Category: Press Release

4th Midlands Women in Tech Awards 2023: Celebrating Women’s Excellence in Technology

 

Birmingham, October 10, 2023 – The 4th Midlands Women in Tech Awards 2023, held on October 9th, 2023, at a glamorous ceremony in Birmingham, proved to be an epic night of celebration, highlighting the passion and collective support for women in the tech industry. The event was made possible through the generous support of headline sponsors Methods – an Alten Company & Aston University, along with the incredible Diamond Sponsor Bootcamp Media, who have been champions of this initiative from the very beginning. We would also like to extend our gratitude to supporting sponsors Birmingham City University, NTT Data, and SCC for their continued support.

 

The awards ceremony celebrated the remarkable achievements and contributions of women in the tech sector, recognising their outstanding work and dedication. This year, the awards received over 400 nominations, making it even more exceptional for the finalists and winners who stood out among this talented pool of nominees.

 

The Midlands Women in Tech Awards aim to shed light on the importance of women’s involvement in technology. The tech industry has traditionally been male-dominated, and these awards serve as a platform to highlight the invaluable contributions of women while encouraging more women to pursue careers in technology. By showcasing successful women in tech, we hope to inspire the next generation of female tech leaders.

 

Deborah Leary, who has been our host for the past two years, brought her dynamic and energetic hosting skills to the event, adding a special touch to the evening. Her enthusiasm resonated with the audience and set the stage for an unforgettable celebration.

 

The keynote speaker for the event, Lisa Slade, Managing Director at Accenture, delivered an awe-inspiring and passionate address, sharing her remarkable journey in the tech industry. Her story served as a clear demonstration of the potential and opportunities available to women in tech.

 

The evening was filled with entertainment provided by the Undercover Artists, who had the entire room on their feet, dancing the conga. It was a testament to the vibrant spirit and camaraderie among women in tech.

 

As we look ahead, we are thrilled to announce that the date for the 5th Midlands Women in Tech Awards 2023 has already been confirmed. Save the date: October 4th, 2024. If you want to be part of this inspiring celebration and show your support for women in tech, get in touch with us.

 

The 4th Midlands Women in Tech Awards 2023 was a night to remember, celebrating the excellence, resilience, and accomplishments of women in the tech industry. We extend our heartfelt congratulations to all the finalists and winners and express our gratitude to our sponsors and supporters for making this event possible.

 

Visit https://bit.ly/MWIT23 to look back at photos from the big night.

 

For more information about the awards and to stay updated on the latest news, visit our website at www.womenintechawards.co.uk.

 

Full list of winners:

 

Project Delivery Lead Award: Charlotte Ludford – DEFRA

Tech Professional (Non-Coding) Award: Lisa Ventura MBE – Cyber Security Unity

Best Use of Tech in a Public Sector Project Award: Zara Topping – Ministry of Justice

Best Use of Tech in a Private Sector Project Award: Natalie Wadley – ChangeMaker 3D

Innovator Award: Kate Allan – ExpHand Prosthetics

Rising Star Award: Farah Shariff – PwC

Academic Award: Vladlena Benson – Cybersecurity Innovation Research Centre

Apprentice Award: Christa Bridges – PebblePad

Start-Up Founder Award: Olivia Simpson – Symbiotex

Tech Entrepreneur Award: Ilisha Masaun – Econominds

Shining Star Award: Chonticha Lueaaroonsawat – Jaguar Land Rover

Tech For Good Award: Anitha Chinnaswamy – Aston Business School

Special Recognition Award: Pam Waddell OBE – Innovation Alliance for the West Midlands

 

Finalists Announced for the 4th Midlands Women in Tech Awards 2023

The Midlands Women in Tech Awards have unveiled their finalists for the highly anticipated 4th edition of the event.

This year, the awards have seen a phenomenal number of nominations, underscoring the growing recognition of women who are making significant strides in the ever-evolving tech sector. 

The ceremony is set to take place on 9th October 2023, at the prestigious Birmingham Eastside Rooms with headline sponsors Methods – An Alten Company and Aston University. The other supporting sponsors who have continued to support the awards from inception are Birmingham City University, NTT Data, SCC, Bootcamp Media and others to be announced shortly.

