Following over a hundred nominations across thirteen categories, the short listers for the 2020 Future Stars in Tech Awards have been revealed.
There is no more exciting industry to be part of today than technology. Innovation shapes everything we do, and it is improving lives and driving transformation in the business world faster than ever.
However, Women occupy just 16% of IT jobs in the UK and make up less than 14% of CIOs, less than 10% of tech CEOs and less than 5% of board directors at tech firms. By identifying and promoting the industry’s top female career climbers, Future Stars of Tech presents a tomorrow where diversity is a positive force, not a challenge, in the world of technology.
The 2020 Future Stars of Tech Awards 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.
Nominated for Diversity Advocate are eight candidates who are committed to improving diversity and inclusion in tech. Short listers include Sophie Theen, Chief People Officer of Oakham who has built an optimised People Function, and Regina Oladipo of PwC. She has previously been named one of The Financial Times’ Most Influential BAME Tech Leaders in the UK.
Short listed for CTO of the year is Arteesha Bosamia of Denstu Aegis Network, who is being recognised for her various outreach projects to encourage more women into STEM. Alongside her is Rhiannon Lawson, who has been nominated for Government Digital Services’ Cloud guide for the public sector.
“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 ceremony, which has been postponed due to the COVID-19 crisis, will be held on the 30th September 2020 at Banking Hall, London.
The shortlist is as follows:
AI and Machine Learning
- Chelsea Chen, Emotech Ltd
- Daphne Coates, IBM
- Emily Foges, Luminance
- Emily Ireland-Jones, IBM
- Candini Jain, Auquan
- Love Oyeniran, LRO Consultants
- Larissa Suzuki, Oracle Corporation / UCL
- Caryn Tan, Accenture
Automation
- Nishtha Jain, GlaxoSmith Kline
- Lucy Llewellyn, Sky Betting and Gaming
- Lauren Pak, Accenture
- Hina Raniga, KPMG
- Naga Sravya Sakam, UST Global
CTO
- Eleonora Balaoura, IBM
- Arteesha Bosamia, Dentsu Aegis Network
- Rhiannon Lawson, GDS
- Ioana Nistorean, JPMorgan
Cyber Security
- Katie Bagley, JPMorgan
- Laura Blackwell, Simply Business
- Arteesha Bosamia, Denstu Aegis Network
- Emily May Jowett, Darktrace
- Maureen Kendal, Cybercare
- Catherine Lagarde, Cloudreach
- Zoe Mackenzie, ITV
Data
- Haengeun Chi, KPMG
- Annika Geiger, Oracle Data Cloud
- Sanaya Khambatt, IBM
- Omar Khan, NTTDATA
- Jenny Law, JPMorgan
- Nicola McCabe, KPMG
- Jaya Vamadevan, St James’ Place Wealth Management Plc
Data Scientist
- Bianca Ferri, Sparkbeyond
- Olimpia Olenni, EY (Ernst & Young)
- Elena Pedrini, Moneyfarm
- Raphaelle Roffo, Arup
Developer
- Syrine Boujnah, JPMorgan
- Kajsa Eriksson Rosenqvist, OQC
- Jay Hoang, Revolent Group
- Anouska Hopkins, Apolitical
- Katy Hughes, C5 Alliance
- Rajinder Kaur, Egress Softwar Technologies Ltd
- Nicola Richards, Fujitsu
- Alice Stamp, Arup
Digital
- Isabelle 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 Sachhetto, Gibbs Hybrid
- Lokwing Yeung, Deliveroo
Diversity Advocate
- Ally Andrews, Broadplace Advertising
- Tarneet Kaur Dhesi, Deloitte
- Isla Featherstone, Amazon Web Services
- Olivia Hake, DXC
- Gabriella Isijola-Ajao, BAE Systems Applied Intelligence
- Regina Oladipo, PwC
- Ayshea Robertson, Zen Internet
- Sophie Theen, Oakam
IT Manager
- Francesca Boarolo, The DMW Group
- Nadia Caunhye, KPMG
- Rituja Rao, Sparta Global
Public Sector
- Rhiannon Lawson, GDS
- Nicola McCabe, KPMG
- Pilar Odriozola, KPMG
- Yvonne Teng, Accenture
Tech Evangelist
- Eleonora Balaoura, IBM
- Jazzmin Berry, CampaignHero
- Caitlin Breeze, Onfido
- Nicole Fu, Nav.Marketing
- Connie O’Donnell, Oxford Nanopore Technologies
- Chanelle Periera, Credit Suisse
- Ivone Sima, Amazon-WholeFoods
- Iona White, The DMW Group
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 Sivaganes, Oracle
- Benedetta Tagliaferri, The Infortmation Lab
- Louise Tierney, SAM
