PARENTSXWORK · 2026 · VIENNA

Rethinking
work, care
& equity.

crafting a better future of work, care and parenting in Europe. 

Location

Impact Hub Vienna

Dates

November 19, 2026

TIME

9:15 – 16:00

Reserve your place

Why this, why now

From evidence
to action.

parentsxwork gathers experts, leaders, and working parents in Vienna to bridge the gap between evidence and action on parental support, mental load and shared care.

This gathering is for parents experimenting with how to combine work and care, leaders and founders redesigning what's possible, and experts who support them. We're deliberately international, because collaboration and connection helps us all imagine brighter futures. And, we're positive and practical, so our program is participatory. 

parentsxwork is integrative by design so that the toolkits that emerge can be, too. 

Join us

Come be part of it.

We'd love to have you join us. Bring your questions and your curiosity, and leave with a toolkit you can start using right away.

Reserve your place →

Working parents, founders, and organisational leaders explore active steps towards equal parenting and working conditions that actually work for parents. In experiential workshops and guided sessions, we build insights and toolkits to put into immediate practice. 

View the programme here

Contributing experts and partners

The practitioners and organisations whose work shapes the day — and the toolkits you take home.

Isabella Gady and Simone Djukic-Schaner, founders of FamilyWorx

FamilyWorx

At FamilyWorx, we believe family life shouldn't feel like something you constantly have to manage. It should feel like something you shape together.

We bring proven ideas and practical tools from organisational development and leadership into everyday family life. Working parents gain clarity about roles, responsibilities and how they cooperate as a team.

Our goal isn't the perfectly organised family. It's helping families find ways of working together that feel fair, intentional and genuinely their own, so there's more room for both family and career.

About Isabella & Simone

Isabella Gady is a leadership coach, organisational designer and transformation facilitator with an international background in leadership, systemic thinking, negotiation and organisational change. She has worked with organisations including UN Women and the Austrian government and today supports leaders and teams in navigating complex systems and change. Isabella is also a mother of three.

Simone Djukic-Schaner is an organisational development expert, management consultant and facilitator with more than 15 years of experience in designing organisations, roles and ways of working. She guides organisations through transformational change and works closely with leaders and leadership teams to build structures, clear responsibilities and decision-making processes that allow people to collaborate effectively. It is this expertise she now brings into the family system – the smallest and perhaps most demanding organisation of all. Simone is also a mother of three.

Together, Isabella and Simone founded FamilyWorx to bring what they have learned about designing successful organisations and teams into one of the most complex systems of all: family.

Alexa Starks, founder of Mothered Media

Mothered Media

Mothered Media is a global research, media, and advocacy platform exploring how motherhood transforms leadership, work, identity, and culture.

Through reports, storytelling, campaigns, and community-driven initiatives, we are helping shape a more sustainable and human future for working mothers everywhere.

About Alexa Starks

Alexa Starks is the founder of Mothered Media and Editor-in-Chief of Mothered Magazine. Her work sits at the intersection of leadership, identity, and working motherhood — challenging the systems that shape women's careers after becoming mothers.

After a decade+ in advertising and navigating her own career rupture and reinvention, Alexa began supporting women through maternity leave and reentry transitions. That work revealed something deeper: the issue wasn't just leave policies — it was how modern work defines power, leadership, and value.

Today, Alexa leads global research initiatives including The Future of Working Motherhood 2026 and the upcoming Maternal Strengths Report, speaks globally on working motherhood and systems redesign, and builds platforms that amplify the voices and strengths of working mothers.

She is committed to reshaping how organizations recognize leadership, redefining power beyond dominance, and ensuring that caregiving and ambition are not positioned in opposition.

She is also a mother of two and is building the world she wants her children to inherit.

WOMENTOR

WOMENTOR

WOMENTOR is a vibrant community based in Vienna, Austria, dedicated to challenging the status quo and fostering equity and inclusion.

We empower individuals through personalized mentoring, dynamic networking, coaching, and supportive business groups, alongside impactful community events. For companies, we develop forward-thinking strategies for Diversity and Sustainability.

WOMENTOR is guided by both vision and expertise. We envision a world where equity is the standard and inclusion is lived. Where we as people, regardless of gender, background or identity, have the power, voice and access to shape our lives and contribute to a more just and sustainable society.

We drive societal change through awareness campaigns and research on systemic inequality. Proudly recognised as a Verified Social Enterprise, we are committed to making a lasting impact.

Coming soon

More contributing experts and partners will be announced here.

Partnerships

Partnering with parentsxwork places your organisation alongside leading voices in gender equity, the future of work, and family-friendly business in front of local and international networks. Partnerships are built around what you can offer, contact us for more info. 

Powered by our current partners

Impact Hub ViennafamilyworxWomentorMorning SlothMatermorphosisWOVN

The Organising Team

Portrait of Kat Ferrin

Kat Ferrin

cheerleader

Portrait of Deirdre Shea Swanson

Deirdre Shea Swanson

lead

Portrait of Sandra Werber

Sandra Werber

INITIATOR

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