The winners of the 2018 FDM everywoman in Technology Awards have just been 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.
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 Award – sponsored by Lloyds Banking Group: Jeni Brown, Training Manager, London School of Economics and Political Science, from London.
One to Watch Award – sponsored by Computacenter: Katie Griffiths, Student, King Edward VI School, from Stratford-Upon-Avon.
Apprentice Award – sponsored by Bank of America Merrill Lynch: Sophie Caffrey, Technical Apprentice, Leonardo, from Luton, was inspired to pursue engineering after visiting her first-ever Apprentice Open Day at Leonardo.
Rising Star Award – sponsored by T-Systems: Kimberley Norris, Senior Systems Engineer, Lockheed Martin & Pilot Officer, RAF Air Cadets, from Portsmouth.
Digital Star Award – sponsored by CGI: Carrie Anne Philbin, Director of Education, Raspberry Pi Foundation, from Cambridge.
Software Engineer Award – sponsored by Natwest: 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.
Team Leader Award – sponsored by American Express: Tanja Lichtensteiger, Business Systems Development Manager, Leeds Beckett University, from Leeds.
Start-up Founder Award: Gemma Milne, Co-Founder, Science: Disrupt, from London.
Entrepreneur Award – sponsored by Fujitsu: Georgina Nelson, CEO & Founder, TruRating, from London.
Innovator Award – sponsored by Equiniti: Amanda Adams, Cryptography Architect, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, from Chester, who uses her world-class technical ability to protect the bank’s security.
Leader Award – sponsored 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.
Male Agent of Change Award – sponsored by VMware: Russ Shaw, Founder, Tech London Advocates & Global Tech Advocates, from London.
International Inspiration Award – sponsored by Aviva: Gayathri Mohan, Head of Corporate Social Responsibility, Sopra Steria, from Chennai, India.
Maxine Benson MBE, co-founder of everywoman commented: “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.”
For further information about the awards and forum visit www.everywoman.com/techawards
