Driving Diversity in Tech: Techgirl winners announced

Ten teenage girls been awarded a prize to be mentored by some of the top female leaders in tech.

Ten teenagers have won a competition for girls aged 16-18 to discover the UK’s future female leaders in technology. The biannual competition, called TechGirl, was created to accelerate the careers, skills and experiences of girls considering entering the still disproportionately gendered tech sector.

Entries to the competition, organised by thought leadership organisation HotTopics.ht, a community of 15,000 global business leaders, could be submitted through any medium the entrants preferred, whether via word file, video or audio. Entrants were encouraged to think of ways in which tech could tackle challenges arising the education system.

The winners were invited to London’s Abbey Road Studios on May 16th, where they were able to chat to, and receive mentoring from CIO’s for some of Britain’s top companies, including Deborah Haworth, Director of Information Security, Penguin Random House UK; Anna Barsby, Chief Product & Technology Officer, William Hill; and Jacqui Lipinski, CIO, Royal College of Art. The aim is to offer the teens career advice and work experience to help kickstart their careers.

This year’s ideas included special pods for neuro-divergent children, holograms to help make complex diagrams more accessible, and an idea from Matilda Fry to create specially designed headphones for children with autism and ADHD, who suffer from auditory hypersensitivity, to filter teachers’ voices in a classroom setting.

Said winner Neha Adapala, whose idea focused on brain computing technology to measure and aid students’ attention spans, “With this win I feel more confident to be able to go out in the world and change it for the better with my interest in technology.”

“Women are still significantly underrepresented in the tech industry, particularly in leadership roles, said Philip Randerson, CEO and founder of HotTopics. “Only by creating opportunities for women in tech can we expect to improve their representation at all levels and create a fairer and more equal workforce in the future.”

Last year’s winners included Poppy Skinner, 18, who envisioned a model of pain-free hearing aids for teens; Gabriele Strimaityte, 17, who submitted three ideas involving green energy to potentially aid with the cost-of-living crisis; and Imogen Cooper, also 17, who had the idea a safeguarding app to report sexual misconduct to a schools’ administrator or committee. Said Cooper, “To me, being a Techgirl means having a network of strong women in powerful positions...to help and mentor you into getting your foot into the tech sector.”

The full list of winners and their mentors are:

  • Summer Stanton, who will be mentored by Anna Barsby, Chief Product & Technology Officer, William Hill

  • Matilda Fry, whose mentor will be Jacqui Lipinski, CIO, Royal College of Art

  • Kavya Jethmalani, who’ll be paired with Belinda Finch, CIO, Three UK

  • Ogheneyoma Oghoro, who will receive mentoring from Alison Davis, CIO, GE Healthcare

  • Rose Gowen, to be partnered with Christina Scott, CPO & CTO, OVO Energy

  • Neha Adapala, whose mentor will be Marie Orpen, CDO, The Guide Dogs for the Blind Association

  • Yu Syuan Tang, who’ll be paired with Georgina Owens, CTO, William Hill International

  • Audrey Lam, who will be mentored by Deborah Haworth, Director of Information Security, Penguin Random House UK

  • Isabelle Simms, who’ll be partnered with Charlotte Baldwin, Global CIO, Costa Coffee

  • Lola Williams, whose mentor will be Joanna Drake, CIO, THG.

NEWSLysanne CurrieNews, Women, Technology, Techgirl