Give people what they need to perform at their best in 2021
December is usually the time of year when HR departments across the country send the annual ‘employee satisfaction survey’. And, while this attempt to establish staff’s likes and dislikes from the past 12 months is bound to uncover much more than usual this time around – it always leaves business owners with something to think about.
But for Lorna Stellakis, managing director of managed IT support firm, Q2Q, she regularly asks her clients and their colleagues: “Does your company give you the tools and technologies you need to do your job well? Because try as you might, without those, performance will only ever be lacklustre.”
Although business owners might be fearful of the barrage – or complete lack of – feedback when employees are asked to evaluate the suitability of their tech stack, the question is so much more pertinent as we head into a new year – and one where many workspaces morph from a traditional office environment to either a home set-up, or a combination of the two.
As the owner of a technical business, I would use HR departments, company owners, and technical leads to expand that question even further to ask: “Does your team have the necessary equipment and environment that are conducive to providing both a suitable workspace and the tools they need, in order to work smarter and at maximum efficiency?”
From my experience, it can often be a culmination of lots of little things that cause the most frustrations – ultimately leading to disengagement and low morale.
Once such example would be access to the relevant IT systems. It shouldn’t seem like too much to ask, but from a technical perspective, something as simple as having an old laptop that is a little slow to load files and webpages can have a massive impact on productivity.
Team members who begin each day with the frustration of having to wait for a slow machine to fire up – pressing the ‘power’ button and having enough time to make tea and toast – can be compounded by missing deadlines because they didn’t plan the extra ‘loading’ time, or the added stress that a slow machine brings, when being pressed for information quickly.
Meanwhile, from a working environment perspective, consideration should extend far beyond whether a chair, monitor and desk are at optimal working height – but also consider other contributing factors such as space, light, noise, and temperature.
As a business leader, it’s important to put yourself in the shoes of your team and ask whether they’re likely to feel motivated if they are constantly frustrated with their equipment and/or environment?
Like many of our peers, a shift to hybrid working has meant we needed to conduct a complete inventory of all the technical infrastructure we have available in the office to establish a hot desking set-up. While this concept is nothing new, for our techies – who have a lot of hardware – they have previously kept all their work-related collateral in one place. So, lugging it between home and HQ was not an option.
But, by investing in additional items, such as desk phones and monitors, staff can ‘borrow’ whatever they need when working from the office, and leave it behind for their colleagues, the following day.
This small investment means that the team’s day to day isn’t littered with distractions from not being able to function as seamlessly as they would normally. And the return on investment when it comes to our staff satisfaction levels makes it totally worth the cost – I am sure this will pay dividends in the long-run.
While returning to a shared space following eight months of relative isolation can be unnerving, removing the disruption of not having the right kit can make a significant difference. Colleagues feel valued, listened to, and cared for, and this pays back in droves in terms of their dedication and work ethic, and of course, efficiency.
As we all transition to whatever the new version of the working day looks like, a new year is the ideal time to identify where there are any gaps, ask – and answer – the question: “is there something missing that you can easily resolve and would it make a major change to team morale?”
About the author
My role is to provide the overall direction and “eye on the compass” as to where we, as a team are heading, setting the overall business strategy and financial budgeting. Whilst always having been involved with systems implementation throughout my career, I have an operational background and no specific IT experience. However, if anything, I believe this makes me more qualified to ensure the team deliver great service, drawing from my operations experience, and having been on the wrong side of poor IT support in the past. I can relate to how crippling this can be to a business, making it paramount that we ensure that IT issues are as invisible as possible, leaving the customers to get on with running their businesses smoothly.
WeAreTechWomen covers the latest female centric news stories from around the world, focusing on women in technology, careers and current affairs. You can find all the latest gender news here.
Don’t forget, you can also follow us via our social media channels for the latest up-to-date gender news. Click to follow us on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.
Looking back at 2020: Our top Inspirational Women & HeForShe interviews
In the fourth and final installments of looking back at 2020, we delve into our favourite and fascinating Inspirational Women & HeForShe interviews of the year.
Our Inspirational Women series of interviews aims to highlight amazing women across the globe, showcase their achievements and raise their profiles. Over the years, we have interviewed so many amazing women such as Professor Sue Black OBE, Debbie Forster MBE, Jacqueline de Rojas CBE, Dr Anne-Marie Imafidon MBE and many more.
Our HeForShe interviews celebrate men who promote and support women in the workplace, whether it is through campaigning, mentoring or giving opportunities to women.
Inspirational Woman: Dr Zeinab Bakhtiarinoodeh | Senior Data Scientist, TomTom
With a six year working background in Mathematics and Computer Science, Zeinab has been in a male dominated industry for the majority of her career.
Alongside qualifications in Neural Networks and Deep Learning, Regularization, Optimization and Structuring Machine Learning, Zeinab also speaks English, French, Persian and Turkish.
Today, at TomTom, Zeinab leverages Computer Science, Machine Learning and Mathematical modelling to turn data into a story, a fascinating feature for the users of TomTom products. She is passionate about science and technology, with the aim of using both to make the world a better place to live.
