Winners announced at the 2018 FDM everywoman in Technology Awards

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Tonight, the winners of the 2018 FDM everywoman in Technology Awards were announced. From a record-breaking number of entries, winners included a woman supporting 70,000 children in India to gain scholarships and valuable IT work experience, a man who was appointed the London Tech Ambassador by the Mayor's Office for his personal investment in gender equality, and a school student who created an innovative app to help address the concerns of the young LGBT community.

With the theme “Inspiring Tomorrow’s World”, this year’s programme focussed on the importance of nurturing an interest in STEM subjects from a young age. Recent studies show the staggering shortage of female students choosing these subjects, including computer science (17.2% female) and engineering & technology (17% female). This is why, for the past eight years, everywoman has created and showcased successful role models – women working in the technology industry who can inspire the younger generation to follow in their footsteps.

Dr. Marily Nika

The 2018 Woman of the Year is Dr. Marily Nika, Engineering Program Manager at Google, based in San Francisco. Marily’s contribution to the UK technology industry is invaluable. She pursued a PhD in Computer Science at Imperial College London, where she founded the first Women in Computing Group. She also founded London Geekettes, a global platform connecting over 2,000 female innovators in technology and has personally mentored over 1,000 women. Her work at Google impacts millions of people, launching voice recognition technologies across all European, Middle Eastern and African languages.

 

The 2018 category winners are:

Academic Awardsponsored by Lloyds Banking Group

Jeni Brown

Jeni Brown, Training Manager, London School of Economics and Political Science, from London. She has contributed greatly to LSE's goal of creating globally employable graduates through an innovative IT training programme. Last year saw a 300% increase in attendance in just two years, making it one of the most successful programmes throughout the entire university.

 

One to Watch Awardsponsored by Computacenter

Katie Griffiths

Katie Griffiths, Student, King Edward VI School, from Stratford-Upon-Avon. 17-year-old Katie created the “I’m Okay” app for teenagers questioning their sexuality and gender. From reading stories about people with similar experiences to understanding LGBT terminology, Katie hopes to remind young people that they are not alone.

 

Apprentice Awardsponsored by Bank of America Merrill Lynch

Sophie Caffrey

Sophie Caffrey, Technical Apprentice, Leonardo, from Luton, was inspired to pursue engineering after visiting her first-ever Apprentice Open Day at Leonardo. Sophie’s first complete project as an apprentice – designing a Printed Circuit Board – has since been used on every global trial of this product in 2017.

 

Rising Star Awardsponsored by T-Systems

Kimberly Norris

Kimberley Norris, Senior Systems Engineer, Lockheed Martin & Pilot Officer, RAF Air Cadets, from Portsmouth. At the Royal Navy Maritime Capability Office, she has worked on some of the most challenging programmes including unmanned technology and has led various out-of-work activities devoted to the advancement of women in technology. Kim is also a Pilot Officer with the RAF Air Cadets, volunteering as a STEM ambassador across multiple Squadrons.

 

Digital Star Awardsponsored by CGI

Carrie-Anne Philbin

Carrie Anne Philbin, Director of Education, Raspberry Pi Foundation, from Cambridge. Raspberry Pi is a high-powered computer designed to help young people all over the world learn computer science. Through her Picademy educator support programme, she has helped train over 2,000 educators and 12,000 adults and encourages teenage girls to embrace making things with technology through her YouTube channels “Crash Courseand The Geek Gurl Diaries”.

 

Software Engineer Awardsponsored by NatWest

Kirsty Tidmarsh

Kirsty Tidmarsh, Senior Software Engineer, Department for Work and Pensions, from Widnes, who played a key role in enhancing coding standards throughout her entire practice and was central to introducing an integrated telephony platform, saving on considerable supplier costs. Outside work, she created the “Women in Software Engineering Community” dedicated to mentorship and volunteers at “Code Club” – a nationwide network of free after-school coding clubs for children.

 

Team Leader Awardsponsored by American Express

Tanja Lichtensteiger

Tanja Lichtensteiger, Business Systems Development Manager, Leeds Beckett University, from Leeds. With 17 years’ experience building systems, Tanja is a natural problem-solver with a clear passion for her team and technology, demonstrated through her determination to secure funding for their training and development. Described as a natural leader, Tanja proactively addresses the gender imbalance in senior management in higher education giving talks for Code First, encouraging girls to pursue IT careers.  

 

Start-up Founder Award

Gemma Milne

Gemma Milne, Co-Founder, Science: Disrupt, from London. Science: Disrupt is the only media outlet focused on science entrepreneurship, which is not linked to another institution, meaning it can be completely unbiased. It produces podcasts, events and editorial, bringing together over 600 academics, entrepreneurs, scientists and Nobel Prize winners. Through Science: Disrupt, Gemma gives women access to role models within the industry.

 

Entrepreneur Awardsponsored by Fujitsu

Georgina Nelson

Georgina Nelson, CEO & Founder, TruRating, from London. Georgina began her career as a consumer rights lawyer, before spotting a gap in the market for reliable customer ratings. Georgina’s success in bringing TruRating to market in a traditionally male-dominated technology industry is truly impressive. Starting with no knowledge of the technology involved, whilst on maternity leave, she built the world’s first mass point-of-payment consumer rating system.

