IWD 2024: Celebrating our inspirational leaders at Taxdoo!

‘Inspire Inclusion’ is the theme for 2024’s International Women’s Day. In celebration of this day, we decided to shine a light on some of our amazing female-identifying colleagues at Taxdoo, to highlight their achievements and spark inspiration.

As the theme of this year’s International Women’s Day is ‘Inspire Inclusion’, we asked the question:

‘In terms of your career, what does inspiring inclusion mean to you?’

Christina Humpf Lead Product Designer, Senior Manager at Taxdoo

“For a long time, white cis-men have been overrepresented and predominant in the startup world and the software (design) industry, and it’s up to trailblazers like Taxdoo to change this.

Our society is diverse, and our product is built to cater to various user needs and businesses, which is why diversity is crucial at Taxdoo. This also touches upon the issue of women in leadership roles, but it goes beyond that. We develop our product with a further developed team comprising different genders, age groups, nationalities, and backgrounds, with promoting inclusivity being paramount.

In my role, guiding through conceptualization and user experience of our Taxdoo product, I leverage my experience to promote and enforce inclusive practices, understanding that I need not identify individual barriers to promote inclusion. By advocating for integrative product development and design and championing these efforts, I aim to set a standard for equitable practices in the industry within my team, and Taxdoo.

However, we must not become complacent. We must continue to work on showcasing and incorporating diverse perspectives to create inclusive, accessible user interfaces, and simpler processes for Taxdoo’s users and customers, by listening and learning and then taking action.”

These inspiring words come from our Lead Product Designer, Christina Humpf. Christina is an exceptional product designer and leader, who combines her 13 years of experience in UX design, collaboration design, and inclusive leadership with holistic business needs, that bring useful and accessible product solutions to life in the hands of users and customers. Christina Humpf holds a “communication design” degree from the top-ranked HfG Schwäbisch Gmünd.

Julia Malin Diederich Team Lead Compliance Solutions

Inspiring inclusion is also very important to Julia:

“For me, everyone should have the same starting point. Show your dedication and we can achieve great things together. Your background – who cares? No matter what differences there are, these are opportunities, not obstacles. I love being in a diverse environment and would always encourage inclusion, in life and my career. Different perspectives and stories help to make us grow.”

As Team Lead Compliance Solutions at Taxdoo, Julia’s career at Taxdoo has been consistently brilliant; starting out as a Customer Support Associate in December 2020, Julia has been promoted three times during her tenure at Taxdoo. Her combination of drive, process-oriented results, and positive attitude make her a joy to work with. Originally a graduate of International Tourism, Julia proves that transferable skills and knowledge can get you far when applied correctly. Julia also holds a certificate from the University of Cambridge for Advanced English.

Laureen Kainz Accountant

Laureen has achieved an impressive career transition from working in the hotel and hospitality industry to her current role at Taxdoo as an accountant. Proving the value of life-long learning, Laureen’s career switch was cemented when she achieved a professional qualification in payroll invoicing in 2022.

For many, inspiring inclusivity is a mindset, a view that Laureen Kainz and Britta Garbers both share:

“The words coming into my mind with regards to inclusion are respect, openness, but also self-reflection and communication. People are so diverse and at the same time, a lot of internalised biases exist. So inclusion should be inspired on every level of a company, the company per se and also each person.”

Britta Garbers Senior Compliance Solutions Information Associate

Britta’s background in marketing and international business lends well to our culture and business requirements at Taxdoo. As a senior in the Compliance team, Britta brings meticulous attention to detail combined with the ability to create articles that educate and inspire our customers and employees alike.

We also wanted to shine a light on the following outstanding tech professionals at Taxdoo, who shape and inspire our colleagues and businesses alike.

Elena Ignatova CTO

Elena is our leader, Chief Technology Officer, and shining inspiration. Elena’s stellar career thus far has seen her drive success by making products that are loved by humans. Elena values growth and is a regular writer and speaker. She also recently completed a qualification at the University of Cambridge where she could share and exchange expertise with like-minded peers. Elena brings reliability and a scale-up mindset combined with nurturing a best-in-class culture where each individual feels empowered to thrive and grow. Elena is someone everyone should have the privilege of working with.

Diana R Senior BI and Analytics Manager

Diana brings extensive Business Intelligence Analysis expertise from her career in the thriving Berlin tech scene and applies this to ensure Taxdoo delivers value, exceeds targets and remains market relevant. In addition to this, Diana brings an international mindset as she has also worked in Ecuador for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Integration.

We wish everyone a happy and healthy International Women’s Day and a hugely successful year ahead.

Are you inspired by these stories and would love to work somewhere where you can thrive too? Check out our open positions here.