Inspirational Woman: Caroline Serfass | Senior Vice President & Chief Information Officer, Canon EMEACaroline Serfass joined Canon EMEA as Chief Information Officer in January 2013 to lead the company’s IT strategy and help transform business systems across the Europe, Middle East and Africa region, to provide a strong foundation for future growth.
Caroline’s experience spans across a variety of functions, including internal audit, manufacturing operations, supply chain and IT. Prior to joining Canon, she spent most of her career in the healthcare industry. Notably, Caroline was CIO Europe at global pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly and Company. Caroline then held the position of Vice President IT International at Medtronic, the world leader in medical devices. At both companies, she made technology one of the key pillars of their transformation and growth. She began her career as the first IT manager of a small mining company in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Caroline studied engineering at École Centrale in France and holds an MSc in Robotics from École Polytechnique, Montreal.
Inspirational Woman: Felicia Williams | Director of Design & Research for Emerging Businesses, TwitterFelicia recently joined Twitter as Director of Design & Research for Emerging Businesses, as well as the regional Design & Research leader for the UK.
The team and leadership at Twitter are incredible, smart and passionate about how they can grow their platform, and bring even better services and experiences to users. Her remit is to develop and scale products for small businesses and individuals looking to start their business.
Felicia is part of This is Engineering Day, a day created by the Royal Academy of Engineering to celebrate the world-shaping engineering that exists all around us but often go unnoticed, as well as the engineers who make this possible. As part of This is Engineering Day, the Royal Academy of Engineering has announced plans to create a new virtual museum named The Museum of Engineering Innovation, which can be accessed through QR Codes dotted around the country as well as by visiting Google Arts and Culture. To view the first collection of exhibits, which include Jonnie Peacock’s running blade, visit https://artsandculture.google.com/partner/museum-of-engineering-innovation. #BeTheDifference.
HeForShe: Adam Philpott | EMEA President, McAfee
As EMEA President of McAfee, Adam Philpott leads the EMEA region with a focus on building truly diverse teams to drive sales and success at every level of the business.
In this role, Adam is responsible for growing the business across EMEA as well as developing stronger partnerships with the channel and customers across McAfee’s consumer and enterprise security portfolio.
Before joining McAfee, Adam held the role of Senior Director, EMEAR, Cyber Security at Cisco. With more than 17 years of experience at the IT and networking conglomerate, Adam has a proven record of working in the security industry and boosting business growth
Inspirational Woman: Lauren Allison | CEO, #techmums
Lauren Allison is the CEO of #techmums – a not-for-profit founded by Prof Sue Black OBE to support mums in becoming more familiar, confident, and excited about the use of technology in their lives.
Lauren also works for Sulby Media as an international strategic communications and technology consultant. Her career blends together social responsibility, public policy, and technology. She trained as public diplomacy professional at the University of Southern California (USC) as a Fulbright Scholar. A graduate of the Washington Ireland Program (WIP), Lauren also studied at the University of St Andrews (MA Hons), L’Institut des Études Politiques de Paris (Sciences Po), and the Centre for Comparative Conflict Studies at Singidunum University, Belgrade
Inspirational Woman: Milly Henneyake | Civil Engineer, Arup
Milly wanted to do a job that would help people and have an impact on the world, so decided to be an engineer.
Now she works as a civil engineer, making people safe from flooding. She has worked with charities in projects around the world. In South America, Milly improved the design for temporary housing so that houses could be built safely and quickly by small groups of people. In Kenya, she worked with Engineers Without Borders to install plumbing and drainage into communities that had none.
She is now a civil engineer for Arup, where she builds structures to make people safe from flooding. Milly draws designs and works with other experts to manage flood risks. She works with nature, from rivers and lakes, to trees protecting riverbanks. Milly works to make sure what she builds is sustainable, thinking about the environment and reducing the impact on ecology. Her work keeps people safe after large storms.
Milly is a part of This is Engineering Day, a day created by the Royal Academy of Engineering to celebrate the world-shaping engineering that exists all around us but often go unnoticed, as well as the engineers who make this possible. As part of This is Engineering Day, the Royal Academy of Engineering has announced plans to create a new virtual museum named The Museum of Engineering Innovation, which can be accessed through QR Codes dotted around the country as well as by visiting Google Arts and Culture. To view the first collection of exhibits, which include Jonnie Peacock’s running blade, visit https://artsandculture.google.com/partner/museum-of-engineering-innovation. #BeTheDifference
HeForShe: Stuart Nyemecz | Senior Director & Head of Enterprise, Dell Technologies
At Dell Technologies Stuart Nyemecz leads the Enterprise Business in the UK.
Ultimately, they help leading companies deal with the myriad of challenges around realising their Digital Transformation, and in the Enterprise division, they work with the largest and most complex organisations globally. Stuart is responsible for our largest customer relationships, for developing value propositions for the UKI market, setting business development strategy and driving talent development for the customer facing teams. He is a Board Member, a Diversity Champion and spokesperson for Dell Technologies, and he plays an active part in a number of EMEA and Global leadership committees.
Stuart Nyemecz is an advocate of balancing a strong work ethic with time for family and adventure, having taken a six-month sabbatical with his own young family to travel the world. He is privileged to be able to use his professional platform to help drive his personal passion in creating a fairer world for his daughters. Stuart holds a BSc in Computer Science from Durham University and an alumni of Cranfield Business School.
