Women Leadership Academy

The CEE Her Women Leadership Academy is a mentorship initiative developed by GLOBSEC as part of the CEE Her initiative. The Academy equips emerging women leaders from Central, Eastern, and South-Eastern Europe with the strategic competencies, networks, and analytical tools needed to navigate and shape their futures.

The programme’s core is direct, committed mentorship from senior women leaders and CEE Her Allies – experienced professionals from business, policy, research, media, and civil society who bring firsthand knowledge of high-level decision-making in various sectors. The mentorship model is designed not only to accelerate individual professional growth but to expose participants to strategic thinking and creative problem-solving at the intersection of technology, governance, and leadership building the kind of informed confidence that enables women to shape, rather than merely respond to transition and emerging challenges.

Tailored sessions with professional consultants and thematic experts provide structured upskilling in areas directly relevant to participants’ professional contexts from AI literacy and digital policy to leadership communication and organisational resilience. Collaborative working methods across the cohort further develop teamwork, peer learning, and the capacity to produce joint outputs that carry collective weight beyond individual career development.

Each Women Leadership Academy cycle focuses on intersection of topics relevant to global developments.

Women Leadership Academy 2026

AI, Digital Technologies & Ethics

The pilot cycle’s focus on artificial intelligence, digital technologies, and ethics is not incidental, it reflects where the most consequential decisions about Europe’s economic and democratic future are currently being made, and where women’s voices and expertise are most systematically absent. Participants engage with cutting-edge knowledge across AI governance and regulation, algorithmic accountability, technology sovereignty, and digital transformation strategies, equipping them to influence sectors that are central to both regional competitiveness and long-term societal resilience.

The Cohort

Lenka Hlinková

Mentor

Lenka Hlinková is Co-founder and Chief Innovation Officer of Female Algorithm, a Slovak non-profit organisation dedicated to empowering girls and women in STEM, digital skills, and artificial intelligence. She is the author of the book Ženský algoritmus (The Female Algorithm), which explores gender equality in the workplace and encourages more girls and women to pursue careers in STEM and technology. Before co-founding the organisation, she spent more than a decade working in the technology sector in Slovakia and the UK, gaining experience in digital transformation, project management, and innovation.

From 2021 to 2022, she worked as an external policy expert for the Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs and Family of the Slovak Republic, serving as a member of the working group of the National Project for Gender Equality in the Workplace. She co-authored the strategic study Analytical Study of the Costs and Benefits of Gender Equality Measures in the Labour Market and contributed to evidence-based policy recommendations aimed at improving work-life balance and increasing the employment of people with parental responsibilities, particularly women.
She is also a regular keynote speaker at international conferences and public events, speaking on digital transformation, women’s leadership, gender equality in the workplace, and increasing the participation of girls and women in STEM and technology.

As a mentor in the GLOBSEC CEE Her Women Leadership Academy, she mentors three emerging women leaders from across the CEE region, supports their leadership development, and co-guides the development of the programme’s policy brief on women’s leadership in the age of AI and digital transformation.

Throughout my career, I have learned that the most meaningful opportunities rarely come by chance – they are created by people who are willing to step forward, connect others, and turn ideas into action. Through this programme, I hope to help emerging women leaders build the confidence to do exactly that. Beyond sharing my experience in AI, digital transformation, and ethical leadership, I want to create a space where ambitious women challenge each other, think bigger, and support one another in turning bold ideas into real impact. My hope is that this programme will not only strengthen each mentee individually but also foster a lasting network of women who will shape the future of technology, policy, business, and society across Central and Eastern Europe. If, by the end of the programme, each mentee feels more confident to pursue opportunities she might previously have thought were beyond her reach, I will consider that a success.

Viktoriia Omelianenko

Co-Founder, NGO MINZMIN

Viktoriia Omelianenko is a Brussels-based Ukrainian digital policy professional advancing resilient and trusted digital transformation in Europe. With over 7 years of experience working with the UN, EU institutions, governments, industry and civil society, she combines policy expertise, partnership development and hands-on implementation, with a focus on EU digital policy and diplomacy as well as Europe’s agenda on connectivity, cybersecurity and AI.

She co-founded MINZMIN, a Ukrainian NGO supporting government and civil society on online safety and digital resilience, reaching 2M+ citizens since 2019, and has contributed to advancing Ukraine-EU cooperation on digital and cyber policy at the Foreign Policy Council ‘Ukrainian Prism’.
At the ITU Office for Europe (UN), she coordinates multi-country digital transformation initiatives, Ukraine’s ICT sector recovery projects, regional work on Child Online Protection and supports coordination with EU institutions.

Viktoriia holds a Master’s in EU International Relations and Diplomacy from the College of Europe and was recognised among Europe’s 35 Under 35 Digital Governance Experts by CIDOB and Santander.

I see the CEE HER Academy as a unique opportunity to exchange perspectives with an ambitious community of women leaders, look beyond our daily roles, and build connections that can grow into future cooperation. I’m excited to bring my experience in European digital policy into this exchange and explore together how AI is reshaping the way we lead and create impact and how women can play a stronger role in shaping what comes next.

Loredana Elena Gavrilescu

VC Principal & Compliance Officer

Loredana Gavrilescu is a VC Principal and Compliance Officer at Vest Ventures, with a track record in startup growth, market analysis, and public funding. Before venture capital world she also brings over 7 years of deep experience in market research.During her time as Head of Startups at Iceberg Plus, Loredana led complex funding applications and worked alongside her team to secure public tender contracts worth over €70 million. In 2024, she published an in-depth analysis of the CEE AI startup ecosystem, and she continues to guide founders today with research-backed mentorship. To date, the companies she has advised have gone on to raise more than €6 million in follow-on funding.

Klára Kaničárová

Klára works at the intersection of academia, the public, private and civic sectors, with experience across national and international projects. She is a PhD candidate in political science, focusing on democratic backsliding in Central and Eastern Europe, and a co-founder of Mestáreň (Factory for Better Cities). She has worked with municipalities and civic organisations, and is particularly interested in bridging perspectives and fields that often remain separate, bringing research, ideas and practice closer together.