Meet our speakers

Tori Brown is an award winning IT Architect, with a proven track record of spearheading Women in IT programmes through her employers, she also supports charities which aim to aid undergraduates from less advantaged backgrounds to access top graduate roles.

Jennifer Cox has over 18 years of experience in Tech and in the Cyber Security industry. She supports her team who work with techies across all of EMEA in enabling best practices and cyber exposure prevention. Jennifer is the Head of Communications for Cyber Women Ireland, an Ambassador for Wentors global mentorship programme, an active member of WITS Ireland (Women in Technology and Science Ireland), WomenTech Community and WiCyS Global (Women in Cyber Security) and works hard to ensure diversity and inclusion within her industry by partaking in roles such as Judging at the Coolest Projects event for kids in the RDS, launching a mentoring project in Tenable, speaking at events such as BSides Dublin, WomenTech Global, BBWIC, CWiCS (Cisco Women in Cyber Security), CBF Fest (Coding Black Females Fest) HexCon, UK CyberWeek, WiCyS Global and more.

With over 14 years’ experience in digital, I have watched the industry change dramatically and been a part of fast adaptation in the market. From regulatory change to Google updates, I have been at the heart of industry change and have learned a substantial amount to drive businesses forward. All the while ensuring colleagues, clients, and businesses forward in line with technological advances.

I am a software engineer with three years of industry experience. I moved to the UK at the start of 2018. It was challenging to start from scratch in a new country with no support system. That is why I firmly believe in the power of community and allyship in the tech industry. I am a strong advocate of getting more women in tech especially engineering roles. I am also a mum to an incredible 4 year old autistic boy.

Kim is a Software Engineer at Butternut Box and Positive Psychology & Mindset Coach-in-training. She is creating Curiously Code which is a skills and mindset coaching platform and community in tech. She volunteers as a mentor for underrepresented people in tech and anyone who comes from socially disadvantaged backgrounds. Kim was selected for the Software Engineer of the year award at the 2022 FDM Everywoman in Tech Awards and has been featured in the 2021/2020 Women in Software Power Lists and the 2020 TechWomen100 List. Kim loves instax photography, relaxing at coffee shops and exploring the great outdoors.

As a Channel Manager at Custodian360, a leading global MSSP, I empower partners to provide robust cybersecurity solutions. I’m also an Ambassador for the Cyber Helpline, assisting cybercrime victims. My passion extends to community engagement with the Cyber House Party events team, and The Beer Farmers, an initiative ensuring no one in our industry gets left behind. I’m committed to promoting digital safety and fostering an inclusive cybersecurity community.

Laura Pomfret is Co-Founder of Financielle, a female-focussed financial wellness app helping women take back control of their money. Women are behind in every area of personal finance including pay, literacy and wealth and Financielle is on a mission is to close the gender wealth gap through tools, content and community.

Coming from an engineering background, Mili realised she wanted to make a more direct impact on people. By opening her own business, she transitioned into coaching and has spent the last 4 years teaching and coaching people on all things mindset and personal development. Through her innovative Career and Mindset curriculum as part of the Tech Returners programmes, she has enabled over 100 experienced software engineers back into the tech industry. Today Mili is a podcast host, coach and speaker, and is working to empower more people to design careers they love.

Ayesha heads up the Data and Digital product management team at Sage. She is the only female product leader in this team and has built the team and infrastructure ground up when she joined Sage. Ayesha’s product delivery use cases can range from impacting UK public policy, digitising workflows for SMBs or customer experience. She is a strong advocate for women in tech and leads Sage’s Women in Tech Gender Alliance Network. Prior to that, Ayesha spent a decade in the banking industry and has worked for JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs and Citigroup.

I define myself as an experienced professional with a diverse skill set encompassing software engineering, data engineering, data science, DevOps, and SAP BW and BI development. I have developed proficiency in a range of tools and technologies, demonstrating expertise in critical areas such as data ingestion, modularisation, GDPR compliance, engineering, integration, migration, solution architecture, and data quality management.

In addition to technical skills, I have also honed my leadership abilities, provided strategic guidance, designed technology solutions, led several data modelling projects, and I have developed migration strategies and plans to ensure smooth transitions. I prioritise data integrity and quality and have hands-on experience with DevOps, integration, and testing for cloud migrations. My approach is centred around delivering data-driven solutions and maintaining data quality throughout the entire project lifecycle. I am proud of my track record of successful project delivery and my ability to collaborate effectively with stakeholders.