Inspirational Woman: Vinita Marwaha Madill | Project Manager, Mission Control Services
Vinita Marwaha Madill is a Project Manager at Mission Control Services. From developing spacewalk training, helping astronauts move around in space, to building a robotic arm for astronauts to use onboard the International Space Station, no day is the same.
One of Vinita’s most interesting projects involved designing a skin suit to mimic the effects of gravity to protect astronauts from muscle and bone loss whilst in space. The suit was the culmination of more than 10 years of development and has been worn by astronauts in space since 2015.
Vinita is a part of This is Engineering Day, a day created by the Royal Academy of Engineering to celebrate the world-shaping engineering that exists all around us but often go unnoticed, as well as the engineers who make this possible. As part of This is Engineering Day, the Royal Academy of Engineering has announced plans to create a new virtual museum named The Museum of Engineering Innovation, which can be accessed through QR Codes dotted around the country as well as by visiting Google Arts and Culture. To view the first collection of exhibits, which include Jonnie Peacock’s running blade, visit https://artsandculture.google.com/partner/museum-of-engineering-innovation. #BeTheDifference
Inspirational Woman: Rashi Khurana | Vice President of Engineering, Shutterstock
Rashi Khurana is Vice President of Engineering at Shutterstock where she oversees the front end E-commerce, Platform and Mobile engineering teams.
Since joining Shutterstock in 2016, Rashi helped lead three teams through a technology transformation, all the while managing day-to-day operations of delivering a quality product to customers. Rashi is passionate about managing teams of engineers to deliver above expectations everyday and building resiliency into all initiatives.
Rashi earned a master’s degree in Information Technology and Management at the Illinois Institute of Technology. Upon graduation, she worked at Orbitz in Chicago for seven years—before moving to New York City.
Hailing from India, Rashi moved to the United States in 2007 to pursue a master’s degree in Information Technology and Management at the Illinois Institute of Technology. Upon graduation, she worked at Orbitz in Chicago for seven years—before moving to New York City.
Rashi has also spoken on “Business as Usual While Revamping a Decade of Code” and recently took part on a tech women’s leadership panel. Her speaking engagements include 2018 Wonder Women Tech, 2018 SXSW, and 2017 DeveloperWeek.
You can discover all of our inspirational profiles here!
Brand authenticity and your bottom line – the perfect mix for company growth
Article by Rachel McElroy, chief marketing officer, Solutionize Global
Brand authenticity during the time of a pandemic is paramount. Curating the right tone and remaining humble — when consumers are living in a state of heightened alertness — will directly impact your bottom line.
How? It makes your organisation relatable, and in times of uncertainty customers will naturally be attracted to anything that feels stable, secure, and ‘normal’.
A study by the Harvard Business Review found that individuals consistently preferred companies that values ‘openness, relevance, empathy, experience, and emotion’ — with a brand’s performance on these points being found to directly impact profit.
And authenticity in a brand’s messaging not only secures an identity of a principled business, but also solidifies its credibility and its commitment to core values – helping consumers feel more comfortable in dealing with them.
A brand can deliver on this when it has clarity of vision — knowing why it exists and what it stands for. This lucidity feeds through to customers, encouraging them to form long-term relationships with not only the business, but the people behind it.
In fact, in an international Cohn and Wolfe survey, 72% of those questioned ranked authenticity above innovation and product uniqueness when asked what they valued most in a brand, evidencing that you could have the best product or service on the market, but will be avoided by prospects if they believe the brand to be dishonest.
But how can you demonstrate that you are authentic? Consumers like to see the human side of business, so being transparent about your path to success and any hardships you have encountered will encourage engagement. Using this form of messaging strategically and consistently throughout your content, messaging, and day-to-day interactions will act as a magnet, drawing people to you.
This attraction to known humanness by consumers explains the rise in user-generated content, the most honest and relatable comms of all.
Authenticity allows individuals to engage with each other in powerful ways, enabling us to innovate together and drive real change within our industries. And it isn’t just limited to our interactions with customers — as a management style, authenticity is engaging and effective, with leaders able to see powerful results by incorporating this approach.
So, how can businesses showcase their values and integrity to consumers? Once you have built your branding strategy and have identified the key parts that make you authentic, investing in long-term brand management efforts are essential.
This should transcend product lines, allowing your business to grow while maintaining a loyal and engaged customer base that is more likely to not only purchase from you, but to become an advocate by recommending you to their networks.
When done correctly, authentic messaging delivers fantastic ROI, but your brand story must stay consistent and aligned to foster a great experience for your customers.
About the author
As chief marketing officer for technology solutions and services provider, Solutionize Global, Rachel is passionate about maximising customer experience and ensuring the organisation’s quality provision meets every end user’s requirements. As a brand and comms specialist, Rachel delivers high-performing marketing campaigns that celebrate SG’s bespoke service. An eloquent and well-respected industry commentator – especially in the diversity in tech space – commercially-savvy Rachel is a sales enablement expert who crafts tailored messaging to engage and inspire the firm’s wide-ranging customer base, and positively impacts its bottom line.
