The war in Ukraine has been going on for seven months now and during that time we have seen some great leadership in action. One great example of this is CEO Natalie Kaminski of software startup JetRockets. When Russian invaded Ukraine, she did something pretty unbelievable: she helped 46 of her Russian engineers (plus spouses and children) safely relocate out of the country.
In the first days of the war, Natalie realised their Russian employees were in physical danger because of their association with an American company. Natalie feared that the Russian police might suspect employees of anti-Russian sentiment and that they could be arrested or have their bank accounts shut down.
Where other tech companies have abandoned their employees in the region, Natalie helped every single person who wanted to relocate to get out safely. She’s also dedicated significant effort to hiring tech talent based in Ukraine, many of whom had been left unemployed by the war, with 6 Ukrainians already onboarded. Ronan talks to Natalie about this and more.
More about Natalie Kaminski:
She came to the US at 18 by way of Russia, Ukraine, and Israel with $500 in her pocket and a desire to be financially independent. She had no one to fall back on. Two decades later, she’s an active supporter of female leadership in her own and other businesses, has great insights into how the tech industry has changed and the struggles that female founders specifically still face. She is also the acting CTO for many of JetRockets’ clients, so she sees this again and again firsthand.
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