Now in it’s third year, Future Stars of Tech 2020 — taking place on 30 September 2020 at Banking Hall, London — is the most recent effort by Information Age and DiversityQ to help tackle the technology industry’s serious lack of female representation (and gender pay disparity) at both junior and senior levels.
There is a growing effort from employers, educators and government to make technology more inclusive and close the gender the gap. However, female participation remains severely low.
Women occupy just 16% of IT jobs in the UK, making up less than 14% of CIOs, less than 10% of tech CEOs and less than 5% of board directors at tech firms. This huge lack of diversity is not only impacting innovation and decision-making in the era of disruption, but is further establishing an negative image of the technology industry for young women amid a global digital skills crisis.
Change is slow, but to expedite it, employers need to start recognising their rising female stars, and facilitate a route to senior leadership. Future Stars of Tech provides this platform for recognition through its awards programme.
Future Stars of Tech — winners revealed at inaugural event!
By identifying and promoting the industry’s top female career climbers, the event hopes to show diversity as a positive force, not a challenge, in the world of technology. By boosting the visibility of female talent in the first eight years of their career, women are provided with the tools and exposure to be role models to young people.
“Today, I am delighted to announce over 80 finalists across 13 categories for our third Future Stars of Tech event, which I hope — along with our other diversity events — will catalyse a movement, making technology a more inclusive environment for women,” said Nick Ismail, content editor of Information Age.
“Despite the disruption caused by Covid-19, we are hopeful that this event will take place on 30th September at Banking Hall in London, and will serve as an opportunity to champion those women who will be leading the UK’s technology sector in the years to come — Future Stars of Tech is all about identifying and celebrating the next generation of female tech leaders who are already in the industry.”
He continued: “This event joins our Women in IT Summit & Awards Series,now spanning three continents (Europe, North America, Asia), which recognises the female tech leaders of today.”
The winners of Future Stars of Tech 2020 will be announced at the awards ceremony on 30 September at Banking Hall, London.
Future Stars of Tech 2020 shortlist
Future Star: AI and Machine Learning
Chelsea Chen, Emotech Ltd
Daphne Coates, IBM
Emily Foges, Luminance
Emily Ireland-Jones, IBM
Chandini Jain, Auquan
Love Oyeniran, LRO Consults
Larissa Suzuki, UCL
Caryn Tan, Accenture
Future Star: Automation
Nishtha Jain, GlaxoSmith Kline
Lucy Llewellyn, Sky Betting and Gaming
Lauren Pak, Accenture
Hina Raniga, KPMG
Naga Sravya Sakam, UST Global
Future Star: CTO
Eleonora Balaoura, IBM
Arteesha Bosamia, Aegis Network
Rhiannon Lawson, GDS
Ioana Nistoreanu, JPMorgan
Future Star: Cyber Security
Katie Bagley, JPMorgan
Laura Blackwell, Simply Business
Arteesha Bosamia, Aegis Network
Emily May Jowett, Darktrace
Maureen Kendal, Cybercare
Catherine Lagarde, Cloudreach
Zoe Mackenzie, ITV
Future Star: Data
Haengeun Chi, KPMG
Annika Geiger, Oracle Data Cloud
Sanaya Khambatta, IBM
Omar Khan, NTTDATA
Jenny Law, JPMorgan
Nicola McCabe, KPMG
Jaya Vamadevan, St James’s Place Wealth Management plc
Future Star: Data Science
Bianca Ferri, Sparkbeyond
Olimpia Onelli, EY (Ersnt & Young)
Elena Pedrini, Moneyfarm
Raphaelle Roffo, Arup
Future Star: Developer
Syrine Boujnah, JPMorgan
Kajsa Eriksson Rosenqvist, OQC
Jay Hoang, Revolent Group
Anouska Hopkins, Apolitical
Katy Hughes, C5 Alliance
Rajinder Kaur, Egress Software Technologies Limited
Nicola Richards, Fujitsu
Alice Stamp, Arup
Future Star: Digital
Isabella Carra, Publicis Sapient
Paige Cook, BT
Adriana Katrandzhieva, ThoughtWorks
Megan Lovett, Hiring Hub
Fateha Majid, Biye Biye Ltd
Jennifer Paybody, Clifford Chance Applied Solutions
Camilla Sacchetto, Gibbs Hybrid
Lokwing Yeung, Deliveroo
Future Star: Diversity Advocate
Ally Andrews, Broadplace Advertising
Tarneet Kaur Dhesi, Deloitte
Isla Featherstone-Clark, Amazon Web Services
Olivia Hake, DXC
Gabriella Isijola-Ajao, BAE Systems Applied Intelligence
Regina Oladipo, PwC
Ayshea Robertson, Zen Internet
Sophie Theen, Oakam
Future Star: IT Manager
Francesca Boarolo, The DMW Group
Nadia Caunhye, KPMG
Rituja Rao, Sparta Global
Future Star: Public Sector
Rhiannon Lawson, GDS
Nicola McCabe, KPMG
Pilar Odriozola, KPMG
Yvonne Teng, Accenture
Future Star: Tech Evangelist
Eleonora Balaoura, IBM
Jazzmin Berry, CampaignHero
Caitlin Breeze, Onfido
Nicole Fu, Nav.Marketing
Connie O’Donnell, Oxford Nanopore Technologies
Chanelle Pereira, Credit Suisse
Ivone Sima, Amazon-WholeFoods
Iona White, The DMW Group
Future Star: Tech for Good
Mansata Kurang, VR Revival
Fran Longstaff, Fika
Connie O’Donnell, Oxford Nanopore Technologies
Pip Richardson, The Circle Line
Emma Ridgway, ThoughtWorks
Lahini Sivaganeshan, Oracle
Benedetta Tagliaferri, The Information Lab
Louise Tierney, SAM