Whilst my journey into the software engineering field may not have had the most auspicious beginning, I have come a long way and have grown both personally and professionally. I am grateful for the diverse experiences that have shaped me into the experienced and versatile professional I am today. I continue to embrace new challenges and strive for excellence in all aspects of my work. I did not do it alone – there were several amazing personalities who encouraged me, and their guidance, support and encouraging words made me who I am today.

Sarah Hsu is a strong advocate for green sustainable software. She regularly speaks and writes on the subject. She is co-authoring an O’Reilly book on the same topic titled Building Green Software. She is the Green Software Course project chair for the Green Software Foundation. The group and the Linux Foundation recently launched a free online educational course, Green Software for Practitioners (LFC131), to help software practitioners build, run and maintain greener applications. She is currently a Site Reliability Engineer working on a distributed platform in Google Cloud at Goldman Sachs.

I belong to a family with a rich legacy of civil engineers, and I am proud to continue that tradition as a civil engineer myself. After experiencing a period of confusion, I discovered my passion and aptitude for software through my studies. As a result, I was fortunate enough to secure a position at Tata Consultancy Services, one of India’s largest consultancies. This realisation allowed me to embrace my potential and redirected my focus from core sectors like civil engineering to the world of software. I hold 10+ years of experience working in IT. Predominantly worked in DevOps spinning up AWS resources using Terraform & used Kubernetes for deploying applications. As a hobby, I enjoy utilising waste materials to create crafts and artistic pieces.

Charmaine is an award-winning diversity and inclusion advocate and founder of Tech redefined formally known as (the tech bae platform).

Over the last 3 years Charmaine has spoken at conferences and partnered with many organisations to increase diversity in the tech industry. She has hosted over a dozen events with over 500 attendees and has featured on Afro tech and by The Tech Insider as the top tech Tiktok’s to watch.

I am multilingual with a pan-European background, a passion for all things technology, and working closely with people, socially and dutifully. I found my niche in Data Protection & Operations, allowing my natural problem-solving attitude combine with a keen attention for detail, and sociable warm character.

I have been working in IT Service Management since I left University in 1996, starting on a Helpdesk for Lloyds of London, I have always worked in Technology either managing technical teams or for the most part Running the IT Service Management side of Technical Operations, setting up Teams and implementing ITIL processes, I have worked in many different organisations from Charities to FTSE 100 Companies and have managed to navigate a very male orientated world successfully over the last 27 years. I love mentoring and coaching other women in technology to do the same.

Mo Kanjilal is Co-Creator at Watch This Sp_ce, a multi-award-winning diversity and inclusion company. Watch This Sp_ce works with companies to transform how they work to create diverse, inclusive workplaces where people work better together. Mo is also a non-Exec Director, Trustee, Conference Speaker and Writer.

Nadine has 25 years experience helping organisations like Google, PayPal and UK Government. A systems design thinker, trouble-shooter and ways of working improver, who is passionate about driving equality for women, LGBTQI+ and BIPOC in technology

Sophie Schmitt is a dynamic sales manager in the tech sector. She started her career 8 years ago at the Help Desk at Bloomberg, and has worked her way up the corporate ladder ever since. As a leader, Sophie’s trailblazing spirit fuels her mission to redefine success, empowering others to embrace change and bring their authentic self to work, unapologetically.

Suzi is an experienced people leader, having taken on senior leadership positions from early in her career. As Staff Director at Huler, Suzi’s role encompasses all elements of the employee experience journey from talent acquisition, onboarding, employee growth through to exit & Alumni. Suzi’s people-first approach has enabled significant people growth at Huler with an award winning employee experience journey, reflective of Huler’s own innovative approach to work place technology.

I have worked in Financial Services for 17 years, I climbed the career ladder in Project Management for the first 14 years. Then lockdown happened and it gave me time to reflect and I found the confidence that had been locked away in me since I had my children. I aimed high and in 6 months I landed a role as a contractor that paid over double my previous salary. I am now a successful senior strategic partnerships manager at GFT a tech SI consultancy who focus on gender parity from entry to the top table leadership roles.

A self-confessed ‘bit of a nerd’, Roxy is part of the team delivering Reframe Women in Tech. Her focus is on Operations and Partnerships, having previously been part of the operations team at Tech Returners. With a career path that’s definitely squiggly, she’s worked in sectors including retail, banking, charity and heritage before moving into tech.

