My Journey Through the Google Developer Expert Academy (EMEA)
I recently had the incredible opportunity to participate in the Google Developer Expert (GDE) Academy for the EMEA region, and I’m excited to share my journey. The GDE Academy is a highly focused, 6-week program designed to fast-track potential GDE candidates towards becoming a GDE.
Throughout the program, I attended scheduled training sessions to improve my technical presentations, and public speaking skills, and received personalized, one-on-one coaching from an experienced GDE mentor to prepare for my application.
Program Timeline
The program ran from October 15 to November 26, 2025, and was structured as follows:
Week
Date
Session
Week 0
October 15
Onboarding
Week 1
October 22
Tech Presentation
Week 2
November 5
Public Speaking
Week 3
November 19
Content Creation
Week 4
November 26
Personal Branding
Sessions and Speakers
The sessions were led by a fantastic team of speakers and GDEs:
Session
Speakers
GDE Academy: EMEA Onboarding Call
Janise Tan, Monika Janota (xWF)
Selecting the Right Topic & Crafting Great Technical Presentations
Janise Tan, A.Mahdy Abdelaziz
Mastering Public Speaking
Reuben Milne
AI Tools for Content Creation
Muhammad Ahsan Ayaz, Daniela Petruzalek
Graduation Day: Your GDE Toolkit - Personal Branding
Reuben Milne, Abdelfettah Sghiouar (Abdel)
My Experience
The GDE Academy was an intense but incredibly rewarding experience. The personalized mentorship was invaluable, and the workshops helped me refine my skills and build confidence. I’m grateful for the opportunity to have been a part of this program and for the connections I’ve made.
I’m proud to announce that I have now graduated from the GDE Academy and am looking forward to the next steps in my GDE journey.
A huge thank you to the program team for their support and guidance:
Janise Tan (GDE Lead, EMEA)
Monika Janota (GDE Community Manager, EMEA)
Eunice Allela (GDE Community Manager, SSA)
Alaa Shahin (Community Manager, MENAT)
I’m excited to apply what I’ve learned and to continue contributing to the developer community.