WeAreTechWomen covers the latest female centric news stories from around the world, focusing on women in technology, careers and current affairs. You can find all the latest gender news here.
Don’t forget, you can also follow us via our social media channels for the latest up-to-date gender news. Click to follow us on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.
Looking back at 2020: Our top tech news stories of the year
In the first in our series of looking back at the past year, we delve into some of our favourite and most important tech news stories of 2020.
While this year has been overshadowed by the COVID-19 pandemic, 2020 has still seen Sheridan Ash, June Angelides & Carrie Anne Philbin recognised on Queen's Birthday Honours List; the loss of Katherine Johnson, NASA mathematician and inspiration for the Hollywood film, Hidden Figures; a celebration of a million women in STEM; and some great initiatives to help women in tech.
We look forward to bringing you all the latest news, debates and thought-provoking articles in 2021!
January
In January, we caught up with one of our TechWomen100 alumni – Tribeni Chougule. Tribeni won her award in 2018.
Tribeni started her career as a Graduate Trainee Engineer in Tata Technologies, Pune, India where she was trained as an SAP Technical Consultant.
She enjoyed programming and was able to land a new job on the basis of her 4.5 months of strong technical expertise into India’s top 3 IT companies –Wipro. In her 11 years career in Wipro, Tribeni’ s roles graduated from Technical Consultant to Technical Lead to Project Lead to Project Manager and Program Manager and she also moved permanently from India to UK. Tribeni then joined Infosys where she project managed their first SAP Global Trade Management implementation for a procurement division of one of the largest telecom companies. In 2013, Tribeni joined Visa as Technical Project Manager and transformed internal IT teams from waterfall to agile model of delivery and enabled the various teams to work in the digital propositions of the organisation. This included training design and implementation, tools and process change and being an Agile coach to Scrum Masters as well as to Scrum Teams. After undertaking various key and complex programmes and projects during the and post-merger of Visa Europe and Visa Inc, Tribeni headed the Technology team in the London Innovation Centre. Tribeni is currently the Head of Change Management in Finance Europe.
Tribeni is also the co-chair of Visa’s Women in Technology Europe network, Enactus Business Advisor and a Cherie Blair foundation women in business mentor. She is pursuing her executive MBA from WBS, London.
February
February sadly saw the loss of NASA mathematician, Katherine Johnson.
Johnson, who was one of the inspirations for the Hollywood film, Hidden Figures, sadly died on 25th February, aged 101.
The pioneering African-American mathematician’s calculations were critical to the success of the first and subsequent U.S. crewed space flights. Johnson’s work also helped break down many of the social and racial barriers at the time.
Johnson was hired by the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) in 1953 and worked in the racially segregated computing unit until 1958, when NACA became NASA. In the same year, Johnson joined Project Mercury, the US’s first human space program, as one of the ‘computers’ who calculated rocket trajectories and earth orbits by hand.
March
March saw the rapid advancement of Coronavirus, with the whole country put into lockdown on 23rd March.
As a result of this, we asked our members for help in supporting great initiatives like FutureDotNow’s campaign to support the most vulnerable online during COVID-19; and The Royal Academy of Engineering’s call for engineers to help boost the supply of ventilators and ventilator components.
April
In April, we reported that J.P. Morgan had joined forces with Finding Ada to offer free mentorship for 50 women in technology in the UK.
The scheme paired mentees from across the UK with women in technical roles within J.P. Morgan. Mentors are available from various levels across the company, from junior software developers to senior tech leaders.
Mentoring has many proven benefits, including helping mentees to improve their soft skills, confidence and communication skills, as well as making them, on average, five times more likely to receive a promotion compared to non-mentees.
May
In May, we celebrated WISE’s campaign to showcase one million women in STEM.
WISE had been working towards the goal of one million women in STEM for the past five years. Thanks to the focused efforts of role models, organisations and champions of gender balance in STEM, this number has finally been achieved.
WISE invited you to celebrate and take part in their newly launched 1 of the Million campaign – an inclusive, digital campaign that aims to inspire and celebrate the real faces behind the million women in STEM.
The 1 of the Million Campaign encourages women working in STEM to share their story – and those of their friends, mentors or colleagues – in order to celebrate the brilliant contributions women make through science, technology, engineering and maths.By putting a face to the million, the campaign aims to inspire more women to pursue, return to, or retrain in STEM.
June
June saw the celebration of International Women in Engineering Day!
International Women in Engineering Day is an annual event that showcases the incredible work of female engineers and it aims to encourage more people to think of engineering as a profession for all.
Currently, there is a considerable lack of female representation in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) industry – with women making up just 12.37 per cent of all engineers in the UK, the lowest numbers of any country in Europe.
For young girls, whose future choices are heavily influenced by today’s experiences, lack of visible female representation fuels the misconception that engineering is a career for men wearing high-vis jackets. Whilst people are now more comfortable questioning gender bias in the industry, diversity now being a recognisable issue, there is still a long way to go before gender parity is achieved.
WeAreTechWomen spoke to six female STEM experts to learn about their own career experiences in the engineering industry, and advice for how best to #ShapeTheWorld.
July
In July, it was reported that women in cybersecurity are paid 21 per cent less than men.
