The future is digital and female - that was the #DFLA2023 in Karlsruhe
The Digital Female Leader Award 2023 once again created an extraordinary setting to network and celebrate digital thought leaders. “Be bold, be brave, be you” – this was the motto under which not only female leaders in the digital industry were honored last Saturday. With the Digital Female Leader Award, initiator Tijen Onaran offered a whole weekend of networking with a networking event, thought leader forum and panel discussion in her native city of Karlsruhe. Both the initiator and her company “Global Digital Women” found the ideal setting for their visionary idea at the digital location of Karlsruhe.
Women are still underrepresented in top positions. This is particularly true in the digital sector. Yet female founders and shapers in companies, politics and society are driving the digital transformation forward. This potential is far from exhausted.
That’s why Karlsruhe was transformed into the capital of female empowerment for digital transformation last weekend at the Digital Female Leader Award (DFLA). Around 350 invited guests were inspired by the stories and personal career paths of the winners, the workshops and discussions.
The Digital Female Leader Award, an award for women who are driving and shaping digitalization, is an initiative of Global Digital Women (GDW) together with various partners. The diverse jury of experts presented the DFLA for the sixth time in the Garden Hall at the Congress Center.
The award categories were broadly defined and ranged from social climbers, beauty & lifestyle, e-commerce to finance, energy, mobility and sustainability. Tijen Onaran told Baden-TV that visibility for the women and their diverse expertise is crucial to ensure that no one can claim that they cannot find a woman for their management position, making it clear that female empowerment is essential.
Female empowerment at the digital location Karlsruhe
Karlsruhe as a digital location is particularly suited to her concerns. “We have a mixture of strong science and business, but also political players. This is the ideal mix for me – also for the topic of diversity, which I stand for. Karlsruhe therefore means a lot to me. For me, Karlsruhe is the center of the world – simply because so many different minds come together,” explains Tijen Onaran, entrepreneur, investor, bestselling author, recent “Höhle der Löwen” judge, Karlsruhe resident and initiator of the DFLA, in an interview with meinKA.
Lord Mayor Dr. Frank Mentrup agrees, seeing the event as an “award”, but also as an opportunity for Karlsruhe. Above all, as an opportunity for Karlsruhe to further establish itself as an innovative media city.
With its diverse program, the event ensured that the participants and winners from all over Germany will have fond memories of Karlsruhe. It started on Friday evening with a networking event on the topic: Beyond Digital: Courage & Attitude in the Digital World.
Inspiration, networking and really good entertainment
The evening offered a lot: exclusive networking with the finalists, jury members and outstanding people from politics and business, a keynote speech by Iman El Sonbaty on the topic of “Mindset Matters”, a panel discussion on the topic of “From the comfort zone to the growth zone” with entrepreneur, choreographer and actress Nikeata Thompson, actor Jochen Schropp, Olympic champion and DFLA jury member Kristina Vogel and Co-CEO of RTL Germany, Matthias Dang.
Saturday started with the thought leaders’ forum and various workshops on sustainability and diversity. Full of inspiration and impressions, we then headed to the highlight, the award gala in the garden hall. There, one thing could be experienced at first hand: being successful but still a woman is not a contradiction in terms. Visitors were able to have their hair and make-up professionally done, engrave beauty accessories, take a cover photo or even get a tattoo.
“Not just an award, but a movement”
Many of the evening’s prizewinners were surprised and very happy. “I really didn’t expect to receive the award. That’s why I sat at the very back and just ate popcorn,” joked Lucy Larbi, winner in the Diversity category and initiator of the Business Empowerment Hub AiDiA, in her acceptance speech.
Christina Diem-Puello, winner in the Mobility category and founder of Deutsche Dienstrad, also a member of the national board of the Association of German Women Entrepreneurs (VdU), was not only surprised and very happy to receive the award. She was also visibly grateful for the networking platform and offered her support through the VdU.
This kind of sisterhood is very much in the spirit of the initiator Tijen Onaran. “My dream was always to take this award to my home town of Karlsruhe. It worked out and what worked out even better: to establish an award that is not just an award, but a movement. The award is a platform to hear, see and experience what women do. Let’s continuously work for an equal and digitalized society”. Next year, the #DFLA is set to return to Karlsruhe and, if the organizers have their way, as a multi-day festival.
Cover picture: Andrea Heinsohn.