Celebrating Women at Progress: Meet Desislava Mihaylova and Pragya Srivastava

To celebrate Women’s Month, we asked our employees to nominate female-identifying Progressers who inspire and empower them every day, and we would love to share the stories of these awe-inspiring women with you! To start things off, here is part one of this series.

Desislava Mihaylova, Technical Writer, Senior

Nominated for: always improving the status quo, engaging in social projects, diplomatic

Desi strongly believes that “only through acting as one can we succeed in what we do.” She always strives to combine technical and soft professional skills, so she can become a better subject matter expert and still handle professional matters with responsibility, an open mind, and positive communication. She articulates that “through personal example can we inspire the people around us and be respected by them.” A part of the Initiative Committee of tekom Bulgaria, the only community of technical writers in Bulgaria and subsidiary of tekom Europe, she has worked on tasks such as:

• Helping build a more viable and dynamic professional community in the country
• Motivating and inspiring technical writers so that they can trespass the boundary of professional routine
• Promoting the profession of technical writers among young people in Bulgaria and providing them with a professional opportunity to develop their talent and skills in their country

One of her most notable projects, however, has been creating the Ruse Summer Free Tour Project. About three years ago, Desi decided she wanted to give back to her home city of Rousse. So, together with a couple of friends, she registered a non-profit, met some local guides, and kicked it off. Now, the Ruse Summer Free Tour Project offers visitors free guided walking tours in English each Saturday between the months of May and September. The group has grown to over ten people who contribute to the development of the project, and although Desi knows more can be done, she is proud of what they have been able to achieve so far.

You can read a little more about Desi in this interview we had with her last year.

Next up, we have…

Pragya Srivastava, Senior Manager, Human Capital

Nominated for: Inspiring others with her leadership and fostering a conducive work environment with her congeniality

Pragya has inspired all of us at Progress through her leadership role with the Indian Army. Through her work with the army, as well as being a part of the Human Capital team, she has worked closely on various Inclusion and diversity projects both in and outside of the organizations she has been a part of over the years. She consciously works to improve the gender ratio here at Progress by actively seeking out talented women in the tech space and working with multiple inclusion and diversity forums to engage with leaders in the space.

Pragya also conducts workshops that focus on addressing the challenges women face every day. Most recently, for International Women’s Day, she held a self-defense workshop for the women in her office to help them feel empowered and safe. Another passion she focuses on is coaching and mentoring female professionals to help them speak up, stand up for what is right, and break the glass ceiling.

Within Human Capital, she is working with her team to constantly engage with women to understand their work environment so she can provide them a safe and conducive setting to thrive in.

We are #ProgressProud to honor Desi and Pragya for all they have done for us at Progress and beyond. Stay tuned for the next installment of this series where we celebrate more female-identifying Progressers for Women’s Month!