"Girls in Tech" is a unique mentoring program implemented by the American Chamber of Commerce in Serbia (AmCham Serbia) in cooperation with the Ministry of Trade, Tourism and Telecommunications (MTTT) as one of the activities provided by the National Program for Women's Empowerment in the field of information and communication technology (ICT) for the period 2019-2020.

“Girls in Tech“ are final year students of technical faculties of the University of Belgrade and the University of Novi Sad, who wish to gain first professional experience, practical knowledge and get acquainted with business processes in successful companies, through a program of practice and mentoring, workshops for personal and professional developing, as well as working on specific project tasks.

The goal of the program is to train and empower female students through skill development, professional networking and mentoring support in the process of starting their careers in the ICT industry.

The program is intended for a selected group of students, consisting of mentors employed in the ICT industry or in positions closely related to ICT, as well as female students of technical faculties, who will play the role of mentees.

The role of mentor will include experienced professionals employed by member companies of the AmCham, in the ICT industry and in positions closely related to information and communication technologies, motivated to share their knowledge and experience with others.

The role of the mentee will include female students from the technical faculties at the University of Belgrade and the University of Novi Sad, who are motivated to gain first-hand experience in the business world, see themselves pursuing a career in ICT and want to learn from professionals with years of experience in this field.

The program is a combination of various activities aimed at interconnecting, acquiring concrete knowledge applicable in ICT jobs/companies, strengthening the leadership skills of participants and successful work on a common project task:

• Speed Dating - At the opening ceremony of the program, all mentors and mentees will have "speed meetings" with each other, aimed at verbally representing the mentee's interests, company activities and project assignments to be assigned during the project. Upon completion of the meetings, participants will be invited to rank their interlocutors according to their overall impression, interests, area of business and proposed projects, on the basis of which optimal mentoring teams will be formed.

• Internship - During the course of the program, the mentee will spend a minimum of 120 working hours as an intern at the mentor companies, and it is up to the participants to determine the pace of working together. At the beginning of the internship, mentors will enable mentees to gain insight into the overall business of the company through familiarization with various sectors.

• Mentoring and working on a common task - The aim of the mentoring work will be to transfer knowledge and exchange of experience, gained by working in the ICT sector, while the focus will be on the task that the team will receive from the company at which the mentor works. Mentees will present their work at the final ceremony, where each participant will be awarded a certificate.

• Workshops - By engaging in the program, mentoring teams will have the opportunity to participate in various workshops aimed at developing their interpersonal skills.