmmEnglish, one of Australia’s top learning channels. Emma created mmmEnglish to help her students learn while she wasn’t teaching. The channel took off quickly, and Emma saw the opportunity to build a business helping people learn English, using YouTube to reach an engaged global audience.

YT: What are you most proud of from your work on YouTube?

Emma: “YouTube has been the catalyst that has taken my career and my life in a new direction - one that I couldn’t have imagined 5 years ago! In particular, it has allowed me to create a second business that I am completely in love with, The Ladies’ Project, a community for international women learning English as a second language. It takes away the pain of finding genuine speaking partners to practise with online, while empowering women to build confidence in themselves (their English conversation skills!) and create opportunities to thrive.”

3. Refika Birgül, Refika'nın Mutfağı

Refika is a Turkish food writer, TV presenter and YouTube sensation. Her mission is to teach cooking to an audience of all ages and promote Turkish cuisine while also having fun. In the course of a year, she’s become the largest cooking channel in Turkey with a diverse audience across generations.

She now has a large team of 35 supporting her on production, sales and merchandise. She recently more than doubled the staff to handle the launch of her physical merch store and her globalization efforts via her English channel. Refika says YouTube has helped her both financially and emotionally, allowing her to grow her business and pursue her dreams.

YT: How do you balance between being a creator and a businesswoman?

Refika: “It’s definitely not easy finding the balance. As a creator and business person, I am the product, I am the creative who keeps the product shiny and interesting, and I’m the operations person managing everything from top to bottom. I always have this feeling that there’s never enough time, and this weighs on me. I always have this heavy feeling of guilt, never feeling enough, but at the end of the day, I do my best!”

4. Nikkie de Jager, NikkieTutorials

Nikkie de Jager, better known by her YouTube channel name NikkieTutorials, is a Dutch makeup artist and beauty vlogger. Nikkie first began uploading videos in 2008 at the age of 14, after watching MTV’s “The Hills.” Now, she’s an emerging media brand with brand collaborations ranging from Ofra and Maybelline. Nikkie has also worked with Lady Gaga, promoting her makeup brand, Haus Laboratories. Earlier this year, it was announced she’ll be the online host of Eurovision.

YT: How do you balance between being a creator and a businesswoman?

Nikkie: “In the beginning you need to learn what a ‘business person’ is because you are the brand and sometimes it might feel weird to talk about your own work, etc., but you get used to it. I now know I am my channel and my channel is my brand.

Also, I’ve been very fortunate to have help from very good, trustworthy people who help me on the business side so I can focus on creativity.”

YT: What is one important lesson learned from being a YouTube boss?

Nikkie: “Don't get comfortable. As a platform,YouTube continues to evolve, so stay flexible and don't take any opportunity for granted.”

5. Lucy Bella Earl, English with Lucy

This country-side Brit manages two channels — she vlogs about her daily life on one (Lucy Bella Earl), while teaching folks the queen’s English on the other. Lucy currently has over 3 million subscribers.

YT: What is one important lesson learned from being a YouTube boss?

Lucy: “No matter how hard you try, you're not going to be everyone's cup of tea. I was brought up to be a people pleaser, and it's taken a long time for me to accept that some people aren't going to like me and that is totally fine! In fact, sometimes, it can work in your favor.”

6. Mindy McKnight, Cute Girls Hairstyles

Mindy McKnight owns and operates the #1 hair channel on YouTube, Cute Girls Hairstyles. Mindy’s hairstyle tutorials began as a hobby, but have since led to a family social media empire, including over 23 million followers across all social platforms, six successful YouTube channels totaling over 2 billion views worldwide, and several highly successful off-platform businesses, such as the haircare brand, Hairitage, which is currently sold in Walmarts nationwide.

YT: What is one important lesson learned from being a YouTube boss?

Mindy: “One of the most important lessons I’ve learned from being a YouTube boss is that your career doesn’t have to be ancillary to your family. There’s a way to build a career around the things you’re most passionate about, and for me that was family and hair. That was the magic recipe for us, and I love that we didn’t have to choose one or the other.”

7. Sabrina, TeraBrite Games

Sabrina is known for her Roblox game content, from music videos and game development to being one of the producers of the first ever Roblox Influencer Championship event. She’s grown to nearly 1 million subscribers.