The Midlands Women in Tech Awards are dedicated to applauding the accomplishments of women who are carving a path in the tech industry, aiming to challenge perceptions and spotlight the pioneering women shaping the tech realm. By doing so, they strive to encourage more women to enter the field and realise their potential in dynamic, innovative, and fulfilling tech careers.

In a landscape where only 17% of the UK’s technology professionals are female, and a mere 3% of young women consider technology as their first career choice, the importance of celebrating and showcasing women in tech cannot be overstated. These awards play a vital role in inspiring future generations of women to consider technology as a viable and rewarding career path.

Organised and run by BEvents, known for delivering some of the region’s most respected awards ceremonies like the Birmingham Awards and Midlands Food, Drink & Hospitality Awards, this event aims to empower, inspire, and amplify the voices of women in tech.

The 2023 edition of the Midlands Women in Tech Awards will recognise outstanding women across 13 categories, including the Tech for Good Award, Best Use of Tech in a Private Sector Award, Start-up Founder Award, and Tech Entrepreneur Award. 

Anita Chumber, co-founder of BEvents, emphasised the significance of these awards, stating, “These awards come at a pivotal moment in history, as information technology emerges as a sought-after skill across industries. In a landscape where just 17% of technology professionals in the UK are female, and only 3% of young women choose technology as their first career, the need to raise visibility and inspire change is evident.”

Anita continued, “There has never been such an important time for more women to be involved in technology, with advertised roles in the digital tech sector growing 36% since June, and the government seeing digital skills set to be the driving force in the economy. Women are not only needed in tech to increase innovation but they are also needed to increase revenue. It is also crucial that the people creating our technology solutions are representative of the population. This is why the Midlands Women in Tech Awards are so important as a way of celebrating and promoting the female talent we have in our region and providing role models for the future.”

Heading the esteemed judging panel and hosting the ceremony is Deborah Leary, CEO and Founder of Forensic Pathways, a multi-award-winning organisation that supplies products and software for the criminal and business intelligence market. Leary takes on the role of Head Judge for this year’s Midlands Women in Tech Awards 2023, reinforcing the commitment to recognising and celebrating the accomplishments of women in technology.

The announcement of the finalists for the 4th Midlands Women in Tech Awards 2023 brings excitement and anticipation to the tech community, shining a spotlight on the incredible achievements of women in this sector and inspiring future generations to pursue careers in tech. The awards ceremony on 9th October 2023, promises to be a celebration of talent, innovation, and empowerment in the ever-evolving world of technology.

The voting has also opened, so get voting for your favourites.

See the full list of finalists below:

 

Start-Up Founder Award

Pamela Aculey – MIXD Reality

Paige Deville – Palm Recruitment

Annie Godara – DineticQ

Rachel Hayward – We Are The Hookup Ltd

Allie Joy – The Syntropy Partnership

Dee Kundi – Find Me A Solicitor

Ilisha Masaun – Econominds

Janani Prasad – MojoStack Ltd

Olivia Simpson – Symbiotex

Helen Stickler – Triplo ESG

 

Apprentice Award

Santina Ajdari-Bunting – Arup

Chloe Bond – Jaguar Land Rover

Christa Bridges – PebblePad

Priyanka Kaintura – Sales Force

Lauren Poole – Jaguar Land Rover

Erin Purewal – Jaguar Land Rover

Hana Sharif – HS2

Stacey Watson – Arup

 

Rising Star Award

Adeline Barou – Jaguar Land Rover

Gabrielle Barthelemy – SCC

Lucy Bristow – Intercity Technology

Megan Butler – Arup

Emily Evans – SCC

Ashleigh Miles – PwC

Jess Moore – DRPG

Farah Shariff – PwC

Julia Vereenoghe – Sumo Nottingham

Rosie Wainwright – Jaguar Land Rover

 

Academic Award

Vladlena Benson – Cybersecurity Innovation (CSI) Research Centre, Aston University

Gemma Oldfield – DRPG

Kiranjit Kaur Sherghill – University of Warwick

Komali Yenneti – University of Birmingham

 

