Czechitas are the largest IT community in the Czech Republic in 2024. They started in 2014, and a year later they won an award in our incubation program SSocial Impact Award and their popularity and reach have skyrocketed since then. Impact Hub has been with them since the beginning of their journey and we are proud to be a part of it. How far can mutual support and trust take each of us?
In 2014, Dita Formánková came up with the vision of establishing an IT community that would educate women. However, gender balance between men and women in the IT field was not the main idea for establishing the entire community. The main idea was to contribute a larger number of qualified IT specialists, to further develop the skills of talented women and thus motivate them to choose a future career in a technical field. This built a community of women interested in IT. The idea was also liked by the European representation of Konica Minolta, which sponsored the workshops of the Czech start-up.
Dita Formánková/ founder of Czechitas
Impact Hub and Czechitas: Looking back at the beginning of the collaboration
In 2015, Czechitas participated in our acceleration program SSocial Impact Award. The expert jury selected them from six finalists who competed in a duel for the greatest shift from the beginning of the program to its end. Since then, the cooperation between the two organizations has begun. We asked Petr Vítek, co-founder and co-owner of Impact Hub ČR, whether he remembers Czechitas in 2015 and its beginnings:
“I admit, not much anymore. Dita was definitely a key person – she is a kind, hardworking and trustworthy person. Moreover, the problem they decided to solve was big at the time and no one had really solved it. However, our cooperation started earlier, if I'm not mistaken. My first memory is that we got some money from KONICA-MINOLTA, I think 300.000 CZK, and we decided to give it to Czechitas so that they could start their events at our Impact Hub. I think that helped Czechitas a lot in starting their business.”
Czechitas receives the Social Impact Award
Two organizations, one synergy
They initially had their office in the Impact Hub in Brno, from where they moved a year later to Impact Hub Ostrava, where they still have their office. In the past, they regularly organized educational programs, workshops, external events and partner meetings there. Petr sees the cooperation between Impact Hubs and Czechitas as synergistic:
"Both organizations work with individuals who want to change their lives in some way – start a business, go freelance, change careers, learn something new and start doing it right away…”
Czechitas course
From doctor to IT lecturer: How Tereza found a new path thanks to Czechitas and Impact Hub
A UX/UI web designer works in the Impact Hub marketing team Tereza Ettlerová, who also took one of the Czechitas courses and then became a lecturer in their educational programs. We asked Tereza what brought her to Czechitas:
"After many years of experience in healthcare, my life path changed dramatically at the beginning of the Covid era. To feel my best in the whole situation, I needed a job that could be combined with the demanding conditions I found myself in. That's why I looked for flexible work from home. After thorough market research, I chose IT as the top industry for remote work, but I had to start somewhere. And anyone who sometimes suffers from FOMO (fear of missing out) knows that starting meaningfully and sticking to the path is sometimes the most difficult thing. I was looking for a community where I didn't have to be afraid of being a true beginner and yet I was in the hands of professionals. And I found Czechitas. I took a series of several-month courses on the path of a frontend application developer. Right from the beginning, I understood that IT is an area where you don't have to wait for someone to let you learn something new. You can spread your wings and fly at a speed that suits you. At the same time, I experienced in practice that I don't have to help people only in a white coat. And that was a major turning point in why I never regretted that, despite my career as a doctor, I found myself in the role of a lecturer and coach behind a computer desk. "
Tereza Ettlerová
Women in IT: Overcome myths, you can succeed in the IT field too
One of the myths surrounding IT is the misconception that only men can do web design. Tereza is a great example that dispels this myth:
"When I finished my first long-term coding course, it was absolutely clear to me that what I needed were hundreds to thousands of hours of self-study. At the same time, I also needed confidence in my abilities and my first real IT job. And that confidence was offered to me by the marketing team at Impact Hub years ago. During the courses, I gained a real, high-quality, up-to-date, theoretical and practical start to work as a web developer and gradually as a UX designer. I gained community support, real stories, advice and sometimes even a cold shower from the IT field. I lost my initial shyness and mistrust that I didn't have IT skills as a woman from another field. I discovered that there are things that I am better at and where I am completely out of place. Gradually, each subsequent course developed me so that I could contribute something new or improved to the current team.”
And Tereza's advice to women who are considering entering IT through courses from Czechitas?
"You have chosen a great starting point for your own IT start, but you should not leave your fate solely on the shoulders of lecturers and coaches. On the path you have chosen, you are the main architects of your future. Czechitas can give you professional know-how, incredible community support and a guarantee of quality students for future employers, but the hardest work is still mainly up to you. Don't believe in a miracle, believe in yourself.”
The key to success: Cooperation built on people
According to Tereza, the key factors for successful cooperation between organizations such as Impact Hub and Czechitas are, above all, wonderful and willing people. People who work to ensure that the results of their work have meaning, impact and a future. People who create a community and corporate culture that they believe in and feel a part of, whether at Impact Hub or in Czechitas. “I am grateful to the entire Impact Hub team for seeing potential in me at the beginning of my IT journey, which I had a hard time finding on my own. Thanks to that, I can now help other women.
We keep our fingers crossed for Czechitas in their next steps. As Petr Vítek said:
"They made a dent in the market, a huge impact, now they are at a crossroads on how to move forward. I believe that we have really helped Czechitas on this journey.”
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Social Impact Award
The Social Impact Award is an international program that supports young innovators in establishing socially beneficial projects. The incubation program offers education and mentoring to budding entrepreneurs who are trying to solve current social and environmental challenges with their projects.
