Leading Rebels

In theory, we all know that we should look beyond official credentials and what’s on paper and place more value on someone’s talents and passions. Yet reality rarely works that way. That’s why Cilia Kanellopoulos is a true leading rebel: She knows from personal experience how you have to get scrappy to effect the change you want, which is why she’s all about paying it forward to others and giving a chance to the underdogs. And in the work she did with the women’s empowerment impact accelerator F-LANE, she experienced time and again how that strategy pays off for everyone!

Tune in to this episode to hear from Cilia about:

• Taking a chance on a new direction
• Speaking up when you have a different opinion
• Learning the power of saying no
• Deciding which advice to take – and not to take
• How to guide feedback to make it constructive
• The power of “sorry, not sorry”
• The importance of paying it forward and learning from everyone
• Hidden gems creating social tech startups that have a female empowerment
• The rewards in taking risks

Cilia’s recommended resources:

• The Silent Rise of the Female Driven Economy by Danielle Kayembe
• The Story of a Fuck Off Fund by Paulette Perhach
• Born a Crime by Trevor Noah
• Daughter by Puno Selesho
• THR Comedy Actresses Roundtable
• How to translate a joke by Emi Mahmoud

Cilia is a tech enthusiast and female empowerment specialist, ever since she started working in Berlin. Through her work, she seeks to shed light on how digital technologies can transform industries, governments, and societies, and empower people, especially women. Her passion lies in bringing more women into the spotlight and creating opportunities for people with diverse backgrounds, while volunteering for FidAR, an initiative for more women on boards.

In her previous role, she worked as Head of Social Innovation at the Vodafone Institute, where she was charged with developing programmes and events for the Institute, and was running the impact accelerator F-LANE – an international programme that supports early stage social tech ventures that have a female empowerment focus. As of September 2019, she has joined the Vodafone Group as Global Innovation Lead, where she is helping drive the global innovation agenda through collaboration with startups and scale ups while sourcing for emerging tech solutions that can solve business problems.

Learn more about Cilia: Twitter | Gal Talks Tech | Vodafone Institute | F-LANE