Tech For Good Award

Anitha Chinnaswamy – Aston Business School

Denise Chippindale – Anxious As Anything

Leocadia Foya – Utona Foundation

Laura Goodsell – Business Design Agency

Nasra Hagi – Recognise

Rebecca Hayward – Jaguar Land Rover

Michelle Ohren – West Midlands Cyber Resilience Centre

Anita Shervington – BLAST

Natalie Wadley – Change Maker 3D

 

Innovator Award

Kate Allan – ExpHand Prosthetics

Sharon Boyd – Sharon MKLCX

Victoria Childs-Carlile – SCC

Alice Dowsett – Jaguar Land Rover

Toni Lavender PebblePad

Suzanne Maxted – Methods

Janice Rae – Tech Talent

Stacey Ryan – Oxbridge

 

Project Delivery Lead Award

Lauren Bennett – DRPG

Claudia Bistriceanu – Sumo Nottingham

Harriet Brown – PwC

Christina Ermongkonchai – Lab42 Games

Angela Field – NTT Data

Sarah Griffiths – Intercity Technology

Charlotte Ludford – DEFRA

Lucy Moy – Jaguar Land Rover

Cristina Rodriguez Fernandez – Jaguar Land Rover

Esther Titchen – PwC

 

Shining Star Award

Pushpa Bora – SCC

Pamela Byrne – SCC

Karamjit Kaur – SCC

Toni Lavender – PebblePad

Charlotte Ludford – DEFRA

Chonticha Lueaaroonsawat – Jaguar Land Rover

Lisa Nicholson – Jumar

Natalie Sherratt – SCC

Diana Szalai – SCC

Dr Pam Waddell – Innovation Alliance

 

Tech Entrepreneur Award

Eman Al-Hillawi – Entec Si

Paula Bedborough – Secure Socialising 

Georgina Bowman – MyShoots

Skevi Constantinou – The PA Way

Sarah Dowzell – Natural HR

Laura Goodsell – Business Design Academy

Ilisha Masaun – Econominds

Yemi Oluseun – The Change Hive

Janani Prasad – MojoStack Limited

 

Tech Professional (Non-Coding) Award

Moupali Chakraborty – Nuclear AMRC

Heather Freckelton – Jaguar Land Rover

Jennifer Long – Ice Blue Digital Ltd

Alejandra Maldonado – Consultant at JLR

Becks Maybury – School of Code

Ashleigh Miles – PwC

Anna Miller – Calthorpe Estates

Joanne Mullally-Watts – Jumar

Helen Stickler – Triplo ESG

Lisa Ventura MBE – Cyber Security Unit

Neeru Verma – PwC

 

Best Use of Tech in a Public Sector Project

Advanced Prototyping Facility – Aston University

Liesl Wrigglesworth – NTT DATA

Lynne Burdon – Department of Education

Zara Topping – Ministry of Justice

 

Best Use of Tech in a Private Sector Project

Kathryn Fletcher – Jaguar Land Rover

Sonia Rani – PwC

Esther Titchen – PwC

Neeru Verma – PwC

Natalie Wadley – ChangeMaker 3D

 

Midlands Women in Tech Awards 2022 Winners Announced

On 11^th Oct 2022 saw the Tech Industry come together to celebrate The Midlands Women In Tech Awards 2022.

The annual event, which is organised by B Events,  took place at the Eastside Rooms, Birmingham with host Deb Leary OBE at the helm.

The evening kicked off with a welcome drinks reception where the room was buzzing with passionate conversations and a backdrop of the Saorsa string quartet which set the scene for a fabulous uplifting evening with over 350 attendees.

The Women in Tech Awards aims to inspire the next generation of women in the technology industry and through celebrating those currently paving the way, will hopefully help bring about a more equal and representative world, especially within the Midlands and throughout the UK.

In recent years, the Midlands has become home to an increasing number of tech businesses and entrepreneurs, meaning there is certainly no shortage of talented women to look to, in order to innovate and spearhead the direction of our digital future.

Now in its 3^rd year, it was great to see how much the movement has grown, and continues to gain momentum.

It’s wonderful to see so many brilliant women being recognised & celebrated for their achievements in the tech industry.

