Digital Her presents: Lift as You Climb - How YOU can be a real champion for inclusion
Join Digital Her and special guests from across our community to explore some of the hidden challenges your teams are facing, understand the vital role YOU can play, and celebrate changemakers leading the charge. Be part of the change by lifting as you climb.
Women in tech, allies, advocates and the curious - all are welcome to join us for an inspiring and empowering session.
Thursday 23rd May 2024
11am - 12.30pm
Venue : Manchester Central, Room Central 7
IMPORTANT INFORMATION: Please note as well as booking to attend THIS event, that you must ALSO book a free ticket to enter DTX 2024 to access this event. Please don't forget to confirm your booking to both. Book DTX 2024 Tickets here
AGENDA
11.00-11.10
Introduction - About Digital Her & Manchester Digital
11.10-11.40
Empowering Women in Tech: Strategies for Thriving
A panel discussion focussing specifically on tangible, actionable things people can do in their own workplaces to support diverse women to thrive
11.45-12.15
Allies in Action: Amplifying Impact Through Advocacy
Engaging lightning talks that highlight remarkable allies and advocates, showcasing their impactful initiatives and practical things you can do personally to make a difference.
12.15-12.30
Pledge for Progress: Shaping the Future Together
Actions not words is at the heart of the Digital Her approach. We’ll ask delegates to reflect on how they can each commit actionable steps going away from the session, driving forward the agenda for inclusion and diversity in the tech sector.
Our Host
Emma Grant - Head of Programmes at Manchester Digital
As the Head of Programmes at Manchester Digital, I lead a dynamic team to deliver tangible results. my work is anchored in the organisation's purpose, objectives and values whilst meeting the evolving needs of our sector and ecosystem stakeholders.
Panelists
Tripti Anil, Snr Delivery Manager at Kellanova
Tripti is Data & Analytics, IT Service Delivery & Digital Marketing leader with 20+ years of experience (last 5 years with Kellanova, formerly known as Kellogg). She currently leads Data Analytics delivery for Kellanova Europe. Inclusion, Diversity and Equity cause is very close to her heart as a Woman in Tech and a mother of an autistic child. Apart from work Tripti enjoys stand up comedy, music and travel.
Ruby Foster, Senior People Partner at xDesign
Ruby Foster is a Senior People Partner - and line manager - at xDesign, supporting the Engineering, QA and Business Operations functions. With nearly seven years of experience in the People space, Ruby has built her career in the Tech sector, working primarily in start-up and scale-up organisations, and supporting teams through business growth and change.
Sophie Brown, Commercial Director at Flowlio
Sophie is a trailblazing figure in the tech industry, showcasing exceptional talent having carved a career for herself. Despite dropping out of university education she’s had a remarkable trajectory within the dynamic landscape of tech businesses in the UK. During her career, Sophie has demonstrated unparalleled initiative and expertise, notably implementing a partner arm within a tech company entirely on her own, from scratch.
Hilary Stephenson, Founder and Managing Director of Nexer Digital
Hilary is the founder and Managing Director of Nexer Digital, a design and development agency with a focuses on user experience, digital inclusion and social impact. Hilary leads on Nexer’s product and service design work in the health and life sciences sector. Hilary is also a board member at Manchester Digital, she is passionate about diversity and inclusion, and is a regular volunteer facilitator for Diversity Role Models.
Lightning Talks
Intro speaker
Galina Ostroumova, Javascript developer at GlobalLogic
Full Stack Software Developer who joined GlobalLogic UK&I in November 2022. Graduated from the industry-recognised Northcoders full-stack JavaScript Bootcamp, having made a career transition from being a Sales Manager at a cutting-edge IoT platform. Galina moved to the UK as a refugee in April 2022 and was able to be retrained and start the new carrier path in the new country. Galina loves to use the latest technologies to solve problems in an innovative way(data analytics, AI) and apply product management experience to deliver the value of digitalisation. Current skills stack includes JavaScript, React, Node.
1. Sam Baillie, Snr Talent Specialist & DEI Champion at GlobalLogic
"Belonging and Beyond: The Journey of the FEM Community at GlobalLogic"
Sam Baillie, Snr Talent Specialist, champion of Diversity and Inclusion and co-founder of the FEM communities within GlobalLogic . An influential talent specialist, with a long standing career within the digital tech domain of implementing recruitment practices and hiring tech executives, Sam uses her role and skills to influence and advocate gender parity within the digital eco system and is holden to her motto of "it only takes one", one change, one step, for gender parity for everyone.
Intro Speaker
Dawn Blenkiron, Marketing Manager at GFT. 
Dawn joined a tech company following university and has stayed in the industry ever since! She is passionate about promoting GFT’s DEIB (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging), sustainability and CSR (corporate social responsibility) plans to drive a positive outcome.
2. Pius Lawal, React Developer at GFT
Pius Lawal is a Software Developer and has been with GFT for 2.5 years. He is one of the leaders of the Kubernetes community and a representative of the Employee Engagement Forum (EEF) at GFT. He is passionate about all things Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging (DEIB) and was instrumental in kickstarting the EEF around 2 years ago.
Intro Speaker
Tony McArdle, Learning lead and Organisational development at AutoTrader
I have worked in learning and development for over 20 years across and am currently a learning partner at Auto Trader. I enjoy maximising peoples potential and feeling like I’ve contributed to organisational improvement. Programmes I'm working on include Inclusive leadership and our diverse talent programmes.
Chloe Hodgson, Senior Software Developer at Auto Trader
"Accelerating Diversity: The Purpose and Impact of Auto Trader's DiverseTalent Accelerator"
I am a Senior Software Developer at Auto Trader, currently working within the Retailer Finance area. I have been at Auto Trader for almost 8 years, starting my journey as an apprentice on the MMU Digital and Technology Solutions degree apprenticeship.
