Ice Maidens | British Army
Major Nics Wetherill
Nics is a General Practitioner trainee, based in Portsmouth. She earned an Army Medical Cadetship while studying at University of Southampton Medical School, and it was here she first thought of taking an all-female team across Antarctica.
After commissioning from Sandhurst in December 2012 she was posted to Germany where she swapped her alpine racing background for Nordic skiing, and ended up captaining the Army Medical Services Ladies’ Biathlon team. Meeting Nat Taylor along the way, she realised this was the partner she had been waiting for to fulfil the Antarctic dream and encourage girls to take up adventurous training.
Nics is particularly focused on promoting the benefits of physical activity and encouraging girls and women of all ages to stretch themselves both physically and mentally.
Major Nat Taylor
Nat is a Regimental Medical Officer and General Practitioner at 1 RIFLES, based in Wales. After commissioning from Sandhurst in 2010 Nat has served in Germany, Afghanistan and the UK. Passionate about teaching she is also a Battlefield Advanced Life Support Instructor.
Nat trained to become a cross-country ski instructor while studying medicine and has been fortunate to captain the Army Medical Services Ladies’ biathlon and Nordic ski team.
Outside of work Natalie competed at the Adventure Racing World Championships with Team Endurancelife and won the 6633 Arctic Ultra Marathon in 2015. In her other role as Vice President of Girlguiding Breconshire, she is passionate about encouraging young women to exceed their potential.
Major Sandy Hennis
Sandy is a Reservist officer with 37 Signal Regiment based in Redditch, and works in an employer support role. She started her Army career as a radio technician and reached the rank of Corporal before attending Sandhurst and commissioning back into the Royal Signals. After completing tours of Kosovo, Iraq and Afghanistan she left the Regular Army to join the Reserves in 2014.
Sandy splits her time between leading overseas expeditions, outdoor instruction and team building/leadership development. She has participated in military and civilian expeditions, climbing and mountaineering in the UK, Spain, the Alps, Nepal, USA, Norway and Peru.
She enjoys anything which takes her outdoors and can’t turn down a challenge, which has led to many adventures from traversing the Cuillin Ridge to completing the Devizes to Westminster kayak marathon, and more recently competing in the Original Mountain Marathon (OMM). Sandy can usually be found living out of her camper van, wandering in the hills with her dog Bracken or riding the local mountain bike trails.
Captain Zanna Baker
Zanna is a Cultural Specialist at the Defence Cultural Specialist Unit (DCSU). Prior to commissioning from the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst into the Royal Artillery, she was a jack-of-all-trades, dabbling in art and geography, then specialising in music and languages.
Not liking to sit still for long, she has travelled extensively, including longer periods spent in Nepal and the Middle East. Her life goal of walking to the South Pole was inspired at the age of 18 by a two month mountaineering and scientific expedition to South Georgia. Not only did this develop a dream of hers, she realised the extent of her love for the outdoors in spite of the austere environment, which ultimately led to her joining the military.
Lieutenant Jenni Stephenson
Jenni is a Battery Operations Officer at 32nd Regiment, Royal Artillery based in Larkhill, Salisbury. She graduated from Durham University with a BA (Hons) in English Literature and Philosophy and an MA in English Literary Studies. She went on to work as a Literacy Coordinator at Sir William Borlase’s Grammar School in Marlow, Buckinghamshire, before joining the Army.
Jenni commissioned from the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in April 2015, and in August 2016 completed her first IRONMAN with fellow Ice Maiden Nics Wetherill. In her downtime Jenni loves reading and spends many weekends in Henley on Thames, training and competing for Upper Thames Rowing Club. She captained the 32nd Regiment Nordic Ski Team in winter 2016/17.
Sophie Montagne
LSgt Sophie Montagne is a section commander in the Honourable Artillery Company Army Reserves Regiment at the weekends, and during the week works in marketing in Central London.
Sophie learned to ski with the Army’s Officer Training Corps at university and has been obsessed with it ever since. She is an Army ski instructor and has raced for her regiment, breaking the national speed limit when she hit 73mph in the downhill. Sophie has a degree in Spanish and lived in Spain and Mexico before heading to London and starting her career as a journalist.
A move into marketing in 2011 coincided with her joining the Honourable Artillery Company in search of a physical challenge that would offset the desk job. She loves anything to do with the mountains and is a keen trail runner, completing the Jura Fell Race and running 60km in 24hrs in the Thunder Run 2016.
