Bethany Probert | Capgemini Engineering
Beth was the first person in her family to attend university, and her formal STEM career began as a Physics with Astrophysics student at the University of Bath where Beth was a recipient of the Lloyds Banking Group Scholarship reserved for outstanding students from low income backgrounds.
After learning to code in her final year of university, Beth discovered a passion for programming and saw the potential for code to change the world for better. After graduating in 2019, Beth decided to retrain as an apprentice and join Capgemini Engineering as a Junior Software Engineer on their Graduate Apprenticeship scheme.
Beth works in Capgemini Engineering's High Integrity Software Expertise Centre based in Bath, which specialises in building safety critical software that keeps people safe in their everyday lives. Beth has helped to develop software that keeps people safe when travelling by rail, and has helped to design tools that her fellow engineers use to ensure their tests adhere to the most rigorous of safety standards.
Beth is also the Vice Chair of the WISE Young Professionals' Board, which she joined in January 2020. The WYPB aims to advocate for, engage with and inspire the current and future generations of women and girls in STEM. She represents Altran UK on this national board, working to engage her colleagues in gender diversity related work, as well as helping to lead the Board and organise nationwide projects to support women and girls across the UK.
Beth also volunteers with the Scouts as a Cub Scout Leader in Bath, where she encourages all of her young people to engage with science and engineering through completing science related badges, and through running workshops with organisations such as NASA to engage a global audience with STEM. Beth's hard work and passion for engineering was recognised at the IET's 2020 Young Woman Engineer of the Year Awards where she was a highly commended finalist.
Shani Anderson | Collins Aerospace
I started working in Aerospace by coincidence.
As a non-engineer, I didn’t grow up with any particular desire to join this industry, but now that I am part of Collins Aerospace I am amazed by our products and technologies and am passionate about encouraging more women to pursue a career in STEM.
Based in the West Midlands, I am a HR Manager for a site that designs, develops and manufactures Heat Exchangers for Aerospace. In my 7 years, with the organisation I have worked at 4 different sites and across 3 Business Units and have been able to benefit from various experiences that have shaped me into who I am today. There is so much opportunity at Collins Aerospace and I am looking forward to growing with this incredible organisation and developing my career further.
Those who know me, know I am a visible and vocal champion for Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) and I am actively engaged in developing an inclusive environment at Collins Aerospace where all employees can thrive and progress.
Over the last year, I have been instrumental in implementing change within our business through creating Employee Resource Groups (ERG): Women in Aerospace and Black, Asian & Minority Ethnic (BAME) to drive sustainable change within the organisation. I have also worked as part of our Diversity Team to create a framework for assessing inclusion, this has been rolled out across 11 sites and ensures that D&I is a strategic priority for the business by embedding this framework in our operating processes. In addition, I am a reverse mentor to a number of senior Directors sharing my perspective and insights about my experiences as a Black woman enabling them to hold a richer view about the perspectives of others, which plays an important role in bridging the gap between different groups in the workforce.
Outside of the workplace, I support my community as a Youth Worker, encouraging young people to grow their confidence and providing them with a safe space to have fun.
As a HR Leader and role model at Collins Aerospace, my focus for 2021 is about supporting young women in STEM and empowering the female pipeline so that they can carve their own path to success as the next generation of leaders.
Cremona Makaginsar | Mott MacDonald
A visit as a 10 year old to a hydropower Saguling Dam in Indonesia, a structure that both my parents were involved in constructing years ago, opened my eyes to the impact civil engineers can have in the world.
Ever since that exciting day, I knew the path my own career would take. But I also knew it wouldn’t be easy – the gender imbalance in Indonesia was very high. Drawing on her own experience, my mother (a civil engineer herself) suggested that I choose another field of study – but it was too late… I was inspired!
Luckily, we moved to the UK when I was 15; just in time to choose my career route. It just had to be in engineering – it was my passion. I obtained my Masters in Civil Engineering from the University of Bristol in 2009, and then joined Mott MacDonald (MM) as a graduate. I received my Chartership from the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) in 2016 and I am now a Principal Engineer within the Metros and Civil division.
My 11 year career in civil engineering has certainly been varied, but the project that “made” me was designing the complex main interchange station for Doha Metro. My role progressed from being a designer to eventually Deputy Structures Lead responsible for the delivery and coordination of all structural elements within the station with other engineering disciplines in a Building Information Management (BIM) environment.
