WIT Awards winners: The high-achievers and role models in tech
The Women in IT Awards has celebrated the achievements of women in technology as well as organisations championing change for women in tech.
The Women in IT Summit & Awards initiative, presented by DiversityQ in association with Information Age, awarded high-achievers, advocates and role models across the UK’s tech sector, from the efforts of entrepreneurs and start-ups, to large corporate and industry champions.
This year, there were 20 categories including CTO, DEI Initiative, Next Generation Leader, Innovator and Woman of the Year. The virtual ceremony, in partnership with Amazon Web Services (AWS), was hosted by British television broadcaster and presenter June Sarpong.
WIT AWARDS WINNERS
The ‘Woman of the Year’ award, sponsored by Salesforce, went to Melissa Di Donato, SUSE, a great example of strong leadership in difficult times. Di Donato has enabled her organisation to thrive and open up new channels for D&I and Sustainability practices. Judges agreed that her achievements, dedication to tackle climate change, and strong level of seniority are what we need to continue to see and learn from.
The ‘DEI Initiative of the Year,’ sponsored by J.P. Morgan, was awarded to KPMG UK’s ‘It’s Her Future’ (IHF). This mentoring and sponsorship scheme has shown extensive evidence of impact – having gone from 36% to a 54% increase of female graduate recruits, and since its inception in the UK, has been adopted by other global member firms.
KPMG UK also won ‘Education & Training Initiative of the Year’ for ‘It’s Her Future: Juniors Programme.’ They are creatively igniting the interest of the younger generation for technical education streams, generating skills that will be desired across industries and they have created a D&I hiring initiative that can be tapped into in the future.
The ‘Employer of the Year (over 250)’ award, sponsored by Frank Recruitment Group, went to Pax8. CEO and founder, John Street demonstrated a commitment to women and to developing the organisation as a viable role model for equality in the tech industry. Their mentorship program is an opportunity for women to give back and support each other within the organisation.
‘Employer of the Year (up to 250)’ went to Uptree – a company that was founded with the aim to make careers education more accessible. They have almost tripled the number of students registered on their professional networking platform this year alone and have sent their resources out to 80,000 students in 440+ schools across the UK.
Anna Sutton, The Data Shed won ‘Entrepreneur of the Year.’ Judges described Anna as a visionary that is focused on driving value for customers through technology. She is a start-up entrepreneur that views data with the lens of diversity and associates that with the fundamental need to have a diverse workforce which she actively observes within the company.
Nitin Gupta, Tata Consultancy Services, was awarded ‘Male Ally of the Year.’ The judges commended his team diversity metrics; his engagement in industry events to promote female diversity; and the vast range of activities he is involved with to engage STEM, women in technology and diversity participants at multiple stages of their career.
Jane Frankland, KnewStart won ‘Security leader of the Year,’ sponsored by SailPoint. Jane is using her experience and her platforms to expand awareness and diversity in the cybersecurity arena and is rightfully recognised by the tech world for her efforts.
‘CIO of the Year,’ sponsored by Amazon Web Services (AWS), went to Wendy Clark, NHS Blood and Transplant. Wendy and her team have worked tirelessly to continue to save and improve lives. As one of the judges shared “It’s the sticky end of bringing everyone with you that counts, and this nominee was able to cut through process to get to tangible outcomes.”
‘CTO of the Year’ went to Sophie Davies-Patrick, MPB, for their impressive results to transform and scale the business. Over the past year, Sophie has created a safer tech environment; and built a happier team with a new career framework that offers clearer pathways and enhanced development opportunities.
‘Board Director of the Year,’ sponsored by Vanguard, went to Beth Lawton, Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust. Beth leads a number of DE&I support initiatives and the sheer breadth of her impact during what have been extraordinary times has been impressive.
‘Data Leader of the Year’ was Kathryn Salt, NHS Digital. Kathryn has used the rich pools of data held by the organisation to make a real impact to the COVID-19 response and demonstrates an inspiring example of having to change normal practice towards the use of data to make a truly admirable social impact.
The ‘Tech for Good’ award, sponsored by bp, went to Sharon Pursey OBE, SafeToNet. A pioneering figurehead in UK safety tech whose technical thought leadership applied into the genius of the organisation’s software, fulfils one of the greatest social responsibilities of protecting our future.
The award ‘Outstanding Contribution of the Year,’ sponsored by Red Hat, went to Tracey Jessup. Tracey has been responsible for overseeing the biggest innovation in living memory, and very possibly in their institution’s 700+ history, when creating Virtual and Hybrid options that ensured critical democratic continuity with digital.
The award ‘Innovator of the Year,’ sponsored by SUSE, went to Elizabeth Swanton, Feedr Ltd. Nothing is harder than driving a start-up forward, more so in the midst of a pandemic, and this organisation is a start up with plenty of possibilities and a higher purpose. Judges were impressed with the new platform and Elizabeth’s ability to make the process and transactions seamless, all while maintaining stakeholders and abiding by the government rules and restrictions.
‘Next Generation Leader of the Year,’ sponsored by AlixPartners, went to Kim Lawrie, ENGINE UK. In a category that received over 55 nominations, Kim stood out as a remarkable champion for women and BAME talent. She is an inspirational leader and an agent of change on a mission to improve gender parity – and indeed diversity, equity and inclusion in all its forms.
‘Returner of the Year’ went to Chitra Srinivasan, who exemplifies insurmountable courage, perseverance and self-belief. She has fiercely battled through numerous challenges that male-dominated sectors threw upon her path to return into the STEM faculty, and she has used those experiences to educate and motivate other under-represented groups.
‘IT team of the Year (led by a woman)’, sponsored by Rolls-Royce, went to the team at Danone Waters (UK & Ireland) Ltd. led by Aslihan Millet. This team has delivered demonstrable benefit to the organisation in a relatively short time period and deserve to be recognised for this work.
‘Digital Transformation Leader of the Year,’ sponsored by Google Cloud, went to Sarah Wilkinson, NHS Digital. Sarah has confidently and inspirationally led the organisation to successfully deliver a number of large-scale national IT programmes in support of the pandemic. She has created an environment for talented and dedicated staff to shine, nurturing the creative thinking, innovation and appetite for risk.
‘Advocate of the Year sponsored by HSBC,’ went to Elena Sinel, Teens in AI. Elena wowed our judges with the societal scope and breadth of ambition that she has demonstrated. Through her work in remote areas, she has seen first-hand the power and importance of entrepreneurship when fused with education across the world.
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