In order to highlight this important day in the global calendar, Samsung Newsroom sat down with three female employees to hear their experiences of fighting the bias, achieving their career goals and helping others to do the same.

Vice President of the Mobile eXperience (MX) Business at Samsung Electronics, Jaeyeon Jung is the team leader for SmartThings, and not only works hard to bring the best experiences to SmartThings users around the world, but also to help junior colleagues grow.

“It is an unfortunate reality that the proportion of female colleagues to male does decrease as the responsibility a role has increases,” noted Jung. “But just as my bosses evaluated me without prejudice and encouraged me to take on new challenges, I, too, want to share as much as possible with those junior to me and to help them grow without any discrimination based on gender, nationality or age.”

Sumedha Bakhshi, Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) Lead for Samsung SWA and Chairperson of the SIEL-S D&I Council, believes that each and every individual possesses unique talents, passions, beliefs and lifestyles. Throughout her career, Bakhshi has had to face stereotypes about the role of the woman in her home country, battling through them to successfully advance her career time and again.

“In one of my previous roles, I faced a lot of resistance when I applied for the role of Quality Leader, since it seemed to go unsaid that women were ‘not good’ with numbers or analytics,” noted Bakhshi. “However, I overcame this prejudice with effort, passion and my own abilities — resulting in my assessment scores being better than all the other applicants, landing me the job. At Samsung now, it feels great to be part of a team that values you for your unique strengths. I have always had the full support of leadership in all the projects I’ve undertaken — my recent promotion within the company was only possible because I was evaluated based on my own abilities alone. Everyone should be given a fair opportunity without discrimination or prejudice.”

Svetlana Chervonnykh manages Soft Skill Development for Samsung partners at Samsung MENA CS, and is steadfast in the belief that an accomplished woman is a happier and a stronger woman. Not only does Chervonnykh have ambitions for her current role in changing people’s perceptions of services, she also dreams of opening a healing retreat for women in order to nurture their inner and outer health.

“I believe that women have secret superpowers thanks to their natural femininity and softness, something that is actually incredibly useful in work environments,” said Chervonnykh. “My immediate boss is the only female leader in the Samsung MENA CS team, and she sets a great example. Among those I work with, regardless of gender, I find everyone very cooperative in fostering a comfortable environment in which to work.”

Breaking the Bias by Fostering Support for All

By fostering a culture that embraces all kinds of diverse talents, Samsung supports all of its members to feel a sense of belonging and to realize their potential based on equal opportunity. Every year on IWD, the company arranges a variety of events for employees all over the globe to highlight this community of respect, inclusion and diversity.

As a celebration of this year’s IWD, Samsung has organized a global campaign amongst its employees to submit photos of them making the IWD’22 official pose — using the arms to form the letter ‘X’ — in order to bring together Samsung employees from all over the world virtually through a collage of solidarity. As well as this, the company has prepared a special IWD video that sees female Samsung employees going about their lives and routines and sharing their support for the IWD cause.

In commemoration of this year’s International Women’s Day, Samsung has launched a campaign to highlight the importance of creating a fair world without prejudices, big or small, in every person’s position.

Furthermore, on March 8, the company is hosting regional lunch webinars beginning with Korea and continuing on in a relay format in Southeast Asia, Southwest Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Latin America and North America, with staggered starting times to align with the different time zones. These webinars, held under the theme of ‘Breaking Prejudice and Making a Better World’, will see expert guest speakers share their experiences and engage with employees on the topic of fighting prejudice.

A Better World, Without Prejudice

As well as organizing these special events to commemorate IWD, Samsung continues to work year-round to end discrimination in the workplace and foster an environment where all people can thrive regardless of such factors as their gender.

“We at Samsung will continue to work hard to guide our female employees to find the roles that befit their strengths and capabilities, and help them achieve their career goals,” said Jong-Hee Han, Vice Chairman and CEO at Samsung Electronics’ DX Division. “We will increase our support for our future female leaders through a range of diverse mentoring and networking programs.”

