As part of our strategy to put the care of our people first, at DXC Technology we strive to provide opportunities for career growth at all levels of the organization. One of the ways to achieve this is to promote the development of female leaders. SheLeads is a program that aims to support, develop, and retain talented women in the company. Globally, the ratio of men to women working in IT is still heavily skewed in favor of men. Our long-term goals are to achieve a sustainable gender balance at all levels of the organization, as well as to build a fair society where everyone has a chance to develop.

The program is internal to the company and aims to reach women in leadership positions (or for whom holding a leadership position is an expected next step) across the EMEA region. Information about the program is available to all our employees on the company's internal website, but we also run regular communication campaigns to maintain awareness and interest.

SheLeads launched in October 2023 in Bulgaria as a continuation of RiseUp, a similar program ran in the previous two years. Although debuting in Bulgaria under this brand, the program already has global recognition and carries a prestigious award from Brandon Hall for 2022. The program lasts nine months for each group and includes both training modules and more practical elements use case work, consulting and mentoring.

The program includes a wide variety of internal and external training sessions, 360-degree feedback, coaching and mentoring. Among our main goals is to identify each participant's unique strengths and to build their personal brand, as well as to help them position themselves within the organization and beyond. In addition, the participants are involved in a project aimed at solving a specific business challenge. In an international company with over 130,000 employees and a very complex offerings portfolio, this often means that they must familiarize themselves with an entirely new organization and aspects of the business, and they need to find a way to transfer and leverage their professional experience and new knowledge. A wonderful demonstration of the practical focus is the graduation ceremony (implemented with our first two cohorts of the predecessor program RiseUp) where the ladies, in small groups, were involved in targeted meetings with executives. During these meetings, they had the chance to get to know each other, exchange experiences, and the participants received valuable professional advice regarding upcoming career development opportunities.

Our programs dedicated to women leaders have included a total of 41 ladies from Bulgaria over the past three years. 33% of our director roles for Bulgaria are occupied by women, and in terms of managerial positions, the growth in the last two years stands out strongly - from 29% in October 2021 to 39% currently. Our programs for the support and development of women leaders help with this. Beyond measurable results, we believe that women who have an equal chance for career development will become role models and mentors for other women, and support the building of a more equal workplace and society. As an employer, we have seen our reputation improve in the labor market thanks to our investment in people and the continuous improvement of work conditions.