 

Innovator Awardsponsored by Equiniti

Amanda Adams

Amanda Adams, Cryptography Architect, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, from Chester, who uses her world-class technical ability to protect the bank’s security. She shares eight patents inclusive of variations within the cryptographic space and has written numerous posts tackling complex technical subjects in an accessible language. Outside work, she is a mentor for CoderDojo, which delivers free lessons on coding to children and teenagers.

 

Leader Awardsponsored by BP

Debbie Vavangas, iX Executive Partner, IBM, from London, who is now an executive partner in an environment where the ratio is 5:1 in favour of men.  Debbie joined IBM as a graduate in 1997 and has since set the example for others, innovating and blazing a trail in ideation, experience and technology. In a single year, her team has built 15 new products, 16 clickable prototypes and scaled 3 products globally.

 

Male Agent of Change Award sponsored by VMware

Russ Shaw

Russ Shaw, Founder, Tech London Advocates & Global Tech Advocates, from London.  Tech London Advocates is now an unrivalled community of over 5,000 leaders, united to form the most influential group in tech.  Russ affects change through working groups, which tackle topics of the industry such as immigration, women in tech and LGBT concerns. He is part of the recently launched Digital Skills Partnership, championing a stronger female talent pipeline and development opportunities.

 

International Inspiration Award sponsored by Aviva

Gayathri Mohan

Gayathri Mohan, Head of Corporate Social Responsibility, Sopra Steria, from Chennai, India.  Gayathri is Managing Trustee of Sopra Steria India Foundation which now supports over 75,000 children a year, predominantly from poor backgrounds with limited IT education options. Her Sopra Steria India Foundation Graduate Scholarship Scheme has seen 463 students graduate including 193 engineers and three doctors.

 

Maxine Benson MBE, co-founder of everywoman comments: “This year, we have unveiled an immense range of hidden talent. Tackling the gender imbalance in the UK’s tech industry requires everyone to take action. Therefore, it is important to not only showcase the high-profile role models in the sector but also the male allies, young game-changers and those supporting from across the globe. Our 2018 winners are exceptional, successful role models and we couldn’t be prouder to make them lifelong everywoman ambassadors.”

 

Sheila Flavell, Chief Operating Officer of title sponsor FDM Group states: “Congratulations to all the finalists and winners in this year’s FDM everywoman in Technology Awards. It’s fantastic to be able to celebrate female success and create role models to inspire others to join this exciting sector that is driving our world today. Greater diversity equals greater productivity, creativity and innovation and this is what we need for the development of our future technology to ensure that it meets the diverse needs of our society.”

Julian David, CEO of techUK adds: “techUK is proud to support the FDM everywoman in Technology Awards again this year. It is no secret that the tech sector has a gender parity issue, and we are working hard with our members to address this problem. The awards are a great opportunity to champion role models all across the sector and celebrate women who are pioneering a path for others in the industry. We look forward to celebrating leading tech talent.”

 

About everywoman

ENGAGING, ADVANCING & RETAINING WOMEN IN BUSINESS

everywoman is an expert in the advancement of women in business. We provide leading edge products and services designed to enhance the existing potential and talents of women in business globally. Since 1999, we have developed highly acclaimed events, elevating female role models and high-quality training programmes, helping to shape tomorrow’s leaders and their teams.

Our learning and development platform, the everywomanNetwork, stretches to tens of thousands of members in over 100 countries, enabling women and male ‘ambassadors of change’ to access first class development resources anytime, anywhere. The digital platform has been shown to have a positive impact on the way women view their own careers and future progression, whether that’s with their current employers or as entrepreneurs.

Our clients include companies from a diverse range of sectors who want to develop and retain a pipeline of female leaders, through to individual women who are committed to driving their future success and inspiring others. For the technology sector everywoman has developed an extensive suite of products to provide a structured framework to directly address gender diversity goals announced to shareholders, staff & customers. To find out more visit www.everywoman.com.

 

About FDM Group

FDM is a global professional services provider with a focus on IT and over 130 clients in a variety of industries including finance, media, insurance, energy, aviation, government and not-for-profit. FDM provides flexible, cost-effective and professional resources for project peaks and talent pipelines as an alternative to standard recruitment agencies and contractors. FDM trains high-calibre individuals across the globe in its dedicated Academies covering the full software development lifecycle. Once training is complete, FDM Consultants progress to represent FDM on client sites, working on business and/or IT assignments. Our Consultants currently work across Project Support, Testing, Business Analysis, Development and Application Support roles, as well as in driven programmes that we run for specific clients.

FDM is committed to supporting and encouraging women to pursue IT as a career through its dedicated Women in IT campaign. Since launching the campaign in 2011, FDM has been voted into the Top Ten IT Employers for Women (UK Guardian 300), signed the CEO Statement of Support for the United Nations Women's Empowerment Principles and joined the UK government's Think, Act, Report initiative.  For more information, please visit www.fdmgroup.com

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