BÜHNENPROGRAMM UNICORNS IN TECH

No time for Silicon Valley bros. This panel will dive into the gritty, real-world journey of Berlin FLINTA founders; bootstrapping, tapping public scholarships and securing private investments. Learn about raw stories, bold moves and the fire it takes to build something big.

My name is Anna, I’m queer and the founder of Queer World.
After coming out, I often felt isolated, unsure where to find community, connection, or safe queer spaces. Navigating the queer world felt overwhelming and scattered — and I knew I couldn’t be the only one feeling this way. That’s why I created Queer World — a platform designed to make it easier for queer people to discover events, safe spaces, and like-minded people, all in one place. My mission is to build a digital home that empowers, connects, and celebrates the diversity of our community. With Queer World, no one has to feel alone or lost again — we’re building a world where everyone belongs.

Cut through the noise! We’re bringing together bold voices challenging outdated hiring norms, performative inclusion and narrow growth metrics. We’ll offer fresh takes, sharp critique and real strategies to build tech teams that actually reflect the future we want.

Beth has worked at the intersection of technology and impact for the past 10 years of their career, across businesses and products of all stages and sizes. They care deeply about creating safe spaces and environments, particularly in the context of work. Outside of their technical work, they are a calisthenics teacher, helping people with all different bodies and backgrounds find joy in movement.

Open source is more than code — it’s culture, power, and politics. In this talk-panel hybrid, we’ll explore how free and open source software can either include or exclude, depending on the choices we make as contributors, maintainers, and community members. Through real examples and lived experience, we’ll examine the hidden barriers faced by queer, neurodivergent, and racialized folks in open source spaces — from inaccessible documentation to toxic contribution models.

We’ll break down what it means to build inclusive tools in public, and how design, governance, and community practices shape who gets to participate. Expect a mix of technical insight, practical tips, and critical reflection, plus voices from across the open source world — not just developers.

Because your README is never neutral, and neither is your code.
“Queer people belong in open source — and we’re here to change how it works.”

Farzada is a transdisciplinary researcher, poet, and storyteller with a background in theoretical biology, physics of complex systems, and computational neuroscience. Since earning her PhD in 2011, she’s worked deep in the academic trenches—writing grants, publishing science, setting up computing clusters, open-sourcing code, and mentoring students—until a sharp edge of loss nudged her into a stranger, kinkier corner of inquiry.

These days, she’s composting her career like a well-loved research garden and cultivating something new: public-facing, embodied, and a little unruly. Her tools? Storytelling, exhibition-making, multi-species dialogue, and co-sensing experiments that don’t aim to simplify complexity, but to sit inside it, and think with it.

She speaks across boundaries—between science and art, human and more-than-human—and longs to bring queer tenderness and analytical rigor to everything from collective code-writing to land-tending. She forks power, commits collectively, and often does so barefoot.

She thinks the future might be fungal, poetic, and open source.

Cut through the noise! We’re bringing together bold voices challenging outdated hiring norms, performative inclusion and narrow growth metrics. We’ll offer fresh takes, sharp critique and real strategies to build tech teams that actually reflect the future we want.

Erica is a veteran software Engineer, currently under-employed in Berlin probably because she is “too spicy” for the German pallet.

Queer people navigate financial realities that mainstream advice overlooks. From hidden security costs to income gaps caused by discrimination, our financial lives are shaped by experiences most tools and advice fail to recognize.

This fast-paced, empowering session is your guide to understanding how LGBTQ+ identity impacts personal finance — and how you can build confidence in your money decisions. You’ll discover why conventional money advice feels irrelevant (and frustrating), and what you can do instead to create a financial mindset that works for you.

We’ll explore the principles of queer financial design: flexibility, inclusion, and community power. You’ll leave with fresh perspectives and practical ideas to upgrade your financial confidence — no rigid budgets or boring lectures. Just real talk, community-centered thinking, and tools to help you take control.

Join to discover how to make your money work for *you*, and how queering finance unlocks new possibilities for your future.

Jason (he/him) is a software engineer and former corporate lawyer, now focused on building tools for financial empowerment and social impact. Based in Berlin, he began working on eras.fyi and financial literacy in 2023, driven by a belief that money tools should reflect the real lives of those using them—especially people who have been historically underserved.

As the co-founder of eras.fyi, a money mindfulness app designed from a queer perspective, Jason is rethinking how we approach financial well-being. His work centers on making money feel less intimidating and more empowering, through flexibility, inclusion, and community support.