Despite more women working in cybersecurity, the research, Cybersecurity Workforce Study, conducted by (ISC)², found that women are paid, on average, 21 per cent less than their male counterparts globally.
The average salary for female cybersecurity employees in North America is just under $80,000, versus an average of around $96,500 for men. In Europe, the average salary for women is about $40,500 compared to $67,000 for men.
More women than men (22 per cent vs. 13 per cent) cited discrimination as a challenge they’ve experienced during their career. However, in other areas, such as “unclear career path opportunities,” “lack of available cybersecurity positions” and “cost of cybersecurity certifications,” men and women respondents were never more than five percentage points apart.
The study did find some positives for women in cybersecurity. The research found that higher percentages of women in cybersecurity already planned to work in the field even before starting in the profession – and that interest in pursuing cybersecurity education is substantially higher among women under the age of 45. 68 per cent of women in cybersecurity polled by (ISC)2 also said they plan to stay in the field for the remainder of their careers.
August
August offered a positive month, with 51 per cent of tech employees saying working from home has improved their work-life balance.
The report, from Culture Shift, found that the events of recent months have positively impacted the culture of Britain’s technology industry, with 39 per cent saying it has actively improved since they transitioned to working from home.
As half of the UK’s workforce transitioned to remote working earlier this year, organisations were thrust into the spotlight with many standing by to see if they were able to make the transition seamlessly without detrimental impact on their culture. The same report also uncovered that 34 per cent of employees in tech said working from home has had a positive effect on their mental health, while 30 per cent said sentiment towards their job has been positively impacted and 33 per cent confirmed their relationship with their boss/employer has improved since they started working from home.
It was also reported that virtual events could be a step in achieving greater inclusivity for women in tech if biased features maintained by in-person conferences are eliminated, according to new data.
Ensono, a leading hybrid IT services provider, today released the findings of its second annual research report, “Speak Up: Redesigning Tech Conferences With Women in Mind.”
As digital events have become the new normal due to the impact of COVID-19, the report signals how virtual conferences can provide a stepping stone for women to achieve gender parity in the tech industry if biased conference amenities are eliminated. For women of colour, this disparity is even greater, and companies are responsible for diversity and inclusion efforts that challenge routine procedure.
The report found that 71 per cent of women who have given a keynote said conferences are not designed with women in mind. The report also found that on average, women of colour only make up eight per cent of keynote speakers at tech conferences over the last three years. 61 per cent of the women surveyed said their company is more likely to send a man to a tech conference than a woman.
September
September saw Dr Anne-Marie Imafidon MBE and Sheila Flavell CBE win a European Tech Women Awards.
The UK Department for International Trade (DIT) announced the winners of the first edition of the European Tech Women Awards that took place virtually during London Tech Week.
The event recognised the accomplishments of 24 women from 12 countries who delivered revolutionary projects in the UK and Europe and celebrated UK’s diversity, openness and willingness to champion female leaders.
Imafidon and Flavell both won a Career Recognition Award, while TechWomen100 alumni, Amanda Heslop from Rolls Royce won a STEM Pathway Award
September also saw Victoria McKay appointed as CEO of #techmums to help reach more digitally excluded mums in post COVID-19 age.
McKay founded and ran the Women’s Jewellery Network, a global community of women in the jewellery industry. She was also Chief Operating Officer of the highly respected, London Diamond Bourse. Victoria also serves as Clerk to The Worshipful Company of Lightmongers.
Victoria succeeds Lauren Allison, who served as CEO of #techmums since 2019. Lauren successfully transformed #techmums into the organisation it is today, launching popular national clubs and launching a new online offer.
October
In October, a barrier-breaking computer science professor was awarded an Honorary Fellowship of the Chartered Institute for IT.
The UK’s only black (Afro-Caribbean) female professor of Computer Science, Dorothy Monekosso, has been awarded an Honorary Fellowship by BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT.
Professor Monekosso, of Leeds Beckett University, received the honour for her work on Smart Homes for people living with dementia and for her campaigning work to promote diversity in the tech sector. Her pioneering research also includes developing artificial intelligence for spacecraft.
Professor Monekosso will join innovators like Margaret Ross OBE, Emeritus Professor of Software Quality at Southampton Solent University (2007) and World Wide Web inventor Sir Tim Berners-Lee (2000) on the professional body for IT’s roll of Honorary Fellows.
Also in October, Sheridan Ash, June Angelides & Carrie Anne Philbin were amongst women in tech recognised on Queen's Birthday Honours List.
Sheridan Ash, founder of TechSheCan was awarded an MBE for services to Young Girls and Women through Technology particularly during COVID-19; June Angelides, VC at Samos Investments, Entrepreneur, Advisor, Speaker, Writer, was awarded an MBE for her services to Women in Technology; and Carrie Anne Philbin, Director, Raspberry Pi Foundation, was awarded an MBE for her services to Education.