Currently, I am working on the prestigious (and vast) HS2 Phase 1 project, as a Package Manager for one of the largest sub-lots within N1/N2 route. I am responsible for the coordination and delivery of both scheme design and detailed design of 30 major assets along a 10km stretch of HS2's N1 route. Holistically, I manage the outputs from a very large design team of circa 300 people to ensure the project is running in line with the programme – and that the final deliverables are coordinated and clash free.
My hope is to be able to become a role model through both my work and as a STEM ambassador to encourage more women to consider engineering as a viable and truly rewarding career path.
Johann Muldoon | Manor Architects Ltd
Johann Muldoon is an Architect, Managing Director of Manor Architects, an RIBA Specialist Conservation Architect and MBE recipient, the youngest and first female Architect to receive the honour in Ireland.
She is also a lecturer, tutor, mentor, a TedX speaker, has judged a number of architectural competitions and awards. She is also on the parliamentary review panel at Westminster.
Johann has made history at every stage of her academic and professional career. At 16 years old Johann was awarded UK Young Entrepreneur of the Year by Sir Richard Branson and has continued that trend.
She has extensive experience in delivering complex projects in all sectors and, on top of this she is a mother to three small children.
Jolee Tung | Oliver Wyman
Jolee is a Senior Consultant in Oliver Wyman's London office where she supports private and public sector clients across EMEA with commercial strategy, customer proposition, organisational effectiveness and target operating model design.
To date, she has worked across a broad range of industries, including Financial Services, Media, as well as Healthcare.
Outside of her core role, Jolee is an active leader within her community. She co-leads EMPOWERED UK, the UK chapter of Oliver Wyman's employee resource group for racial, ethnic and cultural diversity, and is also a core contributor to the firm's entry-level recruitment initiatives. Moreover, Jolee serves as a Board member for the Mulgrave School Alumni Association, where she advises on the strategic direction of her high school's alumni program.
Jolee graduated from University College London with a Bachelor of Arts and Sciences degree, at the top of her year. She is originally from Vancouver, Canada.
Avery Johnstone | Kite Insights
Avery is a researcher, project manager and digital strategist. Having graduated on the Dean’s List from Queen’s University, Kingston with an Honours Bachelor of Arts in Health Studies, Avery works at Kite Insights to conduct research, facilitate debate and drive inclusive and intersectional progress across ESG for her clients.
Avery's areas of expertise lie in the intersections of gender, health and climate research, thought leadership and engagement strategy. Currently, Avery project manages the Editorial Team for the Women's Forum for the Economy and Society - a global platform highlighting women’s voices and vision to shape a more inclusive economy and society, and supports The New York Times Climate Solutions series, leading up to COP26.
Previously, Avery has served as a Youth Ambassador to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) on topics of sexual and reproductive health and rights, and has sat on the Board of Directors for a regional branch of the Canadian Mental Health Association. She has also worked with Queen's Health Outreach to develop mental and sexual health curriculum for students in Georgetown, Guyana, and spent two months implementing this initiative alongside the Guyanese Ministry of Education and Guyana Responsible Parenthood Association in May/June 2019.
Avery is currently a Youth Advisor to Canadian Senator Marilou McPhedran and sits on the Canadian Council of Young Feminists / Conseil canadien de jeunes féministes. She is also a Young Leader with Women Deliver's Young Leaders Programme, an award-winning, international youth leadership programme focused on gender and health equity, and in the inaugural cohort of Apolitical's Gender Equality Collective - an education initiative for civil servants, supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Kajal Chhapia | Oliver Wyman
Kajal Chhapia is a public policy professional with experience across financial services. Kajal recently joined Oliver Wyman, prior to which she was at the Bank of England.
Kajal joined the Bank of England in 2018 after graduating from the University of Oxford. Her main role focused on ending ‘too big to fail’ through capital and liquidity policy for global banks. During the pandemic, Kajal also spent 6 months at the Joint Biosecurity Centre (Department for Health and Social Care) determining the UK’s international travel policy. Kajal joined Oliver Wyman in 2021, working primarily across Public Sector Policy and Financial Services. Passionate about inclusion, diversity and social mobility, Kajal is also the founder and director of Divercity, a non-profit organisation championing diversity in Finance and Consulting. Kajal leads a mentoring programme with 100+ participants across 54 companies, 38 universities and 3 countries. Additionally, Kajal is particularly interested in sustainable finance and international development and holds the CFA Investment Management Certificate
Preeti Singh | KPMG
After completing her Economics degree at the University of Nottingham, Preeti decided to sign up to the Teach First graduate programme and spent 2 years as a secondary school Mathematics teacher in a struggling school in West London.
