Lauren Gibson
Senior Solutions Design Manager
Manchester City Football Club

SESSION OVERVIEW: 

What is the Glass Cliff?

Put simply the glass cliff is when Women are put in to positions of leadership during crises and uncertainty in which chances of failure are higher. Read that again, Women are put in to positions of leadership during crises in which the chances of failure are higher.

What happens when you get your first role in leadership but it’s not everything you thought it would be? In fact, it’s everything it shouldn’t be and more. You were explicitly clear in your interview this was your first role in leadership and you would need, and quite rightly expect support, but here you are and there’s 0 support. Your organisation seems to be switching priorities every week (every day in my experience), what you’re doing one day suddenly has no value the next day and you feel that you’re constantly jumping through hoops to prove yourself. Your mental health takes an absolute battering, you’re put on performance management and the company? Well they give themselves a pat on the back for hiring a Woman in the first place.

In this talk I will be explaining what the Glass Cliff is through my personal experience, the impact it has on Women and what Women can do to spot the signs of this and how they can support themselves and each other.

Wendy Amexo
Data & Analytics Manager

SESSION OVERVIEW: In this inspiring keynote, I will share my personal journey of overcoming life’s challenges, from the profound loss of my mother to battles with mental health. These experiences, while difficult, became the foundation for my personal growth and professional success. Aimed at women in tech, this session will guide you in identifying and harnessing your unique strengths to create a significant impact both in your career and personal life.

Drawing from my own story, I will reveal how embracing vulnerability and fostering resilience can transform setbacks into stepping stones. The audience will learn practical strategies to recognize and seize opportunities, even in the face of adversity, and how to cultivate a mindset that not only endures but thrives.

Whether the audience is navigating their early careers or seeking to redefine their paths, this talk will provide the tools and inspiration needed to make help make a unique mark in the tech industry.

Julia Bellis
Global Psychological Safety Lead
Equal Experts

SESSION OVERVIEW: We live in an uncertain world. Studies show that humans find uncertainty more stressful than certain knowledge of a bad outcome. In this talk I explore why that is and helpful and unhelpful ways to deal with it.

I discuss how a very open ended discovery project forced me to confront uncertainty in Agile software delivery and how great the temptation was to pick a solution in order to have something to focus on delivering. I consider techniques that can help teams in this scenario ‘stay in the problem space’.

I explore unhelpful attempts to eliminate uncertainty from tech dev (waterfall, problem solving as fire fighting) and consider how children approach learning when they have no certain knowledge.

I conclude that we can negotiate a truce with uncertainty – we will never beat it but by being inspired by children, empirical science and progress we can learn to live and flourish with it.

Rebecca Leche
Founder
TOU App

SESSION OVERVIEW: The critical assumption of free will in tech has a dire impact on anyone living with abuse, and our inaction makes us part of the problem. Using the illustrative journey of ‘Zoe,’ the talk delves into how abusers exploit technology, transforming tools of empowerment into mechanisms of control. We uncover how the various understandable priorities of stakeholders are preventing a solution at the expense of those affected. Yet, in the complex landscape of variables, we, the tech industry, have the power to positively impact people if only we consider all use cases for our tech. This session proposes actionable tech and policy enhancements, advocating a unified industry approach to safeguard digital spaces. It’s a timely look at ethical design and the real-world impact of ignoring abuse dynamics in technology development, focussing on designing safeguards that deter abusers and accommodate the needs of people living with abuse.

Nathalie Lowe
Director of Projects and Operations
DRCF

Kate Jones
CEO
DRCF

SESSION OVERVIEW: 

Q: What do a former diplomat and human rights lawyer and a project manager in advanced analytics have in common?

A: They are both leaders in the Digital Regulation Cooperation Forum (DRCF), leading a diverse, cross-organisational team that aims to ensure that the digital economy both protects and empowers people while unlocking innovation and growth.

Tech needs a diversity of perspectives and experiences. Kate’s background is as a diplomat and human rights lawyer, drawn to tech regulation while researching online political discourse and micro-targeting. She could see that regulatory cooperation was needed to resolve apparent conflicts between principles such as privacy and data interoperability. Nathalie has a project management background and was drawn to data on realising that it is more important than the tech itself.

We will offer personal, candid reflections on our own very different journeys, and demonstrate how a diversity of backgrounds and experience are not only applicable but also necessary to excel in technology, whatever your career stage. We bring our wide range of experiences from our career journeys – as well as from our personal and family lives – to our leadership roles in digital regulation and rely on them to tackle new and evolving challenges.

At the Digital Regulation Cooperation Forum, we lead a team who have had very different journeys but who work together cohesively, with a common sense of purpose. We will showcase how digital regulation makes a real difference to people’s lives, as well as how industry develops. We are proud of how we and our team play a part in achieving that goal.

Katie Roberts
Account Principal 
Nearform

SESSION OVERVIEW: 

Women leave the tech industry 10-20 years into their careers, which is nearly double the rate of their male counterparts.  There are factors that contribute to this, including where you work.

During the pandemic, a lot of us got used to working from home, and know some of the benefits that it brings, but equally, a lot of people had very bad experiences which would put them off any non-office based role in the future.  

Given the benefits that remote working brings, especially to women in tech, this talk will highlight how and why remote working goes wrong, and how you can set yourself up to succeed in a remote first environment.

Beckie Taylor
CEO & Founder
Tech Returners

SESSION OVERVIEW: 

We’ve all got ideas about what women in tech should want, but how often do we actually stop and listen to what they really want? (Spoiler: pizza and ping-pong aren’t topping the list). Join Beckie Taylor, co-founder of Tech Returners and one of Computer Weekly’s top influential women in tech, as she chairs a no-filter panel discussion with women who’ve lived the reality of the barriers in tech—and others who are driving initiatives to break them down.

At Tech Returners, we’ve been digging deep into this issue for a while now. Our journey started with the “Breaking Barriers Report: Women in Tech Speak Out”, where women in the industry shared the systemic challenges they face—no sugar-coating, just hard truths. But we didn’t stop there. We followed it up with the “What Women in Tech Want” report, flipping the script to ask women directly what businesses need to do to create real change. This report didn’t just highlight problems; it offered actionable solutions. Along the way, we’ve workshopped ideas with businesses and showcased real-life case studies of companies already making a difference.

In this session, you’ll hear from the report’s author and panellists who have experienced the barriers firsthand or have been instrumental in creating initiatives that move the dial. Expect real stories, fresh perspectives, and no-nonsense solutions for what businesses should be doing next if we’re serious about seeing real change.

Beckie Taylor
CEO & Founder
Tech Returners

SESSION OVERVIEW: 

OK, you know gender diversity is important (if not, we’ll definitely convince you in our main stage chat), but how do you actually make change happen? And more importantly, how do you know if it’s working? In this interactive workshop, we’ll workshop together to take the conversation beyond the buzzwords and into the practical reality of building and measuring successful gender diversity initiatives.

Led by Beckie Taylor and author of the “What Women in Tech Want” report, Emma Macgregor, this is where the rubber meets the road. Expect hands-on exercises where we’ll brainstorm and build the initiatives women actually want to see in your business. THe purpose? To build a framework for businesses and individuals to implement these ideas and—crucially—measure their success. No fluff, just actionable insights, real examples, and maybe a laugh or two as we co-create something meaningful. Because let’s face it: changing the world is hard, but we’ll show you how to make it possible (and measurable).