The evening continued with some amazing food followed by an inspirational speech delivered by keynote speaker Vanessa Eyles, Director of The Cyber Resilience Centre for the West Midlands, about her journey and how she overcame hurdles in a male-dominated industry.

There is an importance to see more role models for Women in Tech and the Women Tech Awards showcase just that.

This year special recognition award went to Debbie Assinder for her services to the region in encouraging more women in tech.

Debbie Assinder said, “Extremely proud of our region and the fantastic talent that we have on offer. Our work must continue as we have to keep inspiring future generations of female talent as our mission is to address the gender imbalance in the workplace.”

Judge Deb Leary OBE said,  “As head judge, I am proud of all the finalists who confirm the high quality of talent in our region.”

Amandip Jheeta – Judge and former Shining Star winner, “proud to have come full circle as a former winner, I have now come as a judge this year and it affirms the important role that the Midlands Women in Tech Awards do to spotlight female talent”.

Sarah Dowzell – Tech Professional (Non-coding) Award winner 2022, “So proud tonight, being recognised means so much to me amongst so many wonderful female leaders.”

The finalists and winners were no less impressive, reflecting the massive impact they are having in our region, huge congratulations to all the winners.

This year’s sponsors include Diamond sponsors Goldman Sachs and Bootcamp Media.

Supporting sponsors include Birmingham City University, Culture Recruitment Group, NTT Data, SCC, B Events Media, Find Me a Solicitor, Hollywood Monster, Luvv Stay, 1 Eleven Developments and Elonex.

2022 saw The Luca Foundation chosen as its beneficiary, raising £3,500 on the night for the charity.

The list of all Women In Tech Awards 2022 Winners included:

Academic Award – Reham Badawy (University Of Birmingham)
Apprentice Award – Parris Small (Jaguar Land Rover)
Best Use Of Tech In A Public/Private Sector Project Award – Qurat Ulain (West Midlands Fire Service)
Innovator Award – Dongli Li (GaitQ)
Project Delivery Lead Award – Prof Nicola Wilkin (University Of Birmingham)
Rising Star Award – Caroline Brown (Goldman Sachs)
Tech Professional (Non-coding) Award – Sarah Dowzell (Natural Hr)
Start-Up Founder Award -Frankie Lewns (Bloomwise Ltd)
Tech Entrepreneur Award – Paula Bedborough (Secure Socialising)
Tech For Good Award – Natalie Scarlett (Black Heritage Support Service)
Shining Star Award – Bal Lola (REPL Group Part of Accenture)
Special Recognition Award – Debbie Assinder

Check out photos from the big night by Mr Ladd Media & Jas Sansi Photography at:

https://bit.ly/MWIT22

The use of tech has become a necessity in all our lives with our reliance on information and convenience. Technology has become a key enabler for many companies and communities.

Yet despite decades of progress towards workplace equality, women remain woefully underrepresented in the UK’s technology workforce. Today fewer than 20% of IT roles are filled by women and only 5% of leadership positions

This is why the Midlands Women in Tech Awards 2022 are so important as a way of celebrating and promoting the female talent we have in our region and providing inspirational role models for the future.

We have received some incredible nominations again this year, not making it easy for the judges to select the finalists. However, after much deliberation, they have arrived at a strong shortlist of deserving five finalists in each category.

It’s now over to you, the public, to play your part with the process of selecting a winner. The votes will be added to the judges scoring process, to help decide an eventual winner for each category.

The winners will be announced at the prestigious awards ceremony taking place on 11th October 2022 at The Eastside Rooms, Birmingham, B7 4BL.

Voting is now open, so get nominating your favourite woman in tech. Every vote counts!