Kyehyun Kyung, CEO and President of Samsung Electronics’ DS Division, also shared a message of support for the company’s employees. “We aim to ensure every member feels a sense of belonging and realizes their full potential by embracing the value of diversity and inclusion.”

Fresh from announcing the Galaxy S22 Series smartphone including the much-anticipated Galaxy S22 Ultra with S-Pen capabilities, this collaboration further bolsters Samsung and Her Back Book’s partnership to celebrate women in business. Up Close with Her Black Book, powered by Samsung Galaxy will see a curated panel event with sought-after leaders in business as well as a grant package worth over $40,000 RRP in total to see the next generation of women in business reach their goals.

Shaneez Johnston, Head of Corporate Affairs, Samsung Electronics Australia, said: “In the lead up to International Women’s Day, we are proud to collaborate once again with Her Black Book, to present: Up Close with Her Black Book, powered by Samsung Galaxy. We are extremely excited to host this event that will celebrate women in business as well as provide grants packages to support two up-and-coming female-led businesses.

“At Samsung, our brand purpose is about creating innovations that will help people defy barriers and achieve things that have never been done before. In partnering with Her Black Book, we hope the event will provide valuable insights and peer-connections for attendees and that the grants will offer the funding, technology and mentorship that will help local businesses achieve their goals and make 2022 a turning point in their entrepreneurial journeys.”

Sali Sasi, Co-creator of Her Black Book, added: “We are thrilled to align with Samsung for such a meaningful event. Having co-founded our own tech-startup along with my sister, we understand the challenges faced with launching and growing a business and the funding required to grow – so we welcome the opportunity to empower women in business and pay it forward to those starting out.”

Up Close with Her Black Book, powered by Samsung Galaxy – Event

The event will celebrate entrepreneurial women, inclusivity and equality. Through insightful conversations, the event will showcase how technology and the right support can be used to succeed in Australian industries.

Hosted by TV personality, Erika Heynatz, guests can expect insightful conversations and gain key takeaways for personal and professional growth, as well as a luxurious breakfast and refreshments, premium gift bags, prizes, entertainment and a lively atmosphere at Sydney’s beautiful new venue Shell House, on top of plenty of networking opportunities to get up close with like-minded women.

Her Black Book Creators, Australian twins Sali Sasi and Julie Stevanja, will be among the impressive array of guest speakers and panelists including: Alisha Geary (CEO of Provvy, Director of Faebella – luxury activewear that incorporates indigenous artwork), Samantha Brett (Founder of successful sunscreen brand, Naked Sundays), Amal Wakim (Co-Founder & CEO of fitness phenomenon, Equalution; Forbes 30 under 30), and Jules Robinson (Founder of Figur and Moira Muise, with an influential following well over half-million).

Guests will also have the chance to win a Samsung gift pack on the day – which includes a Galaxy S22 Ultra and Galaxy Buds2 wireless earbuds, plus be reminded of their last chance to apply to be awarded one of two grants to be announced on IWD, March 8^th 2022.

Event details:

Where: Shell House – 37 Margaret Street Sydney

When: Friday March 4 2022 @ 8:00am -11:00am ADST

Tickets: Tickets are $175 per person for HBB members* and $200 per person for non-members.

*Download the Her Black Book App to become a member and use discount code at check out.

How to buy tickets: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/up-close-with-her-black-book-powered-by-samsung-galaxy-tickets-267189901187

How to submit for grant consideration: Via the event website herblackbook.com/samsung

Samsung x Her Black Book Grant

To enter, entrants must provide a detailed submission discussing how the grant will help to scale up and expand their business. Entrants will be judged on the quality of responses to the judging criteria including a compelling pitch.

The winners will receive a grant of AUD $10,000 to support the expansion of their business, and $5,000 in business coaching sessions from Her Black Book founders, Sali Sasi and Julie Stevanja. As well as a Samsung technology pack which includes a Samsung M7 Smart Monitor, Galaxy S22 Ultra smartphone, Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra tablet, Galaxy Watch4 smartwatch and Galaxy Buds2. The total value of the two grants is more than $40,000.

The competition starts today and closes on March 7th. Forms to enter can be submitted via: herblackbook.com/samsung. T&Cs apply.