Also recognised on this year’s Honours List was Sarah-Jane Mintey, Founder and chief executive Officer, Developing Experts, who was awarded an MBE for services to Technology and Education during Covid-19. Elizabeth Vega, Group Chief Executive Officer, Informed Solutions, was awarded an OBE for services to International Trade and Digital Transformation, while Rioch Edwards-Brown, Founder, So You Wanna Be in TV’, was awarded an OBE for services to the Television, Technology and Creative Sectors
This year’s Honours List was dominated by frontline workers and community champions for their continuing work during the COVID-19 pandemic. Healthcare and social care workers make up 14 per cent of the List, for contributions as diverse as setting up the COVID-19 hospitals to delivering medical care on the frontline.
November
In November it was reported that 31 per cent of IT and information research professionals are working in fear, scared of making a mistake at work.
The nationwide poll, commissioned by Feel Good Contacts revealed some of the many concerns faced by people working in this industry.
The study of 2,000 UK workers, conducted by OnePoll, highlighted issues related to communications. Despite almost six months of Zoom meetings, a quarter of IT and information research employees are still uncomfortable with being on a video call, seeing and hearing themselves on screen and being in a virtual room full of people staring at their face. A total of 23 per cent don’t want to talk on the phone and would rather send an email.
In a climate of uncertainty, where IT and information research professionals are feeling on edge as we enter a second lockdown, 20 per cent are anxious about working with difficult colleagues. But it’s not just internal relations that are a concern, 19 per cent are nervous about dealing with antagonistic client and customers.
Not surprisingly, 30 per cent of respondents are scared about losing their job as the UK plunges into economic recession for the first time in 11 years. With such worries, it’s understandable that just under one sixth of respondents are too nervous to ask for extra support with a heavy workload and 18 per cent are anxious about seeking help with a difficult task. One fifth said that in the current climate, they would dread facing their boss in a performance review and a further fifth said that they would be too nervous to ask for a pay rise. Finally, 21 per cent are worried about being expected to work out of hours.
Listen to our latest She Talks Tech podcast on 'How to empower young people and schools into tech'
Today we hear from Mark Martin. Mark is a computer science teacher and co-leader of ‘UK Black Tech’ – an innovation group trying to solve the biggest problems of today through representation and innovation
He’ll be discussing how young people can get access to opportunities in tech, how we can support and equip them in that and open career pathways for them.
You can find out more about and connect with Mark on Twitter @Urban_Teacher
LISTEN HERE
‘She Talks Tech’ brings you stories, lessons and tips from some of the most inspirational women (and men!) in tech.
From robotics and drones, to fintech, neurodiversity and coronavirus apps; these incredible speakers are opening up to give us the latest information on tech in 2020.
Vanessa Valleley OBE, founder of WeAreTheCity and WeAreTechWomen brings you this latest resource to help you rise to the top of the tech industry. Women in tech make up just 17 per cent of the industry in the UK and we want to inspire that to change.
WeAreTechWomen are delighted to bring this very inspiring first series to wherever you normally listen to podcasts – and the first three episodes are now live!
So subscribe, rate the podcast and give it a 5-star review – and keep listening every Wednesday morning for a new episode of ‘She Talks Tech’.
Produced by Pineapple Audio Production.
Every woman and child should feel safe this Christmas: Buy a Christmas present for a child in a refuge
Every woman and child should feel safe this Christmas. You can help – here’s how. Buy a Christmas present for a child in a refuge.
This Christmas at Refuge, we expect to have 678 women and children staying with us. For many, it’ll be their first Christmas away from their abusers, after months of danger and fear.
So we’re asking people to give someone a happier Christmas by buying a present from our gift list. Donations will then be used to give the women and children we support gift cards so they can choose a present they will cherish all year round.
This holiday season, help a woman or child have a happy Christmas. We’ve got great gifts ranging from teddy bears to winter hats and coats. Take a look:
Choose your gift
Mariam* and her children arrived at our refuge with just a single suitcase, after years of physical abuse.
She says gifts from Refuge supporters made a huge difference. “Being able to choose a new toy meant so much to my sons – their faces would light up!”
It meant a lot to Mariam, too. “‘I remember receiving a bundle of toiletries and I was so touched, it almost made me cry,” she says. “It meant everything to know that someone cared about my family and they understood what we were going through.”
A simple act of kindness like buying crayons, a scarf, or toiletries can show a family like Mariam’s you’re thinking of them. Choose your gift now:
Buy a Christmas gift
Your generosity is genuinely life-changing and these are gifts that will never be forgotten.
*Mariam’s name has been changed to protect her privacy.
WeAreTechWomen covers the latest female centric news stories from around the world, focusing on women in technology, careers and current affairs. You can find all the latest gender news here.
Don’t forget, you can also follow us via our social media channels for the latest up-to-date gender news. Click to follow us on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.
Listen to our latest She Talks Tech podcast on 'How to accelerate your careers'
Today we hear from a group of incredible senior leaders - Margarete McGrath, Chief Digital Officer at Dell Technologies; Joanne Obstoj, a Managing Director at Goldman Sachs; and Steve Allen, who’s Barclays Chief Operation Officer for the Corporate Bank.
The panel will be discussing strategies that can be used to accelerate your career - focussing on the importance of networking and mentoring relationships, sponsorship, self-awareness and playing to your strengths whilst remaining authentic.
You can find out more about and connect with our esteemed panellists on LinkedIn.
LISTEN HERE
‘She Talks Tech’ brings you stories, lessons and tips from some of the most inspirational women (and men!) in tech.