Find out more about each finalist & cast your VOTE HERE: https://www.womenintechawards.co.uk/vote-now/

See the Full list of finalists below:

ACADEMIC AWARD

· Reham Badawy – Aston University

· Liz Kaufman – School of Code

· Gillian McNab – University of Birmingham

· Constance Rudman – Jaguar Land Rover

· Komali Yenneti – University of Wolverhampton

APPRENTICE AWARD

· Amber Askey – Intercity Technologies

· Claire Davis – UCAS

· Erin Purewal – Jaguar Land Rover

· Parris Small – Jaguar Land Rover

· Tara Suran – IBM

BEST USE OF TECH IN A PUBLIC/PRIVATE SECTOR PROJECT AWARD

· Jo Darby – Birmingham Commonwealth Games 2022

· Advanced Prototyping Facility – Aston University

· Samantha Robertson – NTT Data

· Qurat Ulain – West Midlands Fire Service

· WISE – Wise

INNOVATOR AWARD

· Paula Bedborough – Secure Socialising

· Dongli Li – GaitQ

· Wendy Merricks – Jumar Solutions

· Samara Sydney – REPL Group

· Sophie Thompson – Virtual Speech

PROJECT DELIVERY LEAD AWARD

· Grace Campbell – Birmingham Commonwealth Games 2022

· Leanne Freer – DRPG

· Sam Proctor – Knight Frank

· Swati Sharda – Jaguar Land Rover

· Prof. Nicola Wilkin – University of Birmingham

RISING STAR AWARD

· Caroline Brown – Goldman Sachs

· Bianca Caraneant – BT Group

· Janani Prasad – Minority Supplier Development UK

· Malgorzata Sosnowska – Spica Technologies

· Amruta Talathi – Oxford High Q

SHINING STAR AWARD

· Nicola Brown – Jaguar Land Rover

· Kelly Bywater – SCC

· Kate Goodhart – Jaguar Land Rover

· Bal Lola – REPL Group

· Esha Mahadkar – Secret Mode

START-UP FOUNDER AWARD

· Juliet Edjere – Trymaze

· Alliyah Khan – Our Tied Camel

· Frankie Lewns – Bloomwise Ltd

· Holly McGeown – Vault Date Ltd

· Yuting Zhao – Gigsta Ltd

TECH ENTREPRENEUR

· Paula Bedborough – Secure Socialising

· Sarah Dowzell – Natural HR

· Gaynor Matthews – My Nexus

TECH FOR GOOD AWARD

· Dominika Bolon – Meka Toys

· Suzanne Edwards – Enlighten

· Michelle Ohren – West Midlands Cyber Resilience Centre

· Natalie Scarlett – Black Heritage Support Service

· Shweta Singh – Warwick Business School

TECH PROFESSIONAL (NON-CODING) AWARD

· Sarah Dowzell – Natural HR

· Victoria Place – REPL Group

· Julie Teague – Lightbox Digital

· Alice Williams – Jaguar Land Rover

· Helen Winter – Fusion Practices

VOTE NOW

WINNERS ANNOUNCED 11.10.22

Kari Lawler, at just 18 years old, has added yet another accolade to her ever-growing list by being the youngest ever inductee of The Women In Tech Awards, which took place in Birmingham on the 7th October 2021.

Having started her journey into the tech industry in 2017 at the age of 13, through creating a virtual assistant Alexa/Siri clone which gained recognition from Google UK, Kari went on to a great number of additional triumphs.

These include winning the coveted UK SPACE AGENCY SatelLife Competition at age 14, being offered a place on the E4F (Entrepreneurs for the Future) Incubator programme in the same year, being named, Inspiring Juniors, “Most Promising Female Tech Talent” of the year and at 15 years old, being the youngest ever, winner of the Greater Birmingham Chamber of Commerce “Future Face of Technology and Innovation,” and receiving a special recognition award for “Outstanding Contribution to the City of Birmingham.”

Continuing in 2018, Kari set up YOUTH4AI which introduces the concepts of AI and tech careers to thousands of students in the region, many of whom are from disadvantaged backgrounds. She was selected to join the West Midlands Young Combined Authority Board in 2019, through which she actively works alongside the WMCA Digital Roadmap Steering Group, and WMCA Digital Inclusion Committee. She is also an official observer for the West Midlands 5G board. Within the last two years, Kari has continued to win multiple awards including, Barclays Entrepreneur Awards 2019, “MIDLANDS ICON OF THE YEAR” and recently, she was recognised as 1 of the top 100 female tech talents in the UK.

Such an impressive award résumé at such a young age, which has been increased further through her induction into the Women In Tech Awards Hall Of Fame.