She is passionate about D&I and improving awareness of neurodiversity in the workplace and will share her own neurodiversity journey and discovery as part of our Community Empowerment Stages. Outside of the workplace, she is also a volunteer board director and trustee at a charity, and is currently undertaking a renovation project having moved earlier this year.

I am a technical lead at Softwire, where I’ve also been strongly involved in our Corporate Social Responsibility efforts since I first joined as a graduate developer. Working for a software development consultancy I realised how important the wider impact of my work is to me, and my interest in and care for sustainability and green practices has spread into my time at work. Through my time as a company CSR officer, and being part of our sustainability team, I work to ensure these concerns are considered at a company level and hope to help drive Softwire to be the best company it can be in this area.

Gemma Johnston is co-founder and CEO of She Is Action, a new digital platform for women’s sport. A purpose driven “profit for good company”, She Is Action is determined to address the massive gap between men and women’s sporting participation, as well as the gender inequality in the “enjoyment factor” of sports. Merging a varied business background across complex tech innovation projects, brand marketing, communications, programme management and customer experience, with a personal passion for boardsports, Gemma personally wants to see a world where women confidently take action and, whether men or women’s, sport is just sport.

Reema is a passionate business founder, gifted storyteller and tireless advocate for inclusion in data. By challenging audiences to reshape their perception of data as a dreary necessity, she draws out the real human stories which organically empower intentional inclusion in data and beyond.

After seven years and multiple roles as a data whizz, Reema decided to launch her new, trailblazing company, People of Data. Through this organisation she seeks to create a world in which data can be used as a springboard for understanding the real people that data represents.

Reema is confident speaking about data strategy, analytical exploration, data collection and governance. Her talks offer a passionate manifesto for a world in which Equality, Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging (EDIB) are the beating heart of all data handling and usage.

An experienced speaker not afraid of digging into the gristle of the difficult topics, Reema’s talks push beyond a 1D (one demographic) view of data and offer a refreshing, multi-dimensional consideration of how humanised data can pioneer a brighter future.

Sarah is Head of Delivery Operations at the BBC, where she is responsible for supporting portfolio level delivery including Product Group planning, reporting and programme delivery. Sarah has extensive experience delivering complex programmes of work in product-led organisations including Just Eat and the Football Association. Sarah is passionate about inspiring young people to consider a career in tech. In her spare time Sarah sings and plays the trumpet.

Before switching to a career in tech, I originally trained as Pharmacist, managing a community pharmacy in West London for over 2 years. Since completing the TechSwitch training programme in 2021, I have been working at Softwire for 2 and half years, firstly as a developer but have since transitioned into a Delivery Lead role over the last 8 months. Alongside my role, I am an active member in Softwire’s Diversity and Inclusion team where we try to tackle diversity issues within the company and aim to make it a more inclusive environment for all.

Ryan is an experienced AI Data Scientist. He has spent the last five years building and deploying machine learning models – as well as communicating findings through data-led storytelling. His experience spans different sectors and use cases: from X-ray image classification algorithms and state-of-the-art natural language processing techniques in a startup to AI ethics roadmaps for startup accelerators and optimisation of logistics for deliveries for a global corporate. For the last four years, Ryan has channelled his expertise into the climate sector including his current role where he works on how domestic devices (such as electric vehicles, heat pumps, solar and batteries) can be optimised to help balance the grid and earn customers money by using energy more intelligently.

Laurie is motivated by business strategy, continuous learning, making a difference to organisations, and the wider cyber industry. She is an instigator and pioneer for bringing diverse individuals together and driving ideas forward for positive change. Laurie takes a holistic approach to her work, ensuring that the bigger picture is not lost and achieving business outcomes. Currently at KPMG, Laurie is enabling organisations to make more informed decisions when it comes to cyber risk management, through the adoption of, and as an ambassador for cyber risk quantification practices.

Sheena is a Senior Manager within PwC’s Cloud & Data Engineering team, where she leads client-focused cloud transformation initiatives. With an impressive 20-year tenure in the technology sector, she embarked on her professional journey in Managed Services, later transitioning into the Consulting domain.

Sheena champions diversity and inclusion, leading the charge with the Women in Cloud Team, part of Her Tech Talent, PwC’s Women in Tech community. On the personal front, she is a mother to two boys, aged 10 and 7, and dedicates her time to serving as a school governor, all while enjoying the pleasures of the outdoors!