From robotics and drones, to fintech, neurodiversity and coronavirus apps; these incredible speakers are opening up to give us the latest information on tech in 2020.
Vanessa Valleley OBE, founder of WeAreTheCity and WeAreTechWomen brings you this latest resource to help you rise to the top of the tech industry. Women in tech make up just 17 per cent of the industry in the UK and we want to inspire that to change.
WeAreTechWomen are delighted to bring this very inspiring first series to wherever you normally listen to podcasts – and the first three episodes are now live!
So subscribe, rate the podcast and give it a 5-star review – and keep listening every Wednesday morning for a new episode of ‘She Talks Tech’.
Produced by Pineapple Audio Production.
TechWomen100 Awards Ceremony 2020: In Pictures
WeAreTechWomen celebrated the winners of the 2020 TechWomen100 Awards last night (Tuesday 8th December) via a virtual award's ceremony.
Given the circumstances, the team at WeAreTechWomen had to do things a little differently with our awards this year.
Over the course of the night, our attendees were congratulated by our sponsors and special guests and we heard from inspirational speakers and entertainers, who all endeavoured to create a truly magically experience.
The virtual award's ceremony was hosted by Julia Streets, CEO, Streets Consulting. Throughout the evening, we were joined by our special guests, IT entrepreneur and philanthropist Dame Stephanie Shirley CH; maker, coder, tech advocate and TechWomen100 winner, Avye Couloute; and live vocal duo, The Vocal Jewels, as our special guests for the 2020 TechWomen100 Award’s Ceremony.
View photos from the TechWomen100 Award’s Ceremony below:
TechWomen100 Award’s Ceremony 2020: In Words
WeAreTechWomen celebrated the winners of the 2020 TechWomen100 Awards last night (Tuesday 8th December) via a virtual award's ceremony.
Given the circumstances, the team at WeAreTechWomen had to do things a little differently with our awards this year.
Over the course of the night, our attendees were congratulated by our sponsors and special guests and we heard from inspirational speakers and entertainers, who all endeavoured to create a truly magically experience.
The event was attended by winners, judges, sponsors and special guests and our winners had the opportunity to network with each other in our interactive breakout rooms. Each winner received a goodie box with their award, complete with champagne, chocolates, books and other treats.
The virtual award's ceremony was hosted by Julia Streets, CEO, Streets Consulting. Throughout the evening, we were joined by our special guests, IT entrepreneur and philanthropist Dame Stephanie Shirley CH; maker, coder, tech advocate and TechWomen100 winner, Avye Couloute; and live vocal duo, The Vocal Jewels, as our special guests for the 2020 TechWomen100 Award’s Ceremony.
Speaking about the awards, Vanessa Vallely OBE, Founder of WeAreTechWomen, said, “At WeAreTechWomen we have made it our personal mission to shine a spotlight on women working in tech.”
“Our strategic aim is to highlight 1,000 female future leaders in technology by 2025.”
“The response to this year’s awards has been fantastic and the calibre of entries has been outstanding!”
“I am so proud to see so many women in tech recognised for their achievements.”
In November, WeAreTechWomen, powered by BAE Systems, announced the winners of the 2020 TechWomen100 Awards.
The awards were entered by over 700 individuals and were judged by a panel of 14 independent judges. The 2020 awards are kindly powered by BAE Systems and sponsored by Accenture, Barclays, Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan, Oliver Wyman and OpenFin.
The winners of these awards showcase remarkable women within the technology and STEM sector including 12-year-old Avye Couloute, who, aware of female under-representation in STEM education and careers, founded Girls Into Coding to encourage more female involvement in tech; Susan Jason, a Principal Systems Engineer and Head of Outreach at In-Space Missions, who led the final test phases of the Faraday-1 commercial rideshare nanosatellite; and Heather Black, who founded Supermums, which helps upskill mums (and dads) back into flexible work in the Salesforce ecosystem.
The winners include individuals from leading firms such as the BBC, NatWest, Jaguar Land Rover, IBM, Trainline, Visa, Deloitte, Microsoft, Bank of England and Monzo Bank, amongst many more.
The winners of each category for the TechWomen100 Awards can be found in alphabetical order below. Full details of each winner can be found here.