At what was the second ever Women In Tech Awards event, having had to postpone last year due to the pandemic, the event organisers were incredibly excited to finally put on what was a beautiful evening.

Hosted by the former winner Melissa Snover, who took home the Innovation Award back in 2019, the event yielded an incredible energy throughout the room, some truly passionate & heartfelt speeches, as well as the camaraderie of seeing business & entrepreneurs throughout from the Midlands region fervently cheering each other on.

Jane Fallon who represented our headline Sponsor Methods talked about the strong tech eco system in the Midlands and challenged everyone present “to think what you could do differently to encourage diversity in your teams”.

This was followed by the keynote speaker for the evening the incredible Tracy Westall recently named as amongst “The Most Influential Women in UK Tech”. Tracy’s speech was from the heart as she recounted her phenomenal career right here in the Midlands!

Gurjit Jagpal reinforced the significance of tech in the region and why Goldman Sachs relocated their engineering division here.

The finalists and winners were no less impressive, reflecting the massive impact they are having in our region, huge congratulations to all the winners.

Huge thank you to our sponsors & supporters without whom it would not be possible to deliver such an amazing event.

Thank you to our headline sponsor Methods , who have supported from the beginning.

Thank you to our Diamond Sponsors Goldman Sachs & Bootcamp Media®

Thank you to our supporting sponsors Gymshark , Bruntwood , NTT DATA Services , Birmingham City University , ICAEW

pics by Edwin Ladd – Elite Midlands Event Photographer  bit.ly/mwit21

look forward to doing it all again next year, even bigger!
#EventsThatMatter #MWIT21

The list of all Women In Tech Awards 2021 Winners included:

• Claire Owen (Droneprep) – Innovator Award
• Amelia Westbury (Jaguar Land Rover) – Apprentice Award
• Helen Routledge (Totem Learning) – Tech For Good Award
• Tobi Adesanya (Marpe Wellbeing) – Start-Up Founder Award
• Kari Lawler (Youth4AI) – Hall Of Fame Award
• Jane Ellis (Jaguar Land Rover) – Best Digital Lead Award
• Safina Begum (NTT Data) – Rising Star Award
• Liz Walker (Goldman Sachs) – Shining Star Award
• Alecia El Haj (University of Birmingham) – Academic Award

The Women in Tech Awards aims to inspire the next generation of women in the technology industry and through celebrating those currently paving the way, will hopefully help bring about a more equal and representative world, especially within the Midlands and throughout the UK.

In recent years, the Midlands has become home to an increasing number of tech businesses and entrepreneurs, meaning there is certainly no shortage of talented women to look to, in order to innovate and spearhead the direction of our digital future.

We hope those who attended thoroughly enjoyed the Women In Tech Awards 2021

 

The judging panel for this year’s much-anticipated Midlands Women in Tech Awards has been revealed.

The awards will be judged by a stellar panel of individuals, which include the following:

Head Judge: Professor Hanifa Shah – BCU

Prof Hanifa Shah is Executive Dean of the Faculty of Computing, Engineering & the Built Environment at Birmingham City University (BCU). She studied Computer Science as an undergraduate, has a PhD from Aston and a Masters from Cambridge. She has held lectureship, readership, professorship and executive leadership positions in Computing and Engineering departments at Aston, Staffordshire and BCU, and a Visiting Professorship at Manchester University. She also has several years’ experience in the industry including BT, Cadbury Schweppes and Britvic. Her wide-ranging experience of higher education spans teaching, research, enterprise and industry engagement combined with leading academic strategy development and organisational change. She has launched and driven a number of innovative initiatives over her career. Her work has helped to shape national and international thinking on work-based learning and university qualifications for IT Professionals through her work on transformational development programmes for large corporations and public sector organizations. Her commitment to the success of students and staff has led to her developing a cohesive approach to research, industry partnership, and teaching increasingly underpinned by a digital strategy. This provides a strong basis for an exciting student experience and employability alongside opportunities for staff to remain at the ‘cutting-edge’ of developments in fast-changing technical subjects.   As Head Judge, she will bring an all-round view from both an Education and Industry perspective.

