Dana Kol, CEO & founder of BIDOOR and Shiran Melamdovsky Somech the social tech entrepreneur behind the ‘Listen to Our Voice’ video campaign which marks the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, sit by a computer showing the face of Esther Barhani who was murdered by her husband in front of their son in Tel Aviv, Israel November 25, 2021. REUTERS/Corinna Kern

CTech – The fintech company Melio recently launched its mentoring program for female developers that brings together highly-experienced women with those at the beginning of their careers to learn and discuss the challenges they face. The program, called MentorMe, includes a series of both group and personal meetings, discussions, and networking opportunities for young professionals.

Some 150 women from a variety of tech firms in Israel signed up to participate as either a mentor or mentee, and fifty women were finally chosen to take part. Senior engineers were each assigned a junior engineer to mentor. In addition to one-on-one meetings with their mentors, each mentee will participate in meet-ups focusing on different topics that can help their professional and personal development as engineers. Each meet-up features an influential woman from the industry who will share their experience and knowledge, including Karin Moscovici, former VP of R&D at Riskified; Yael Karov, an entrepreneur and director of engineering at Google AI; and Inbal Orpaz, a journalist and founder of the #WomaninTech initiative.

The program, which is hosted in Melio’s offices, was created by Melio for female programmers to help women at the beginning of their careers and make it easier for them to achieve positions in tech management.

“We begin by sampling the gender balance, and by examining which minorities are under-represented in the industry. Our sampling also includes a comprehensive examination of wage disparities, promotions, and participation in training programs. We also make decisions, like recruiting women in advanced stages of pregnancy with the understanding that they will go on maternity leave soon, as we are interested in their skills in the long term,” said Smadar Weizman, Melio’s VP of People.

Melio helps small businesses with its easy-to-use online payment solution, and allows them to transfer and receive payments quickly, improve their cash flow, gain more control over their finances, and optimize their company’s financial health. Melio was founded by CEO Matan Bar, CTO Ilan Atias, and Ziv Paz in 2018, with headquarters in New York, Tel Aviv, and Colorado. The company has raised $506 million to date.