Katherine Tobin | WSP
I was lucky that I stumbled across ‘Engineering’ in a university prospectus when I didn’t know what to do with my love of science and art. Being at an all-girls school, I had to look up the definition for ‘Engineer’ as it wasn’t anywhere on the usual list of potential vocations presented to us.
After I graduated, I joined a fantastic team of structural engineers at WSP. In less than three years I have already been involved in designing some of London’s biggest and most exciting projects, including a 62 storey skyscraper: 22 Bishopsgate. On this incredible (and challenging!) project, I loved being involved in the design of the soaring structural ‘spine’ which keeps the building from falling over, and also mega basement structures which transfer colossal forces into the earth.
As well as skyscrapers, I am proud to have created a vast range of interesting designs- including steel trusses the size of bridges, micro-home modular buildings, a timber office structure straddling a 120 year old brick sewer, a luxury subterranean swimming pool, and a Victorian house extension.
I am passionate about promoting our exciting industry to girls, and about women becoming our future leaders. In my short time at WSP I have dedicated myself to being a positive female role model. I have mentored young engineers and apprentices, given numerous presentations promoting engineering, been filmed by the BBC, interviewed by TimeOut magazine and spoken in many schools- I’m intent on breaking the myth of engineers having grey beards and muddy hard hats!
Tara Shirvani | European Bank for Reconstruction & Development (EBRD)
Tara Shirvani currently works as Principal Sector Leader for Sustainable Transport at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) in London where she is in charge of greening an annual €2 billion infrastructure investment portfolio, all at the age of 31. Prior to joining EBRD, she was working at the World Bank Group being in charge of large-scale infrastructure projects in Sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East and Asia. Tara Shirvani started her career working for the United Nations in Tehran followed by several investment banking experiences at Deutsche Bank and Citigroup.
Dr. Shirvani, an Austrian and Iranian national, is an engineer by training and has earned her Ph.D. in Fuel Technologies from Oxford University and her Master’s in Engineering from Cambridge University. Tara Shirvani is regularly featured in the international press such as Forbes Magazine, Foreign Affairs, New York Times, Financial Time, New Statesman, Stanford International Press and Harvard International Review addressing 21st century challenges such as Climate Change, Middle Eastern Energy Politics and the Artificial Intelligence Revolution. She was honored as “Global Shaper” by the World Economic Forum in 2012, in 2016 as Forbes 30 under 30 Awardee, in 2017 as Global Female Rising Talents of the year and recently in 2018 as Future Energy Leader by CERA Energy.
Najwa Jawahar | WSP
I graduated from the University of Leeds with a first class MEng (Hons.) in Civil and Structural Engineering in 2011 and joined WSP as a graduate engineer in 2012. Since then I have worked on complex, high profile projects including Merchant Square Development, London Wall Place and Key Bridge House. These challenges have not daunted me, and have only motivated me to develop and learn.
I am a natural leader and an excellent team player, full of passion and charisma with an impressive track record of achievements. This proves my desire to leave my mark on the cities around the world. I believe nothing is impossible. No muddy boots. No cultural or religious barriers. Despite being a woman in the male-dominated field, I initiated a graduate group and extended it to 300+ young engineers and apprentices globally in 2 years. In 2014, she was selected by the Managing Director of the company to be part of the WSP’s Taskforce Team and delivered two business initiatives including the new graduate development framework. In 2017 alone, she not only attained her Chartership status through the Institute of Structural Engineers, but she was also named as the Best Young Woman Engineer, at the European Women in Construction and Engineering Awards for her contribution towards the WSP and the wider industry.
