Following the resounding success of the inaugural year, the WeAreTech Festival returned for its second edition on 7 June 2024 with 30+ speakers, 18 sessions and over 250 in-person attendees. As a hybrid event dedicated to empowering women in technology, the festival continues to break barriers and redefine industry norms.
The WeAreTech Festival is a beacon of inspiration for women in the tech industry, urging them to confidently stride forward in their careers. The goal is simple yet profound: to inspire and motivate every attendee to take bold steps towards their professional aspirations. It encourages attendees to engage with thought-provoking discussions through panels, where they can contribute their perspectives and glean invaluable knowledge from industry experts.
The sessions included:
Speed networking with Vanessa Vallely OBE: Kickstart your networking journey and connect with industry professionals.
The Tech landscape for women with Tech Talent Charter: Gain valuable insights into the current tech landscape and opportunities for women.
Allyship, Sponsors, and Mentors – You need them all!: Learn about the importance of allies, sponsors, and mentors in advancing your career in tech.
Overcoming challenges and breaking barriers as a woman in Tech: Discover strategies for overcoming obstacles and thriving in the tech industry.
Your career might be squiggly! Embrace it: Embrace the twists and turns of your career path and find empowerment in its unpredictability.
Keynote address: Baroness Martha Lane Fox
Negotiation strategies for equal pay and promotions: Equip yourself with effective negotiation strategies to secure equal pay and advance in your career.
Panel: Unlocking your worth: Dive into discussions on mastering pay negotiation and seizing advancement opportunities.
Fireside Chat: Vanessa Vallely OBE, Founder of WeAreTechWomen in conversation with Flavilla Fongang, Computer Weekly’s most influential woman in tech:
The resilient leader – how to find your inner strength.
How to get out of your own way – building confidence, banishing your inner imposter.
How to get promoted – senior leaders share their top tips.
Why can’t they see my potential? Strategies for standing out and showcasing your skills.
Supercharge your career with brand, networking, social media, coaches, mentors, and sponsors.
Women – Prioritising your health.
Negotiation strategies for equal pay and promotions panel discussion
The Negotiation strategies for equal pay and promotions panel discussion, facilitated by Julia Streets, Founder & CEO, Streets Consulting, included panellists:
Natalie Reynolds – MD, Accenture, Author of ‘We Have a Deal’
Siobhan Bermingham – Negotiation Consultant at Scotwork UK
Lopa Patel MBE – Digital CEO, Non-Executive Chair, NED & Trustee
Nadia Edwards-Dashti – Chief Customer Officer, Harrington Starr
Discussion focused on the lived experience of panellists where they shared how they have mastered negotiation tactics for either salary or career advancement. Offering invaluable insider tips garnered from their own negotiation journeys, ensuring that attendees left equipped with the tools and knowledge to secure the deal they truly deserve. By the end of the panel, the audience felt empowered to approach negotiations with clarity and assertiveness, driving their career forward with purpose and determination. The helpful insights comprised:
Step One: Preparation ahead of a negotiation – research, setting objectives, knowing your BATNA – best alternative to a negotiated agreement i.e. fallback plan, develop a strategy/approach including potential concessions and what to do when it doesn’t go well.
Step Two: Building rapport – techniques for establishing trust, finding common ground and potential foundations for the negotiation for a successful outcome.
Step Three: Opening the negotiation and exchanging information – setting the tone, making an opening offer, exchanging information and the importance of clarifying and summarising. The panel also explored some of the classic mistakes people make during this step.
Step Four: Bargaining – presenting options, making concessions, working together to reach an outcome. The panel also highlighted what people tend to overlook at this stage.
Step Five: Closing the deal – techniques on how to close the deal, importance of summarising your agreement, formalisation and how to document and plan for successful implementation and ongoing review.
Step Six: Post negotiation – reflection and evaluation of the outcome, relationship management and identifying when/how best to come to the table for the next step.
About the panellists
Julia Streets, Founder and CEO, Streets Consulting / Co-host of This Age
Julia Streets is a champion of fintech and entrepreneurship, innovation, diversity and inclusion.
