“I encourage everyone to help raise each other up; share some content from someone whose talk you really enjoyed, connect people with influential figures you have access to and shout about the awesome people you have met,” says Sasha Burgoyne, Co-Founder & Head of Operations, TechSwitch and winner of DEI Initiative of the Year at the Women in IT Awards UK 2023.
Sasha, why have you joined the Women in IT UK Summit?
I love to learn from others, and the summit features a diverse range of speakers and attendees. Through the sharing of ideas, experiences, and best practices, I look forward to gaining new insights and perspectives and paying them forward to help more women succeed in their careers.
It also provides a platform for raising awareness of important issues in the industry, such as the gender pay gap, unconscious bias, and the underrepresentation of women in leadership positions. By speaking out about these issues, we can help to drive change and create a more equitable and inclusive industry for all.
Why are you compelled to participate in the presentation: Great Resignations to Great Reinventions/ Keeping Women and Other Underrepresented Communities Alive in Tech’s Future Equation.
It goes without saying that tech has historically been a male-dominated industry with significant barriers and hurdles for women and other under-represented groups. While there have been advancements over the past few years, progress has been slow, and there is still a long way to go. We need to find ways to not only encourage and support these groups to pursue careers in tech but also to retain them once they have their foot in the door, and I am excited to promote discussion around this subject.
What sessions are you most looking forward to, and why?
I always look forward to the networking sessions, as it’s fantastic to get to meet people from all across the industry!
The panel on Designing for Inclusion is very interesting to me as I have a personal interest in accessible design in tech, and it is often something which can be overlooked when building products and services and can be an afterthought. But it is extremely important to consider inclusion from the beginning as any product or service should, theoretically, be functional for anyone who may need or choose to use it.
What do you hope delegates will leave with on the day or do as a consequence of attending?
A drive to go out into the world and spread the thoughts and ideas which have been shared during the day! I also encourage everyone to help raise each other up; share some content from someone whose talk you really enjoyed, connect people with influential figures you have access to and shout about the awesome people you have met.
Hear more from Sasha Women in IT Summit UK 2023 on 18 May. To find out more and register for a place, please click here