Geetha Srinivasan | The Queen's University Belfast
Dr. Geetha Srinivasan CChem CSci, MRSC, FHEA, is a Senior Research Fellow at Queen’s University Ionic Liquid Laboratories, (QUILL) Queen’s University Belfast (QUB). After qualifying her PhD in Applied Electrochemistry from India, she moved to Northern Ireland in 2006 as a post- doctoral research fellow at QUILL, where she has been the chief scientist in industrial projects with Astron Advanced Materials and PETRONAS. She has rich experience in leading projects at the interface of academia and industry and delivering excellence. Her high impact research contributions in tackling environmental challenges using ionic liquids have been well received within scientific community and beyond. Geetha is an award winning scientist and has placed Queen’s University in the top one percent of global universities and Northern Ireland in spotlight by receiving outstanding women in science award from L’Oreal-UNESCO-Royal Society in 2012 for her work on ionic liquids in biomedical applications. She is also the recipient of three Institute of Chemical Engineering - IChemE awards and Nicklin Medal in 2013 as a key researcher in an environmental mitigation project dealing with toxic heavy metal removal from petrochemical streams. This work was carried out in collaboration with PETRONAS, Malaysian government based oil and gas company who have commercialised this technology under the name HycaPure HgTM transforming adsorbent materials from lab scale 30 mg to 60 tonnes real industrial plant and running successfully for the last 6 years. Her research leadership has contributed significantly to the research partnership between QUB and PETRONAS – since 2011 to date generating an income of around £2 million contributing to the university¬. Geetha as a natural research leader have steered research teams at both Queen’s University and PETRONAS towards wider implementation of the commercial product HycaPure HgTM and is playing a significant role in the knowledge transfer process from university to industry for the last 10 years. Being a passionate scientist, alongside her utterly demanding industrial research, Geetha has been developing her independent research on flexible electronic materials for medical device applications. Her recent work on flexible supercapacitors to power-up next generation medical implants has attracted high Altmetric scores with global media and public attention. The journal Energy Technology, after receiving global attention have made this article free for open access for 2018. Geetha is an exemplar of modern scientist who has proven that geographical borders are no hindrance to deliver an excellent global impact in science. Geetha’s professional success is exemplified by being a key inventor in 7 patents (one patented across 23 countries), author in high impact journal articles (both as collaborator and corresponding), and invited to deliver keynote lectures in international conferences. However, she feels personally honoured to be invited to talk to public, media and school children both nationally and internationally as a role model and inspire future scientists. As a young scientist she has been invited to talk to school children in Panama (amidst Nobel Laureate Prof Robert Huber) and young women scientists in South Africa. She a STEM ambassador (SENTINUS and CHEMNet) relentlessly contributing to primary and higher secondary schools’ science projects across Northern Ireland. Geetha believes in gender balance in science and promotes the under-represented women in science by showcasing their research to public through Soapbox Science and holds the pride of bringing this unique science outreach platform to Northern Ireland and conducting two events in 2015 and 2017 successfully. Geetha has been showcased by Royal Society of Chemistry as one of the 175 faces of Chemistry and shortlisted for Asian Women of Achievement Award in 2014 under the profession category to portray her success in crossing geographical and cultural differences and sustain in science. Dr Srinivasan is a mother of two children and a loved individual both professionally and personally.
Helen McGloin | Rolls Royce
I am currently working in Manufacturing Technology within Rolls-Royce, a central function which develops, improves and deploys advanced, cutting edge manufacturing technologies & processes. My two areas of focus are Additive Manufacture and Automation. Within Additive Manufacture I am leading a UK government geared project which is enabling fast design iteration and innovation through the development of Fast Make additive methods of manufacture for large structural next generation aero engine components. In this project I delivered the company’s largest yet component to be manufactured in one piece using additive layer powder bed fusion technology. Within the area of Automation I am working on collaborative robots and systems - understanding how we can safely integrate people and robots into factory environments without the physical need for restricting safety guarding which will enable flexibility in manufacturing processes and production lines.
Engineering isn't an industry that I had imagined I would work in when I was at school as I was never aware of it as a career. As a result it was only at 17 when looking to apply for university that I come across degrees in Engineering. Immediately I could see it was a good fit for me - applying the theory of the subjects I most enjoyed (Maths, Physics and Chemistry) into the real world. I ended up completing a MEng in Mechanical Engineering at Cardiff University where I was able to work on a variety of subjects that took my interest. During my studies I completed a number of industrial placements that lead to me getting accepted on the Rolls-Royce Engineering Leadership graduate scheme.
It was my own lack of awareness in this industry that pushed me being part of the founding group to set up the Gender Diversity Network in Rolls-Royce. In my role on the UK committee I work to improve the gender diversity seen in the talent pipeline by leading the STEM outreach activities that the network carries out. In this voluntary role, I work with the network across the UK developing new activities, setting up events and showing young women the variety of apprentice and graduate careers available to them in STEM. As a result of this work we are seeing more young women apply for work experience in the company and have also followed a number of individuals who have now successfully applied for the early career schemes into Rolls-Royce.