The intention was to give back to the community she grew up in and take part in the Teach First Leadership Development programme before committing to the corporate world. During this time, Preeti was studying towards the PGCE qualification to become a qualified teacher, whilst teaching full time and positively impacting students’ lives.
Then, in 2017, Preeti joined KPMG on the graduate programme within Technology Risk Consulting and has since been working in Information Risk Management or IT Audit. She grew really quickly within her role, working well above her grade, leading teams, taking ownership of various work-streams, adding value for clients and building strong meaningful relationships both internally and externally.
Alongside her demanding day job working on one of the largest clients in the insurance sector, Preeti looked for ways to stay connected to and helping students’ lives. This is where she came across the IT’s Her Future Juniors programme which was in its planning stage and yet to launch its first event, designed to educate young female students around technology careers and providing long term mentoring. Preeti helped this programme to grow, taking a part in leading events, sourcing schools/students, organising key internal and external speakers and launching further new initiatives such as primary school workshops. In 2019, she took over as the lead of the programme and has been training Future Leaders of the programme, collaborating with other technology firms, overseeing activities and innovating and implementing new innovative workshops for the benefit of future young women.
Outside of her work life, Preeti is passionate about baking, wellness and meeting new people.
Chloe Priestley | PwC
In 2014 I joined PwC as part of the "School Leaver Programme" having just finished my A-levels.
During my first four years at PwC I studied for several qualifications including a Level 4 Diploma in Audit Practice and the ACA qualification with the ICAEW and I became a Chartered Accountant in 2018. I really enjoyed my training and I was recognised as a PwC prize winner for my Corporate Reporting exam results and nominated for Kaplan's Student of the Year award. In 2019, aged 23, I was promoted to a Manager in Audit, this was the earliest possible stage in my career for promotion. I also won Professional Pensions "Trainee of the Year," which recognised my outstanding achievements to date. I've specialised in Pensions Assurance within PwC's North Pension team since joining, and more recently have moved into our National Asset Wealth Management ("AWM") team, where I've proactively sought out opportunities to get involved in AWM London based Financial Services clients to expand my knowledge. I continue to develop my pensions specialism, increasingly working across our National practice in addition to broadening my experience with Funds clients.
Prior to joining PwC, I attended a Secondary School which was placed in "special measures" by Ofsted in my GCSE years, despite this I achieved the highest grades which anyone had ever achieved at the School and was recognised at my Sixth Form as having the highest grades of any external student. My Parents had never attended University and it didn't appeal to me, much to my Form Teacher's horror when I announced I wasn't applying to University, my family have always worked in an occupation that requires a trade and so working at a Professional Services Firm was something I'd only seen on TV. I was determined to make something of myself without going to University and applying to PwC as a School Leaver was the best decision I've ever made.
Suman Sidhu | Lane Clark & Peacock LLP
Suman is an Investment Consultant and qualified Actuary at Lane, Clark & Peacock and has over 6 years of industry experience.
Suman is an advocate for building and retaining women in the investment industry. During her time at Lane, Clark & Peacock, Suman has developed a number of successful D&I initiatives including the introduction of LCP's "Let's talk about Gender Equality" programme where content was shared weekly over a month on a variety of topics for example, the history of women's rights and inclusive feminism. Suman is a committee member on LCP's Women's Network where she is very passionate about ensuring equal rights for women in the workforce.
Externally, Suman is an ambassador with the Diversity Project and in particular, sits on their Gender Equality workstream. Recently, she helped to launch a podcast series called "Spotlight on Women in Investments" aimed at encouraging the next generation of female professionals to raise their profile and speak up about their experiences. She has also partnered with UpReach and SEO London to provide mentoring to students from disadvantaged backgrounds and ensure inclusive practices in learning & development.
Suman's aim is to ensure people are aware of the great opportunities that lie within the investment industry. She wants to ensure everyone feels a sense of belonging in their place of work so they are able to realise and meet their full potential no matter their race, gender and socioeconomic status. She strongly believes that a great culture that focuses on people and their needs is paramount to the success of any company.