Fortude Ignite WomenTech Internship 2024 empowers future tech leaders

The Fortude WomenTech Internship 2024, which commenced in August 2024 following a selection from over 1,400 applications, marked two intense weeks of immersive learning. Aligned with Fortude's objective of achieving a balanced gender representation by 2027, the Ignite internship program serves as a testament to the company's commitment to equal opportunities, ensuring growth and development for all individuals, irrespective of their background.

Commenting on the Ignite WomenTech Internship 2024, Fortude Chief People Officer Oshana Dias stated: “The overwhelming response to our pioneering 'Ignite Internship' initiative is a testament to the untapped potential and talent among women in Sri Lanka. This program is not just a stepping stone but a foundation for bringing more women into the IT sector, paving the way for greater gender diversity and inclusion. We are excited to see how this initiative grows and evolves in the years to come, as we continue to empower and uplift women in technology.”

Throughout the program, participants gained insights into Fortude's key operational domains, with employees themselves conducting sessions spanning Enterprise Resource Planning, Data and AI, Consulting, Automation, Managed Services, and Project Management. A ‘diverse speaker’ segment featured motivational journeys from Fortude staff. Further, the programme focused on enhancing the soft skills of the young undergraduates through workshops on interview techniques, communication, emotional intelligence, and wellness.

A power-packed external faculty of diverse facilitators conducted a series of thought-provoking workshops, enriching the interns with valuable knowledge and perspectives. The guest speakers included Andrea Jayatilleka - Co-Founder and Vice President of Smart Quest Coaching and Consulting, Fahad Farook – International Trainer and Certified Transformative Coach​, Ranmali Wickramasinghe and Fazla Razak - Co-founders/Partners & Lead Trainers at Butterfly Effect Training Partners and Eomal Munasinha – Co-Founder and CEO of Infinitum.

The Ignite internship program also featured a leadership 'deep dive,' providing comprehensive training for aspiring leaders in the tech industry, preparing them for future roles as well-rounded knowledge workers The 15 students went through Guiding Leadership & Outreach (GLO), a two-day programme spearheaded by the Global Learning Lab. GLO is an integrated, multidimensional approach to creating sustainable communities, youth development, and community well-being.

Complementing the practical training, participants were paired with female leaders at Fortude as mentors to guide them through the internship and beyond, as they venture into the global tech sector. This personalised mentorship approach aimed to instill a growth mindset and nurture the interns towards success in their academic and professional pursuits.

“At Fortude, we wanted to do something different with the Ignite Internship. Our goal was not only to highlight the critical role of digital solutions in the global tech space but also to truly empower our interns. That's why we placed a heavy emphasis on leadership and soft skills development. By assigning dedicated mentors, we further instilled a growth mindset in our interns. The one-to-one exposure with female mentors, who lead practices in the industry, was something the interns spoke highly of, and we're proud to have provided this unique experience,” said Fortude Head of Global Employer Branding Cassandra Mascarenhas.

The internship culminated with a presentation to the Fortude Board of Directors, where interns engaged in a high-level panel discussion with Chairman Jeevan William, Board Member Lakmini Wijesundera, and Managing Director Arjuna Sirinanda.

This immersive two-week program was designed in alignment with Fortude's employee value proposition of ‘Grow with Fortude’. The Fortude WomenTech Internship 2024 celebrates the empowerment of women in the tech industry and stands as a beacon of progress towards gender equality and inclusion within the organization and the broader tech sector.

Fortude is a leading global enterprise and digital technology solutions company, delivering solutions that matter to customers around the world. We offer transformative end-to-end ERP implementations, adopt accelerators, and drive productivity through add-ons, integrations and extensibility on the cloud. Our enterprise-wide technology services capability spans data and analytics, managed services, automation and digital advisory. Our teams are based out of offices in the US, Canada, UK, the Netherlands, Sri Lanka, India, Singapore and Australia, and have experience in implementing projects across multiple locations and continents. We are also a partner to some of the world’s largest technology, cloud, and automation software solution providers including Infor, Microsoft and Ui Path. Visit Fortude.co to learn more.

Photo captions:

1. The 15 interns of the Fortude WomenTech Internship 2024 at the graduation and finale of the programme
2. The interns engaged in a high-level panel discussion featuring (from left) Fortude Managing Director Arjuna Sirinanda, Fortude Chairman Jeevan William, Fortude Board Member Lakmini Wijesundera and Fortude Chief People Officer Oshana Dias