Allyship in Action ft. Fabio Ciucci
As part of our ‘Allyship In Action’ series, we caught up with Fabio Ciucci, Founder of HR and freelancing start-up Mofesoft, and Founder & CEO of Anfy srl.
The purpose of our 'MotherBoard’ content series is to highlight incredible working mums within tech & data, as well as individuals and businesses that are supportive and progressive within their approach to creating more inclusive tech & data teams for women.
Amber: Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and your current role?
Fabio: I am a tech entrepreneur; I started in the 1990s with the dot com boom and am still at it, either as a founder or consultant, depending on the moment. After focusing initially on tech and sales, I ended up, year after year, being more interested in social and people issues. I experienced working with exceptional tech people who are women, and I wondered why there are so few, and why they leave tech more often than men.
I spent considerable time studying the issue and even founded an HR and freelancing start-up, Mofesoft to promote and hire female IT experts, developed alongside a majority of women tech staff. This is currently paused as it could not sell enough to keep up the operations, so I’m now pivoting and rethinking, which is sad but ok. I have stumbled before, and it’s a high-risk investment as 2023 was not the best year for HRTech across the board.
Amber: What does being an ally for mums in tech mean to you?
Fabio: Someone who proactively promotes, and calls out bad behaviour even while it’s still not yet normal and cool to say ‘I promote women in tech’. I still get too many “Why are you doing this?” questions from men, who seem suspicious, but the “I did nothing wrong” passive allies are useless.
Amber: What are the most important traits it takes to be a good ally?
Fabio: To listen and to be active. Initially, I felt out of context because women in tech tend to do women-only groups and gatherings, but I have found that even if you are the only man in the room, you are welcomed and greeted by most tech sororities if you’re there to create action rather than ‘mansplain’.
Amber: Why do you think it’s important to make the tech industry more inclusive of mothers and working parents?
Fabio: Many products completely fail female users for an apparent lack of knowledge, and if the customers are women and parents (usually half of sales), companies will simply benefit more from incorporating women into creating the products and services.
“The most important traits it takes to be a good ally are to be able to listen and to be active.”
Amber: What do you think is the main hurdle stopping employers from being more inclusive?
Fabio: Hoping that the workplace will be more inclusive and advanced than our wider society, where we should also be making change, from parents to friends, school and up. I often hear “let’s increase women in tech”, rather than “let’s decrease the amount of non-allies in tech”. Imagine if more than 50% of men became active allies to women; it would be easy to solve the rest.
How do we reward and encourage male allies? As a start, we should recognise and thank them when they act, but it's not enough.
If it's true that there are patriarchal and male groups that tend to exclude women from power, then there may potentially be a perceived risk for men who want to be more inclusive but are nervous as they may face the same exclusion. I am not saying it is true, but there are no practical incentives to be allies individually, but there are risks of penalties, like whistleblowers. So that’s the main hurdle.
Amber: What do you think the priority should be for creating tangible change for working mums in tech?
Fabio: Flexible and remote working was more available during the COVID pandemic but unfortunately, it has reversed recently, despite what is most wanted by mums and parents.
Secondly, noticing (and stopping) the microaggressions! Assuming women are not tech-capable enough, means that their skills are questioned too often, and the bar is much higher for their male counterparts. The best way to reduce biases is to collaborate with more tech-savvy women (often more so than several male colleagues), which happened to me and convinces me way more than anything else I can think of.
And finally, encouraging women, promoting women, and showcasing role models. You can't be what you don't see, and this is also why women on boards or execs are good to have.
“A company or government policy cannot fix the networking problem of its male staff, where most men can’t name enough female peers because they mostly contact other male professionals.”
Amber: Who do you think is responsible for making the change?
Fabio: A company or government policy cannot fix the networking problem of its male staff, which creates the actual culture. I became an active ally after working with skilled tech women; there are a lot! But most men can’t name enough female peers because they mostly contact other male professionals.
My work contacts are at least 50℅ women now and my social feed is more interesting and diverse. This took years of purposely looking and seeking to connect with more women in my field of work and work against any of my previous biases. Men, please start to network with women in tech; they are a lot more than you think. After a while, you'll naturally become more of an ally and know what to do and who to appoint.
“The easiest yet most useful thing to do to celebrate and encourage the mums and women in our industry, but don't underline "and she's a woman/mum too", the focus should always be on their achievements.”
Amber: Any final words of advice for other people looking to better support mothers in the Tech Industry?
Fabio: The easiest yet most useful thing to do to celebrate and encourage the mums and women in our industry. Before publishing any celebratory list, stop and think ‘Is this an all-male list’? If yes, fix that. But don't underline "and she's a woman/mum too".
I reshare and promote the posts of women in tech, often without writing "women", but just successful people. The focus should always be on their achievements.
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