In 2007, she founded Streets Consulting, the business development, marketing and communications consultancy. She and her team advise a wide range of startups and scaleups, global organisations, key industry bodies and technology incubators. Streets Consulting is proud to be recommended to new clients by boards and investors, industry influencers, media and existing clients. Their core focus is on helping businesses to grow and/or transform by delivering 3 key areas of service (3Cs): campaigns, content and coaching.
Prior to becoming a founder & CEO, Julia was global head of communications at NYSE Technologies, serving on the Executive Committee and European head of marketing and sales development at Instinet Europe.
A certified transformational leadership coach, she works with senior executives and is an advisor, mentor and investor and is called upon to chair many of the world’s leading conferences drawing not only on her industry experience, but also on her skills as a speaker, host and sell-out stand up comedian.
Julia has received many awards and accolades including being listed as one of Brummell Magazine’s 30 Women on Boards, 30 Female Entrepreneurs, and 30 Women of Influence. She is one of the Global Diversity List’s 20 global champions and is regularly called out as a trailblazer and changemaker. Her podcast ‘DiverCity Podcast’ ran for 16 seasons with listeners in more than 50 countries around the world and was listed as one of the world’s most influential DE&I podcasts. This year she co-launched a new initiative: This Age, all about ripping up the rulebook for women over 50.
Julia is a founding member of the Power Women Network and a fellow of the British American Project.
Natalie Reynolds, MD, Accenture, Author of ‘We Have a Deal’
Natalie Reynolds was the Founder of the globally respected negotiation firm advantageSPRING and is the author of bestselling book ‘We Have a Deal’ and Honorary Visiting Professor of Negotiation at Bayes Business School.
Natalie has worked with many of the world’s leading companies, business schools, governments and NGOs including the United Nations, and also has a reputation as one of the leading voices globally on diversity and negotiation.
Natalie joined Accenture in 2021 as an MD in the Negotiation Centre of Excellence.
Siobhan Bermingham, Negotiation Consultant at Scotwork UK
With over 13 years’ experience teaching/coaching business owners/managers/entrepreneurs to maximise their negotiation/communication skills and develop their techniques for long-term success, Siobhan is passionate about the power of intentional collaboration.
Siobhan has spent several years negotiating contracts internationally, developing and distributing digital products/online services and more recently worked in the electric vehicles industry before joining Scotwork UK as a negotiation consultant, where she trains people across all industries to advance their negotiation technique.
Siobhan’s also been interviewed frequently on her public speaking expertise including interviews on BBC Radio Wales and BBC Radio Scotland where she’s listed as a Public Speaking expert.
Lopa Patel MBE, Digital CEO, Non-Executive Chair, NED & Trustee
Lopa Patel MBE is a Digital Entrepreneur, Non-Executive Chair, NED and Trustee with strengths in governance and risk oversight.
The founder of two ventures in online media and a data-driven marketing consultancy, she is the Chair of equality charity, Diversity UK; Founder of the Asians in Tech initiative, supporting digital entrepreneurship; Chair of the National Science & Media Museum Advisory Board; a Trustee of the Science Museum Group and Non-Executive Director of the Intellectual Property Office.
She is an elected Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing and a Fellow of the Institute of Data & Marketing; holds a BTec in Computer Science, a BSc degree in Biochemistry, and a postgraduate qualification, the FT Diploma in Corporate Governance.
Lopa is an ambassador for entrepreneurship, innovation and technology and has been recognised with many accolades including an MBE for services to the creative industries and an Honorary Doctorate conferred by the Open University.
Nadia Edwards-Dashti, Chief Customer Officer, Harrington Starr
Meet Nadia Co-Founder of Harrington Starr Group, a leading FinTech recruitment firm.
Having recruited in the financial services technology sector for 19 years, Nadia has been responsible for helping companies grow and people grow their careers whilst driving inclusion in the sector.
As Chief Customer Officer, she hosts ‘Fintech’s DEI Discussions’ podcast, sharing stories of equitable change in the industry.
Nadia authored ‘FinTech Women Walk the Talk,’ featuring 100+ podcast interviewees. Her gender equality campaigns include the award-winning “Talent Equity List.”
A recipient of numerous accolades, she’s an Industrial Fellow at the University of East London, On the Exec Board of the European Women’s Payment Network and a Forbes.com contributor.
For further information about the WeAreTech Festival, visit:
https://wearetechwomen.com/women-in-tech-festival-2024/