From Growing Up Facing Systematic Discrimination To Winning At Women In Media: The Trade Desk’s Azadeh Khojandi

From Growing Up Facing Systematic Discrimination To Winning At Women In Media: The Trade Desk’s Azadeh Khojandi

The Trade Desk’s engineering manager, Azadeh Khojandi (centre in lead image) has had a remarkable story, from protesting for basic rights for women in her native Iran to winning the Tech category at B&T‘s Women in Media awards.

Speaking to Women Leading Tech, Khojandi explained that she “Grew up in a country where there is systematic discrimination against women, it’s the law, there are salary differences. I then came to a country where you could see the gap is smaller and it’s not systematic, it’s just a matter of bias.”

These biases, she explained, related more to women’s perceptions of themselves and inertia within business cultures, rather than the all-encompassing oppression she experienced in Iran.

“In Australia, you can see that the responsibilities, sometimes you don’t get them because you’re a woman and because they don’t think that you can do it. I’m not saying that it’s everywhere and that it’s happened across all of my career but I could see that sometimes there was a perception that maybe a person is not senior enough and we should hire them at a lower level, see how they do and then gradually give them the opportunities,” she said.

Khojandi, however, was not fazed by these issues and has actively fought against them to improve the working lives of women across Sydney.

Within The Trade Desk, she led the creation of the “Women in TTD” internal network that helps its female employees develop the soft skills necessary to progress in their careers.

Some 120 women from across APAC regularly attend the sessions, which attract international speaking talent from outside the organisation. Since its inception, no female engineers from The Trade Desk’s APAC offices have left the firm and female engineers have earned promotions at a higher rate than their male counterparts.

“It’s a good feeling to get rewarded for the work that you have been doing and to be recognised. It also adds to your credibility and because of that, you could drive more initiatives at work,” she enthused.

She has also driven the growth of Girl GEEK Sydney over the past six years and transformed it into the not-for-profit organisation GEEQ.

It has helped almost 6,000 women develop their technical and soft skills.

“It’s all free and it’s for everyone so it’s not like if you’re from a different gender or different groups cannot attend. But the focus is women,” she explained.

“We try and create an inclusive environment for everyone to grow but the main focus is to help women get to the level where they can ask for promotions, negotiate their salaries, they can ask for more responsibilities or when they see someone unintentionally speak over them. It’s getting them a seat at the table, making sure they know their rights and that they ask for them.”




Please login with linkedin to comment

the trade desk

Latest News

Limited Tickets Still Available For First Ever Industry Pantomime
  • Advertising

Limited Tickets Still Available For First Ever Industry Pantomime

With just over 24 hours to go until the world premiere of Addy Lala and the Mood Tea Thieves, limited tickets are still available for the pantomime, which will run for one night only at the Everest Theatre in Sydney’s Seymour Centre on December 5th. All in the industry are encouraged to come along to […]

Palin Communications joins GlobalCom PR Network
  • Marketing

Palin Communications joins GlobalCom PR Network

Specialist Australian health PR agency, Palin Communications, has joined GlobalCom PR Network with a view to delivering meaningful, consistent, impactful, global health campaigns across a range of countries and regions.

2045: A New Melbourne-Based Creative Agency Founded by Tim Evans and Nick Auditore
  • Marketing

2045: A New Melbourne-Based Creative Agency Founded by Tim Evans and Nick Auditore

2045, a Melbourne-based creative agency founded by Tim Evans and Nick Auditore has just launched. The agency takes its name from the year futurist Ray Kurzweil predicted organic and artificial intelligence would converge. Lead Image: 2045 Team Evans was formerly a Partner and Executive Strategy Director at DT (now AKQA), before co-founding B.B.E in 2015. […]

New Years Eve fireworks
  • Marketing

National Breast Cancer Foundation Announced as Charity Partner For NYE Sydney

The National Breast Cancer Foundation has been announced as the Charity Partner for Sydney New Year’s Eve. The Australian not-for-profit organisation is represented by the pink ribbon and raises money to fund world-class research towards its vision of zero deaths from breast cancer. Research that saves lives through a better understanding of how to prevent […]

Emporium Unveils Unique Christmas Campaign: “Every Tradition Starts Somewhere”
  • Campaigns

Emporium Unveils Unique Christmas Campaign: “Every Tradition Starts Somewhere”

This holiday season, Emporium Melbourne has announced its festive creative campaign that celebrates and encourages the Melbourne community to embrace their personal ‘untraditional traditions’ – the unique traditions that make Christmas truly special for them, and their family. The campaign’s tagline, “Every tradition starts somewhere”, reflects Emporium’s commitment to embracing, inspiring and applauding diverse traditions […]

Reddit Updates Conversation Placement Ads Formats
  • Technology

Reddit Updates Conversation Placement Ads Formats

Reddit has announced updates to its new ads placement with Carousel Ads and Product Ads. These new units, placed in the heart of Reddit discussions, provide an even more dynamic and compelling way for advertisers to scale to relevant audiences, deliver deeper value to users, and drive stronger, full-funnel performance among the hundreds of thousands […]

Full Throttle Into 2024: Drive.com.au Announces 12 New Products In 2024 Upfronts
  • Media

Full Throttle Into 2024: Drive.com.au Announces 12 New Products In 2024 Upfronts

Automotive Network Drive has announced its 2024 upfronts, its biggest in more than a decade, with a suite of more than 12 new products that underpin its vision to be the number one automotive network in Australia. Now in its 27th year and with a monthly audience of 2.45 million, Drive is leveraging its reputation […]