ODA Techie Award 2025 Finalists
Each year ODA-Nettverk awards dedicated work supporting the promotion of gender equality and diversity in the tech industry.
The ODA Techie Award celebrates a technology professional who combines strong technical skills with a drive for inclusive innovation. This person challenges established norms, contributes actively to knowledge-sharing, and demonstrates clear results in their field. Whether through product development, mentoring, or community engagement, they help ensure that technology reflects the diversity of its users. The award recognizes individuals who shape the future of tech through both expertise and impact.
The winner will be announced at ODA Inspiration Day on May 28th. The finalists are:
Candidate 1: Aurora Sauar
Aurora Sauar is a Junior Associate at McKinsey & Company, working with global clients on tech and AI-driven innovation. She holds degrees in Cybernetics & Robotics and Industrial Economics, with master’s theses on Explainable AI and business model innovation. Before McKinsey, Aurora spent several years with Ada NTNU, promoting women in ICT studies, increasing female graduate representation, and organizing coding courses for students and children. She also served as CEO of Junior Consulting, leading tech, strategy, and design projects, and co-founded VennDi, a digital tool for improving pediatric communication.
Passionate about inclusive technology, Aurora combines technical expertise with a focus on social impact, bridging research, entrepreneurship, and consulting to advance responsible innovation.
Candidate 2: Ruchi Yadav
Ruchi Yadav, Integration Consultant at Avella AS, transitioned from a Ph.D. in Electronics in India to becoming a recognized contributor to software and cloud platforms in Norway. Her technical work spans backend systems, Azure, and AWS, and she has received multiple recognitions including Microsoft MVP, IBM Champion, and AWS Community Builder for her community contributions.
She actively mentors through programs like TENK and speaks at industry forums to promote diversity and learning. Ruchi shares her expertise through open-source contributions, technical talks, and developer communities, helping others grow while expanding access to knowledge. Her work reflects a consistent commitment to technical excellence, inclusion, and the advancement of open innovation. Ruchi was named one of the Top 50 Women in Tech in 2024 by ODA-Network and Abelia.
Candidate 3: Julie Haga
Julie Haga is a Software Engineer at Sensorita, where she contributes to smart waste management through scalable backend and infrastructure solutions. She previously contributed to the development of «Reis», a flexible ticketing solution for public transport in Oslo, and continues to build full-stack systems in a startup environment. Her engineering work spans DevOps, databases, and modern software architecture.
In addition to her technical role, Julie co-founded the “80/80: The Road to More Female CTOs” initiative and is active in mentoring, technical workshops, and community engagement. She helps foster inclusive spaces for knowledge-sharing and leadership development in tech. Her combined focus on engineering and advocacy supports long-term industry change.
See the other category finalists:
Register for ODA Inspiration Day 2025
