Valeria Ignatieva, or simply ‘V’ to her many acquaintances, is a familiar face to those who fight the good fight for gender equality here in Australia – we partnered up to put together Zero Gender Divide. Her giddy laughter and infectious energy belies a sharp focus for discovery and growth – taking her into the world of IT with 11 global and national awards with the Microsoft Partner network through to her current role as co-founder of niche job site turn social enterprise, Diverse City Careers (DCC). Here, Valeria shares her journey with us:

On Tuesday, November 24th myself and three of my fellow Nitronauts donned our rain gear and headed off to East Timor Park in Dublin to take part in the latest project in our Nitro Gives program, tree planting! As we are by no means experts in planting trees we teamed up with the Tree Council of Ireland so they could lend us their expertise. So with shovels and compost in hand, and the help of some seasoned tree planting professionals, we went forth and planted 8 trees in the beautiful park.

In the first of a new Nitro series of leadership features, Walk the Talk (#walkthetalk), I chatted with Zero Gender Divide panellist, Sarah Grace Worboys, co-lead of Startup Victoria Female Founders, about what inspires her. She concluded our chat by sharing the Melinda Gates quote that you see above, and it perfectly sums up Sarah Grace’s depth of character. Soft spoken and eloquent, Sarah Grace commands a room by balancing compelling argument with facts, heart and refreshing candour – and you can’t help but lean in to hear more.

In the course of putting together our latest eBook, Strategic IT: 5 ways IT pros can collaborate with leadership to increase business influence, we came into contact with Jeremy Thompson, an IT Manager at a law enforcement agency.

The first ever National Sustainability Summit was held on November 3rd in Ireland’s Aviva Stadium. With over 1,000 attendees and 100 exhibitors, it provided those passionate about sustainability, sustainable business practices, and ‘going green’ an opportunity to network and discuss this increasingly pressing issue. The Aviva Stadium was alive and buzzing with four workshops and one main stage dedicated to talks and presentations led by individuals and organisations from a variety of industries including: energy, construction, food, data, transport, water and corporate social responsibility.

What does diversity mean to your business? Is it entrenched in your company’s DNA and in every employee, or is it just a catchphrase used by the human resource department – but rarely practiced in real-life? We got together with Australia’s business leaders to bring this discussion to the fore, and to explore the challenges, opportunities and impact gender diversity presents in today’s working environment.

As an IT professional, you have great insight to share with leadership. Your expertise and understanding of technology can be a driving force for innovation and process efficiencies within the organization.

Over five Friday evenings throughout the summer, Nasdaq Private Market (NPM) hosted the Silicon Valley community at their first annual Summer Concert Series. Attracting professionals from all across the Bay Area, NPM organized the event as a way to freshen up the typical business approach to networking, trade shows, and conferences, adding a Silicon Valley spin with an outdoor setting, live music, food trucks, and cold drinks.

Early this year, Startup Grind invited Nitro’s CEO and Founder, Sam Chandler to share his journey with Australian entrepreneurs and their supporters in Sydney. Speaking with Blackbird Ventures’ Managing Director and Co-founder, Niki Scevak, Sam illustrated the steps he took to bring an idea to life, how he scaled, and gave a candid view of the lessons he learnt along the way.