He has shared his insights at queer, tech, and financial well-being events in Berlin, bringing together personal experience and professional expertise to create meaningful conversations about money. Jason is passionate about helping people build confidence in their financial choices and reimagine what financial security can look like.

Applying for jobs and feeling stuck? Overwhelmed? Ready to rethink how they get hired.
Then this talk is for you!

You’ll learn:
– How hiring actually works
– Why applying alone doesn’t work — and what to do instead
– How to position yourself clearly, even with a non-traditional background
– A system to grow your network (without feeling awkward)

Led by Lena Kul, a recruiter-turned-UXR-turned-founder, who shares the story of her own first job applications, along with the practical advice she now gives in her paid sessions with clients.

Design Recruiter turned UXR turned Founder.

After years of building top Product Design and UX Research teams at Miro and N26, Lena left to start kuːl — her boutique agency rethinking how the best design talent is hired and supported in their job search globally.

She has already advised 500+ designers and UXRs on how to identify, prepare for, and land roles.

Lena is now a recognized Top LinkedIn Voice and trusted advisor for designers, founders, and hiring teams, making the hiring process more transparent and human.

We will delve into the evolving landscape of phishing, tracing its transformation from rudimentary scam emails to highly sophisticated entry points for complex attacks. Once we have a good understanding of the problem, we’ll talk about detecting malicious email and why we really need to stop fighting the scammer with a hammer and start fighting them with intelligence.

Hi, my name is Luna-Marika Dahl, I’m 24 years old and I live with my dog in a small village near the Harz mountains. As a Cyber Security Engineer at E.ON, I’m supporting the operation of their security services and working on security automation for their CERT and CTI teams.

No time for Silicon Valley bros. This panel will dive into the gritty, real-world journey of Berlin FLINTA founders; bootstrapping, tapping public scholarships and securing private investments. Learn about raw stories, bold moves and the fire it takes to build something big.

Margarita is a product designer who changed paths and became a founder at the beginning of 2024. Since then she has received 2 startup scholarships: EXIST women and BSS women for her startup, Dreamsome, a company with a vision to make dreams an equally important part of everyday life. Dreamsome has just launched the beta of the dream diary app that allows users to track their dreams with ease and a good user experience. Besides design, Margarita has backgrounds in mindfulness, gestalt therapy and lucid dreaming, and offers 1:1 dream coaching and group dream sharing events.

Imposter syndrome looms large in technical roles. Being queer can make it worse. The goal of this talk is to empower queer people and gender minorities in technical roles with specific strategies to slay imposter syndrome, build confidence in your skills, and be the technical queen you’ve always wanted to be.

Mary is a Machine Learning Engineer on the Developer Growth team at Weaviate. She’s especially interested in using open source tools to fine-tune LLMs. When she’s not working, she enjoys playing tennis, hiking, and participating in Berlin’s robust FLINTA scene.

Open source is more than code — it’s culture, power, and politics. In this talk-panel hybrid, we’ll explore how free and open source software can either include or exclude, depending on the choices we make as contributors, maintainers, and community members. Through real examples and lived experience, we’ll examine the hidden barriers faced by queer, neurodivergent, and racialized folks in open source spaces — from inaccessible documentation to toxic contribution models.

We’ll break down what it means to build inclusive tools in public, and how design, governance, and community practices shape who gets to participate. Expect a mix of technical insight, practical tips, and critical reflection, plus voices from across the open source world — not just developers.

Because your README is never neutral, and neither is your code.
“Queer people belong in open source — and we’re here to change how it works.”

I’m a queer Latina engineering leader with over 25 years of experience in web technologies, open source, and infrastructure. My background spans roles as a software engineer, tech lead, and engineering manager — including work on CI systems at GitLab and currently in Internet and network protocols. I spent 10 years teaching Computer Science at the University of Guadalajara and have spoken at global conferences on topics from leadership to software development and open source.

Beyond code, I’m deeply committed to building inclusive tech spaces. I’ve co-founded initiatives like TechWo to support women in tech, taught at bootcamps and ReDi School in Berlin, and mentored FLINTA professionals navigating tech careers. I also actively contribute to LGBTQ+, Latine, and Neurodiversity communities through ERGs and volunteer work.

My mission is to demystify complex technical topics, open doors for underrepresented folks, and advocate for a more just and joyful tech industry — one contribution at a time.

