Women Who Scale: Navigating Career, Culture & Ambition in Tech

Join us for the second event of the trawa Women in Tech Collective, a new series organized by trawa dedicated to fostering connection, empowerment and visibility for women shaping Berlin’s technology scene. This time we are featuring an exciting panel discussion with experienced female engineering managers from known companies to tackle the following topic with us:
High-growth tech is a burnout machine by design. As companies scale, speed wins and inclusive culture loses.
Here's what nobody talks about: Women, especially those balancing caregiving or non-linear paths, end up doing the Glue Work. Mentoring the juniors. Fixing broken processes. Keeping teams sane. It's the work that keeps companies running. It's rarely the work that gets you promoted.
This isn't a "lean in" session.
We're here to challenge how impact is defined, how ambition is measured, and how career frameworks must evolve to reflect the full picture of what drives growth.
Honest perspectives. Actionable insights. For every stage of your career.
It's time to change what scaling actually means.
Meet the Speakers
Meet the Speakers
Syamala Umamaheswaran (Engineering Manager at Zalando) A product development veteran with a decade in tech, Syamala is a public speaker, blogger, and co-founder of Indian Women in Tech Berlin, dedicated to fostering diversity, inclusion, and career growth for women in tech.
Larisa Amariei (Former Engineering Manager at N26) An ICF-accredited coach with 11 years in fintech (including 7 at N26 during hypergrowth), Larisa transitioned from IC to EM and specializes in balancing people-centered leadership with high performance while making invisible impact visible.
Meng Li (Technical Product Manager at SAP) With 15+ years of experience across enterprises, scale-ups, and startups in Asia and Europe, Meng is a former startup co-founder currently building Platform Mesh, an open-source project driving Europe’s digital sovereignty.
Rebecca Allen (Engineering Manager at trawa) From global corporations to scale-ups and high growth start-ups, Rebecca has worked across a broad range of industries and is keen to help build workplaces that sustain & support employees over the long term, rather than burning them out by design.