We discussed how we begin to close the 7% gap in leadership roles for women (10% for black women), the importance of allyships in achieving change, how we can move away from the misconception that there is only space for one women at the top and some of the successful strategies and initiatives businesses have adopted that others may wish to copy.
To give this conversation the space it needs, we dedicated a full hour so the panellists could share their stories, experiences and advice in full. We then finished up with 20mins of questions from the audience. As mentioned during the introduction of the panel discussion, GlobalLogic stands with Ukraine and prays for a fast and peaceful end to this unnecessary war. If you are keen to support efforts and understand ways you can help, you can join some of the activity GlobalLogic has aligned to here – https://globallogicukraine.com/
A little more about the speakers:
Flavilla Fongang
Flavilla is a serial entrepreneur, author and multilingual keynote speaker (English & French). She is the founder of 3 Colours Rule, an award-winning branding and experiential marketing agency and also the founder of Tech London Advocates – Black Women in Tech. Flavilla was awarded the “She’s Mercedes” businesswoman award by Mercedes Benz among women such as Sheryl Sandberg, the COO of Facebook. She is also the author of “99 strategies to get customers” and was named number 2 on the list of the most influential women in tech in the UK by Computer Weekly.
Barbara Gottardi
Barbara is a long-standing Chief Information Officer who uses her 20 years at a top 10 global bank and the world’s largest mutual fund organisation to support smaller institutions. She is a positive and strategic thinker with a record of managing globally distributed teams of over 1,000 and £200 million plus budgets. More than this, Barbara is passionate about diversity in its true meaning – creating a diverse workforce that can think critically, challenge, and strategically mirror the customer base. Being a mother of 2 boys and happily married, she’s also keen for men being supported in the workforce and understand how to invest in women.
Rhiannon Lawson
Having started her career in insolvency and policy across the public sector, Rhiannon has moved into technology and is now an experienced deputy director/leader in digital data and technology with a demonstrated history of working in government policy, digital services and service transformation, technology (including leading government cloud and legacy strategy) and cyber security. Currently, she sits as the head of standards at the Centre for Digital Public Services, Wales. She is a Globant - Women that Build Digital Leader 2021 Finalist, theatre critic for Playhouse Pickings, and co-host of The Unfairer Sex Podcast.
Marie Drake
Marie is an experienced Software Tester focusing on Test Automation and Continuous Testing and is currently a Quality Engineering Manager at Zoopla. In her spare time, Marie is an avid tech blogger where she writes posts about testing and test automation in general at mariedrake.com. She also speaks at various MeetUp groups and conference to share her knowledge within the wider testing community.
Diana Otel
Diana is a cross-functional senior consultant with 6+ years of experience in CI/CD, test automation, software development and agile methodologies. As well as being an experienced team leader, technical trainer, mentor and manager, Diana has a central role in the Diversity & Inclusion initiative and Corporate Environmental Responsibility at ECS.
Eloisa Tovee (host)
Eloisa is the Content and Marketing Manager at GlobalLogic, with 6+ years working overseeing content strategy, GTM campaigns, project management and the promotion of thought leadership for B2B businesses. When Eloisa is not sketching scamps or scribbling new content ideas, you can find her recording a new episode for The Unfairer Sex podcast, or on LinkedIn here.