No time for Silicon Valley bros. This panel will dive into the gritty, real-world journey of Berlin FLINTA founders; bootstrapping, tapping public scholarships and securing private investments. Learn about raw stories, bold moves and the fire it takes to build something big.

Staying with locals when traveling is a fantastic idea. But not when constantly being scared of your safety and your wellbeing. Especially women and queer people face a much higher risk doing authentic traveling such as Couchsurfing. That’s why Nora came up with the idea for a queer version: Quouch. After living and working in Brazil for 3 years, studying Cognitive Science afterwards and enrolling in a coding bootcamp, Nora felt equipped enough to start Quouch. Together with her late co-founder, Liz (she/her) and the amazing team of Ross (they/them, Babken(they/them) and Beth(they/them), she created the global community of Quouchies which is now active in +60 countries.

Pau (he/him) is a Berlin-based marketing and community professional passionate about inclusive tech and impact-driven startups. At Unicorns in Tech, he leads strategy, partnerships and community efforts — creating spaces for networking, learning and meaningful connection between queer talent and bold employers shaping the future of work.

Cut through the noise! We’re bringing together bold voices challenging outdated hiring norms, performative inclusion and narrow growth metrics. We’ll offer fresh takes, sharp critique and real strategies to build tech teams that actually reflect the future we want.

I’m a senior software engineer with twelve years of experience and a focus on frontend development. For the past few years I’ve been working in cross-functional teams and delivering products with code quality in mind.

There is a an overload of information about UX and reactive design trends in the Tech industry. But does the non-profit industry know what a significant role good design, especially UX can make to their fundraising or individual programs? Having worked with a few organisations in Germany it seems some of the old analogue practices are being converted into a digital format without any thought to how people behave in digital spaces and how the motivations to donate needs to be tackled in a sensible and inclusive way. Capitalistic methodologies don’t work here and innovation is hindered by fear of change. So how can we be mindful about the importance of design in areas of fundraising as well as supporting non-profits achieve their goals. This talk is an exploration and discussion about these questions and thoughts.

Rubab is Berlin-based designer that focuses on integrated design approaches and inclusive leadership. Born and raised in Pakistan she moved to Germany to pursue her love for interdisciplinary design practices at the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar. Her background in architecture gives her a unique edge in the field of digital design (UX/CX) as well as service design because she effectively transfers the knowledge while testing the designs created. She focuses on making digital experiences more inclusive as well as intuitive yet memorable. A strong critic, she loves identifying and fixing problems alongside people she can learn from. She currently works as a freelancer in partnership with Non-profit organisations and minority-led businesses or startups. In her personal time she creates maps and cartographic illustrations based on data and story-telling which she displays world over.

Cut through the noise! We’re bringing together bold voices challenging outdated hiring norms, performative inclusion and narrow growth metrics. We’ll offer fresh takes, sharp critique and real strategies to build tech teams that actually reflect the future we want.

I earned my B.Sc. in Games Engineering from the TUM. Following this, I pursued my master’s degree in the elite graduate „Software Engineering“ program. My interest in teaching and sharing knowledge resulted in working as a teaching assistant during both my bachelor and master studies for several different courses and culminated in being responsible for the practical section of TUM’s Introduction to Computer Science course with over 1000 participants.

Upon completing my studies, I joined the fintech scale-up QPLIX as a Senior Software Engineer. In this role, I focus on continuously improving the performance of our algorithms and leading the internal Developers Academy, which aims to upskill our software developers and engineers.

In 2024 I did my first talk at a conference, talking about the challenges and opportunities working as an openly trans woman in a very male dominated sector.

No time for Silicon Valley bros. This panel will dive into the gritty, real-world journey of Berlin FLINTA founders; bootstrapping, tapping public scholarships and securing private investments. Learn about raw stories, bold moves and the fire it takes to build something big.

Sneha Samanta (she/they) is the co-founder of eras.fyi, where she leads marketing and business development initiatives. As a queer entrepreneur, Sneha is passionate about creating intersectional conversations around underrepresented topics like personal finance, creativity, and queerness, with a focus on how technology can serve marginalized communities.
Their approach combines creative thinking with practical business solutions, bringing fresh perspectives to entrepreneurial spaces. Beyond her professional endeavors, Sneha cultivates community through literature and hosts a book club that explores diverse voices and experiences.