Alina Timofeeva – KPMG
Amelia Hayward – BBC
Amy Khalfay – IBM
Ananya Gupta – J.P. Morgan
Anasol Pena-Rios – BT
Anastasia Perysinakis – Jaguar Land Rover
Avye Couloute – Girls Into Coding
Becky Hartley – PwC
Beverley O’Neill – NatWest
Breda Forrest – Nomura
Carly Morris – International Airlines Group Cargo
Carmel Britto – LPF Kiddies Club
Carolyn Ngiam – Barclays
Charlene Hunter – Coding Black Females
Cheryl Hung – Cloud Native Computing Foundation
Chloe Crutchlow – Jaguar Land Rover
Christina King – Tribosonics Ltd
Claire Venners – Telefonica UK
Cristina Munteanu – Silverbird
Danielle Calabrese – Baringa Partners
Danielle Stewart – National Grid
Daphne Coates – IBM
Elissa Webb – NatWest
Emily Beeney – Morgan Stanley
Emma Martin – BT
Faye Skinner – Adobe
Gabriela Adamczyk – Sensor City
Gill Cooke – Three UK
Gillian Lamela – Barclays
Heather Black – Supermums
Helen Needham – Capco
Ivana Skerlikova – Atos
Jennifer Opal – BT
Jessica Leigh Jones – iungo solutions limited
Kajol Patel – Deloitte
Kari Lawler – Youth4AI
Katherine Ramo – CMS
Katie Severn – University of Nottingham
Kayla Lawrie – PwC
Kayleigh Ridd – Zone Digital
Kaysee Sahni – Atos
Kelly Gardner – CodeBase Stirling
Khaleelah Jones – Careful Feet Digital
Kim Diep – Trainline
Laura Marulanda-Carter – Institute of Technology, Milton Keynes College
Laura Price – O2/Telefonica
Lavinia Osbourne – Women in Blockchain Talks
Lesley Jonas-Nartey – IBM
Lucy Futcher - Visa
Lucy Marshall – Deloitte
Lucy Woodhead – GSK
Mansha Rajani – IBM
Mari-Ann Ganson – Envirocache Ltd
Marlene Spensley – Hitachi Vantara
Monica Menniti – MySense
Mumuksha Singh – CMS
Nerissa Arviana Prawiro – Goldman Sachs
Oishi Deb – Imperial College London
Olivia Nicklin – EY
Padmasini Dayananda – Cognizant Worldwide Ltd
Pola Goldberg Oppenheimer – School of Chemical Engineering and Institute of Healthcare Technologies, University of Birmingham
Rachel Pattinson – Newcastle University
Rahel Tesfai – FroHub
Rashada Harry – AWS
Rituja Rao – Sparta Global
Rupinder Sandhu – BAE Systems Applied Intelligence
Sahydi Garcia – Morgan Stanley
Sandie Small – Bank of England
Sarah Croxford – Microsoft
Sema Yuce – Truth ISC Technology and Security Consultancy
Sepideh Bazazi – Oliver Wyman
Shara Gibbons – Barclays
Simran Mohnani – Deloitte
Sinead Byrne – BNY Mellon
Siobhan Tierney – Telefonica UK
Snezhana Ilieva – PwC
Snigdha Satti – News UK
Sophie Jane Wilson – Raytheon UK
Srishti Issrani – Deloitte
Sukhi Jutla – MarketOrders
Susan Jason – In-Space Missions Ltd
Suzanne Lord – BBC News
Suze Shardlow – Self-Employed
Swati Toshniwal – Mphasis
Tabby Davies – Zynga/Natural Motion
Tanya Knowles – Oil and Gas Authority
Temi Nelson – PwC
Tereza Litsa – Lightful
Tracy Higgs – Kainos
Tulsi Parida – Visa
Valeria Cortez Vaca Diez – Monzo Bank
Vibhusha Raval – BT
Victoria Repa – BetterMe
Victoria Forrest – VIKA Books
Vittoria Millan – Fondy
Vivian Galinari – BBC
Wincey Tang – Oliver Wyman
Yasmin Curren – Creative Asembly
Yasmin Desai - Impala
Yasmin Johal – CMS
Champion
Rav Bumbra – Structur3dpeople
Global Award for Achievement
Amanda Obidike – STEMi Makers Africa
Network of the Year
The Shuri Network
Company of the Year
Atos IT Services Ltd
Editor’s Choice
June Angelides MBE – Samos Investments
WeAreTechWomen covers the latest female centric news stories from around the world, focusing on women in technology, careers and current affairs. You can find all the latest gender news here.
Don’t forget, you can also follow us via our social media channels for the latest up-to-date gender news. Click to follow us on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.
Listen to our latest She Talks Tech podcast on 'What is next for Tech post pandemic?'
Today we hear from a group of incredible senior leaders - Julian David, Dayne Turbitt, Nadine Thomson, Antoinette O'Neill and Paul O'Sullivan.
Dayne is Senior Vice President and General Manager of Dell Technologies, Nadine is Global Chief Technology Officer for MediaCom, Antoinette is CIO for for Risk and Finance for Barclays and Paul is Managing Director of Accenture, looking after innovation in UK technology.
They’ll be discussing how the tech sector navigates through a rapidly changing, and challenging, wider world – and asking, how do we understand the ‘new normal’?
You can find out more about and connect with our esteemed panellists on LinkedIn.
LISTEN HERE
‘She Talks Tech’ brings you stories, lessons and tips from some of the most inspirational women (and men!) in tech.
From robotics and drones, to fintech, neurodiversity and coronavirus apps; these incredible speakers are opening up to give us the latest information on tech in 2020.
Vanessa Valleley OBE, founder of WeAreTheCity and WeAreTechWomen brings you this latest resource to help you rise to the top of the tech industry. Women in tech make up just 17 per cent of the industry in the UK and we want to inspire that to change.
WeAreTechWomen are delighted to bring this very inspiring first series to wherever you normally listen to podcasts – and the first three episodes are now live!
So subscribe, rate the podcast and give it a 5-star review – and keep listening every Wednesday morning for a new episode of ‘She Talks Tech’.
Produced by Pineapple Audio Production.