YT: What is one important lesson learned from being a YouTube boss?

Sabrina: “It takes a lot of trial and error to find a middle ground between what you want to do and what the community wants to see. When you find it, it's extremely rewarding because both you and your viewers are happy and that's sustainable.”

8. Nathalia Arcuri, Me poupe!

Nathalia Arcuri quit her job as a journalist to start Me poupe!, the country’s first platform dedicated to financial education and women’s empowerment. She now has the largest financial entertainment channel in the world and is considered one of the most influential women in Brazil.

YT: What are you most proud of from your work on YouTube?

Nathalia: “I am proud to have created a new vertical of content within YouTube, which is entertainment applied to education. It is knowing that I was able to open a door to other financial channels, which today makes the subject have much more impact in the lives of many many people. …. We are talking to a huge number of Brazilians who have never had access to financial education. And the moment Me Poupe! democratized access through a simpler and more fun language, and people started to understand that it is possible to talk about a subject that is so tense, that it is so hard in a light way, it broke several barriers and made that subject, that it is so important for people to be freer and make better decisions with money, not be so hostage to debt and have this financial education. So what I'm most proud of is being at the forefront of this segment on YouTube.”

9. Tate McRae

Singer/songwriter/dancer Tate McRae released her debut EP “all the things i never said” in January, featuring her hit song “stupid.” Tate is set to kick off her “All The Things I Never Said Pt. II” tour on April 1.

YT: How do you balance between being an artist and a businesswoman?

Tate: “I’m the type of person that works best under pressure. I love keeping myself busy and working at all points of the day, otherwise I can drive myself crazy. Having to maintain a heavy workload just motivates me to continue to push through and be the best version of myself.”

YT: What is one important lesson learned from being a YouTube boss?

Tate: “Always stay authentic. Stay true to your roots and (as cliche as it sounds) be yourself. I feel like it’s so obvious when a person/artist puts on a false persona of themselves – it can be read so easily through the screen.”

Answers edited for clarity and brevity.

Source: YouTube Blog

(Her)story in the making: our International Women’s Day Doodle

Coming from a family of strong women, I grew up taking independence for granted. My grandmother always emphasized the power we had as women to take care of ourselves, pursue our dreams, and thrive. All three of her daughters went on to earn university degrees in subjects they were passionate about and then to work and become financially independent. One of them even chose not to get married, an act of defiance in 1950s Italy.

Needless to say, I grew up surrounded by strong women role models. It wasn’t until my business partner, Joyanne, and I started Makerie Studio that I saw firsthand the perceived difference between genders in society. We realized how differently we were treated as young women, as people often assumed we worked for someone else, or commented on our appearance rather than our skills. More than once we were told that we “didn’t look like we’d know what we were doing,” despite having done our research, being professionally dressed, and clearly well prepared for our jobs.

We were lucky enough to grow up in environments that fostered growth indiscriminately, with people who believe gender is not relevant to a person’s potential, and we have reaped the benefits of our mothers’ and grandmothers’ fights for independence.

But there is more that needs to change.

This is nothing compared to the difficulties women have to go through in most parts of the world. Women are still fighting every day for the most basic of freedoms: the freedom to choose what to do with their minds and their bodies, the freedom to vote, the freedom to earn a living. The freedom to experience their menstrual cycles without being ostracized by families and communities. The freedom to pursue their dreams.

International Women’s Day holds significance for everyone, regardless of gender. Today, we remember the freedoms we have enjoyed, but continue to stand up for women’s equality around the world.

When designing this year’s Google Doodle for International Women’s Day, we chose to represent this concept as a mandala—a format reminiscent of the planet we all live on, and of the life cycles we all go through. We started at the center by depicting some of the women who instigated the women’s rights movement, which chronologically and exponentially grew to include more and more women, each generation standing on the shoulders of the incredible women before them. We included women from many different backgrounds, visually connecting them at the start and then gradually releasing them from each other, showing how our togetherness and strength as a group has, in turn, allowed us to be independent.

We believe that the outer layer of this mandala is not the end of the story—we still have so many more women to include and many more layers to add.

We have a long way to go, but my grandmother would have been so proud of how far we’ve come. Joyanne and I hope that when people around the world see today’s Doodle, they are, too.