StrongHer

Closing the gender gap in technology

As our company’s largest employee resource group, StrongHer is an award-winning employee network that enables women to unleash their potential and change the way we look at talent, irrespective of gender. Our group’s vision is to create a company where women have the same opportunities as men and are represented in all business domains and functions.

There are far fewer women than men within the Information and Communication Technology sector and it’s no different at Nokia. It’s therefore encouraging that 24% of our group’s membership is male - men who are just as committed to equal opportunity as their female colleagues. Changing the world needs everyone’s participation and we are united in our ambition.

On this page

StrongHer’s purpose and direction
Main activities
Testimonials from members
Cooperation with other organizations

Dare, Act and Inspire

We build innovative and impactful StrongHer activities around three core principles:

Dare

Encouraging women to speak up, be visible and be ambitious

Act

Spotlighting role models, innovation and partnering with leaders

Inspire

Sharing best practices, expanding our network and connecting with customers and partners

Engaging and inspiring managers

Our objective is to engage all employees, including managers, to ensure an inclusive workplace for all. We have six key programs:

StrongHer Awards spotlights talented women role models across our company and rewards women for their professionalism, dedication, conviction, courage, and ability to inspire others.

I am Remarkable, where StrongHer certified facilitators deliver workshops designed by Google, focused on the art of self-promotion.

KIW-e Mentoring program* links mentors and mentees from different countries, different organizations and all levels of the company on topics that influence their personal and professional growth.

KIW-e webcasts* are where executives and experts share business-related knowledge in interactive sessions with employees.

A charter for managers encourages them to walk the talk on gender balance, to publicly commit to take gender inclusive actions
and to become certified champions of the StrongHer values.

StrongHer WiT (Women in Tech), a video podcast series featuring role models in Nokia to share insights and inspiring stories from their journeys.

* KIW-e stands for Knowledge, Information and Wisdom for Employees

A global force for good

As of December 2023, StrongHer comprised over 7,000 members around the globe.

Giving our people a voice

The following are excerpts of employees’ comments about StrongHer.

“I hope to see many more of our colleagues, and not only women, join the conversation. Equality in the workplace, and beyond it too, is not just a female issue, it’s a business, economic, and social imperative for all of us.”

Nishant Batra

Chief Strategy and Technology Officer, Nokia, Executive Sponsor of StrongHer

“Diversity enriches our teams, our thoughts, our performance, and the way we work. StrongHer is a fantastic tool to allow our company to improve in diversity.”

Federico Guillén

President, Network Infrastructure Business

“We are not only thinking and talking, we are making things happen.”

Ayhan Kutlu

StrongHer Türkiye

“The StrongHer movement has reminded me to consistently work on supporting others in their growth as well as continuing to invest time and effort in my own development. ”

Carolina Castro

StrongHer USA

“StrongHer is a forum for diverse women and supportive men.”

Susan Wangeci

StrongHer Kenya

“StrongHer represents Open Innovation at its best: bottom-up employee-driven, life-changing and society-impactful.”

Federico De Juan Huarte

StrongHer Spain

Acknowledgment for our positive impact

Each year, we organize over 240 local and virtual events around the world. In 2023, more than 30 thousand employees participated in these events.

Our work has been acknowledged by prestigious organizations, such as UN Women and the ITU. For example, in 2018, StrongHer was awarded the DonaTIC award for Women in IT in Spain. Following our GEM-TECH Award, StrongHer has been a part of the Advisory Board of the EQUALS Award. Recently, Nokia and UNESCO teamed up to promote gender diversity through partnerships with universities, social networks and corporations. They chose to use best practices developed by our StrongHer group to increase the representation and participation of women across all industries.