Sally Eaves – Emergent Technology CTO

Prof Sally Eaves is an award-winning international keynote speaker, author and influencer with globally leading rankings across all advanced technology disciplines, digital transformation, future of work and social innovation aligned to the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals. She has recently been ranked 8th in the World in Blockchain impact and is continually ranked in the top 10 for digital disruption and across frontier technology subjects by leading bodies such as Onalytica.

Hilary Smyth-allen – Supertech West Midlands

Hillary Smyth-Allen is the Executive Lead at SuperTech, whose purpose is to spotlight the strength of the West Midlands Tech Sector. With a focus on FinTech, their purpose is to promote professionals and companies in this space to ensure the UK remains a strong player in global fintech. As a Judge Hillary brings experience as a former Director of AECOM as well as having held influential positions at GBSLEP and WMCA Skills Commission.

Gurjit Jagpal – Goldman Sachs

Gurjit has spent 26 years with Goldman Sachs, having started off in Trading he has worked in a number of different areas of the organisation in this time. He has held a range of positions including VP and Managing Director of Business Units. Gurjit has a passion for innovation and is an ambassador for diversity and inclusion.

Tracy Westall – Curium Solutions

Tracy is returning to Judge this year’s awards and will also be delivering the Key Note at the Awards Dinner. Computer Weekly recently named her amongst ‘The Most Influential Women in UK Tech”. Tracy Westall is currently the Chairperson at Curium Solutions as well as sitting on a number of boards including DfT and WM5G Limited. Over several decades she has repeatedly demonstrated an ability to lead and inspire others in the tech sector in delivering innovative projects. As the former Director of Corporate Services at SCC, she was responsible for the Strategy and Governance of a £350m portfolio including Software & Cloud Services and was responsible for more than 100 members of staff.

Deborah Leary – Forensic Pathways

Deborah Is the CEO and Founder of Forensic Pathways, a multi award winning organisation that supplies products/software and consultancy for the criminal and business intelligence market. As well as being the CEO, she is also the recipient of multiple awards including the British Female Inventor of the year Award in recognition of her skills as an innovator. Deborah is a mentor and speaker supporting Entrepreneurship and Start-Ups and is currently a VP at the Greater Birmingham Chamber of Commerce.

David Hardman – Bruntwood Sci Tech

David is the MD of Bruntwood SciTech, the management company for the Birmingham Innovation Campus. In the Last 12 years, he has played a lead role in the Science Park’s re-engagement with the regional innovation agenda, working to place it at the heart of the city’s digital/tech community. David is a former CEO from the Bioscience Industry and has plenty of experience in nurturing a biotech organisation. He is a supporter of innovation and is known to promote collaboration and partnerships.

Pam Waddell – Innovation West Midlands

Pam Waddell OBE leads the Innovation Alliance for West Midlands partnership, whose goal is to stimulate science and technology-based innovation across the West Midlands. Pam has a wealth of experience combining science and innovation, both conceptually and practically in both the private and public sectors.

KEEPING GENDER ON THE AGENDA

The past sixteen months have underlined the crucial importance of technology in modern life. During these uncertain times, technology has become a key enabler for many companies and communities.

Yet despite decades of progress towards workplace equality, women remain woefully underrepresented in the UK’s technology workforce. Today fewer than 20% of IT roles are filled by women and only 5% of leadership positions.

This is why the Midlands Women in Tech Awards 2021 are so important as a way of celebrating and promoting the female talent we have in our region and providing inspirational role models for the future.

We have received some incredible nominations this year not making it easy for the judges to select the finalists. However, after much deliberation they have arrived at a really strong shortlist of deserving five finalists in each category.

It’s now over to you, the public, to play your part with the process of selecting a winner. The votes will be added to the judges scoring process, to help decide an eventual winner for each category.

Voting is now open, so get nominating your favourite woman in tech. Every vote counts!