Ina Yulo | BrightTalk
Ina Yulo is the global manager for BrightTALK's FinTech and Financial Services community which she launched herself and grew to over 300,000 subscribers. She leads a team of content managers who are responsible for content strategy, speaker outreach, partner relations, audience growth, and engagement. The online and physical events that she organises have featured the leading names in the industry and she advises a client base of tech giants, large banks, new challengers, and professional services firms on how they can create compelling content that reaches their target audience. She is a regular moderator and speaker on all things FinTech, Content & Community, and Women in Tech & Business.
Born and raised in the Philippines, she moved to Barcelona to do her Masters in Marketing Management before booking a one-way ticket and moving to London, where she has been for the past four years. She is on the Women in FinTech Power List and is a mentor for TheFactory in Oslo, SuperCharger in Kuala Lumpur and Hong Konh, and the European Women in Payments Network. Ina speaks English, Filipino, Spanish, and Norwegian.
She has also launched a Women in Business community that now has over 4,000 members and has been volunteering as a school speaker with Access Aspirations and Founders for Schools, etc.
Claire Tolley | Mastercard
Claire works in Mastercard’s Marketing & Communications team, generating engaging internal and external global marketing content for its Gateway product and services.
In her 2.5 years with Mastercard, Claire has facilitated the design and delivery of employee engagement events on five different continents. Leveraging her Spanish & Mandarin language skills, she has recently overseen a customer testimonial video shoot in Madrid and joined the set of a Mastercard commercial in China.
As Communications & PR Lead for Mastercard’s Women’s Leadership Network (WLN), Claire organises interactive events and campaigns to support advancement and diversity. This effort has helped WLN’s membership grow over 100% since February 2017, with non-female membership rising over 200%. Claire mentors through the Girls’ Network charity and actively supports Girls4Tech initiative.
Prior to joining Mastercard Claire worked for CRCC Asia as Senior Business Development Manager, based in Beijing and, whilst there, held a voluntary role as Chair of the British Chamber of Commerce Young Professionals’ Forum. In 2014, Claire joined UBS Wealth Management Americas, based in New York, working in Internal Communications.
Elizabeth Uviebinene
I graduated from The University of Warwick with a Politics and International relations degree in 2013 and did internships to explore what I really wanted out of a career. After a Communications internship at Deutsche Bank I knew I had found my calling. I started HSBC UK as a Marketing Officer in 2014 where I worked on local marketing campaigns, a creative and strategic role focused on driving sales and developing the brands reputation on a local level.
In 2016, I was promoted to Retail Activation Marketing Manager where I led the planning and creation of retail activation marketing campaigns across all HSBC UK stores. My strength lies in creative storytelling that excites and inspires. During this role I delivered high quality, on-brand live activations whilst using innovative approaches to deliver content, create real emotional engagement and change consumer behaviour.
Spotting changing consumer needs, analysing cultural trends, connecting the dots to drive innovation and enhanced customer experience is at the core of my most successful campaigns. In 2018, I was recognised by The Dots as one of 200 women redefining the creative industry.
Ramat Tejani | GSMA
Ramat is passionate about helping to tell stories of individuals and businesses. Having held roles in a variety of industries including recruitment, charity, technology and design; she has developed a unique understanding of the best way to tell stories.
As a Marketing Manager at GSMA Ramat is responsible for creating, delivering and evaluating online and off-line marketing campaigns for a number of programmes.
Outside of her day job, Ramat is a keen advocate of women empowerment and is a freelance career coach. In this capacity, she uses her personal experiences to motivate and guide women through their career transitions and progressions.
Ramat is part of the founding team for Yaarah Schools, a charity that builds primary schools in rural Ghana. Founded in 2009, to date Yaraah Schools has built and continues to support two primary schools.
Ramat is also the founder of “The Inspiration Box”, a platform that ignites curiosity within people and reminds individuals that the possibilities in life are endless.
In 2018, Ramat was named as a Future Leader by Women in Advertising and Communications London (WACL), an award recognising female pioneers in the marketing industry.
Ramat holds a BA (Hons) in International Business from the University of Hertfordshire and an MSc in Consultancy and Organisational Change from Birkbeck, University of London.
For more information please visit www.ramattejani.com