Since I was a child I always wanted to make the world a better place. I found that travelling helped me better understand the world, so in the beginning of my career I travelled a lot, and worked in different countries to better capture the needs of people and find impactful ways to help.
Originally from Greece, I hold a bachelor’s degree in sociology and a master’s degree in Entrepreneurship and Innovation. I joined the space sector in 2019 with my main area of focus being Diversity and Inclusion and the progression of underrepresented talent at all levels in companies. I believe patience, empathy and resilience is the way to make the world a more equal place, especially when it comes to gender equality.
What I am working on:
Currently I am running Diversity and Inclusion projects at SES, one of them being the “equality and inclusion working groups”. We wanted to empower people to express their ideas and to create action oriented communities on D&I.
They are employee led, voluntary groups that have a focus on 3 different areas of diversity: Gender, Ethnicity and a general one that covers more sub-topics, whereby the aim is to tackle different D&I challenges, create proposals and contribute to the D&I strategy. Their challenges are in the areas of recruitment, progression and engagement, and their mission is to increase underrepresented minorities at all levels, so that people can flourish.
I recently assumed a role in Talent Management and D&I, so now the challenge is how to incorporate processes that ensure unbiased progression and hiring, and looking into the People managers and employees relationship and how it was affected by the pandemic. Essentially, what is the new normal and what shift has been made into the work/life balance that affects this relationship.
Outside of SES I try to mentor people to express themselves especially in competitive environments, to not only try and find their authentic voice but also to talk about it in a way that makes them feel comfortable without “selling themselves short”.
I also do a lot of research concerning female progression in aerospace and in different professions so that I can better understand where more work needs to be done, and at what level women usually hit the “glass ceiling”.