Find out more about each finalist & cast your VOTE HERE: https://www.womenintechawards.co.uk/meet-the-finalists/

We are excited to announce this year’s finalists:

START-UP AWARD FINALISTS
Tobi Adesanya – Marpe Wellbeing
Sallie-Ann Allen – Learn with VR
Jo Seabright – Work From Here
Genea Lynch – Captivate Reality
Gaynor Matthews – myNexus

APPRENTICE AWARD FINALISTS
Helen Graffham – Jaguar Land Rover
Jessica Morgan – CAP Gemini
Shannan O’Neill-Kendall – Watches of Switzerland
Bethany Smith – Handsam Ltd
Amelia Westbury – Jaguar Land Rover

RISING STAR AWARD FINALISTS
Mante Balzaraviciute – DRPG
Grace Barata – Santander
Safina Begum – NTT Data UK
Rekha Karthikeyan – Jaguar Land Rover
Nina Ma – PWC

ACADEMIC AWARD FINALISTS
Reham Badawy – Aston University
Lucy Bastin – Aston University
Burcu Can – University of Wolverhamptom
Alicia El Haj – University of Birmingham
Sarah Jones – De Montfort University

TECH FOR GOOD AWARD FINALISTS
Oyinkansola Adebayo – Niyo Enterprise
Aaisha Khan – Code Your Future
Pauline Roche – RnR Organisation
Helen Routledge – Totem Learning Ltd
Ewa Truchanowicz – Dignio

INNOVATOR AWARD FINALISTS
Cliona Kelly – Aston University
Claire Owen – DronePrep Ltd
Nosheen Rehman – Jaguar Land Rover
Stacey Ryan – Oxbridge
Sophie Thompson – Virtual Speech

BEST DIGITAL LEAD AWARD FINALISTS
Sharon Boyd – MKL CX Ltd
Jane Ellis – Jaguar Land Rover
Naomi Nash – Tech Nation
Marlen von Roth – SUSE Software Solutions
Sarah Windrum – Emerald Group Ltd

SHINING STAR AWARD FINALISTS
Anamika Bhargava – Jaguar Land Rover
Rav Bumbra – Cajigo
Victoria Masso – Behaviour Hackers
Liz Walker – Goldman Sachs
Archana Sharma – Open Text

The Titan Partnership is pleased to be a supporting partner of the Women in Tech Awards 2021. Previous winners of the Awards have supported our careers and employability programme in local schools, to ensure that students are aware of the wide range of opportunities in tech. One of Titan’s key priorities is equality, diversity and inclusion and we aim to ensure that all students are able to access information on the full range of opportunities available to them, including those which they may not previously have considered. By working in partnership with MWIT, we can help provide effective role models to our young people and raise awareness of careers in tech.

Titan is also committed to tackling tech poverty in Birmingham. Our ‘Computers for Children’ campaign seeks to raise money to purchase computers for local school students who do not have devices to access remote learning at home. When lockdown began in March 2020, a study carried out by Titan amongst its members revealed that more than 1000 children, in some of Birmingham’s most deprived areas did not have access to suitable devices or the internet at home. Our fundraising campaign set out to raise £200 000 to buy around 1000 devices. As the Covid-19 pandemic continues, so too has the need for devices and we continue to support as many students as possible across our member schools.

For more information on Titan or our ‘Computers for Children’ campaign, please visit www.titan.org.uk

We are pleased to announce that Goldman Sachs has become a diamond sponsor of the Midlands Women in Tech Awards 2021.

Having recently announced that the company will open a new office in Birmingham in the third quarter of 2021, Goldman Sachs’ sponsorship demonstrates the company’s commitment to diversity and inclusion in the Midlands.

The firm is committed to advancing gender equality at every level of its organisation globally. The firm is focused on cultivating and sustaining a diverse work environment and workforce, which is critical to meeting the unique needs of their diverse client base and the communities in which it operates.

Gurjit Jagpal, Managing Director in the Engineering Division at Goldman Sachs, and head of the new Birmingham office said:

“In order to meet the needs our client base, our teams must reflect the diversity of the communities where we live and work. We are committed to building a diverse and inclusive work environment in our new Birmingham office, and are excited to sponsor these awards as a reflection of that.”

To nominate a candidate for this year’s awards taking place on 7^th October 2021, please visit https://www.womenintechawards.co.uk/nominate/

To join the next Goldman Sachs Engineering event on 29 June – please visit

https://www.goldmansachs.com/careers/blog/posts/virtual-evening-with-gs-engineering-birmingham.html?trk=landingpage