International Women’s Day 2021

“When we talked internally about noting International Women’s Day, I couldn’t decide whether to raise a glass in celebration or in commiseration that 30 years into my career (no comments please!), we’re still feeling the need to make our voices heard.  But what the heck, let’s celebrate!  Here’s to all the fantastic women I’ve worked with over the years and those that I still have the pleasure of working with now.  What can I say, we have some fantastic girls (we still are at heart) in the ICE team and I look forward to welcoming many more in the coming years.”

“IT is challenging and can be mentally draining, more so for women who want everything to be perfect 😊 There will be times when you doubt yourself, when you feel you are not good enough, but that’s when you push yourself out of your comfort zone. Being in ICE has not only encouraged my out of the box thinking but also inspired every aspect of my life to do better. I feel privileged to be working with the wonderful women in ICE and to be led by one.”

“Let’s start on a negative. “Girl doing tech” still falls in the “Oh really? Wow!” spectrum of reactions. Otherwise, I would not be here typing up encouraging and witty quotes. So, you have to put your trust in the machines! Computers are gender blind. If solving a puzzle makes your brain tingle, if decimals float your boat, if you can smell a pattern, if you find satisfaction in ordering chaos, if a neat logical statement restores order then you can write beautiful code and the machine will always oblige. I moved from language teaching and translating to I.T. in the last century and I never regretted it. My brain enjoys it and I don’t get bored! Geek attire not necessary, lipstick optional. Join in!”

“When I first became a Project Manager in 2009, for an insurance technology company, I was one of the only women in my team and that was incredibly common! Fast-forward to now and I have seen such positive change across the industry. In the last eight to ten years there has been a shift, where more women have joined technology companies especially in leadership roles or management positions and this will only continue to grow. My main advice for any women joining the industry is to be confident in yourself and your skills, don’t be afraid to stand your ground and challenge attitudes, your voice matters!”

“Working at ICE as a woman in technology has been incredibly motivating. I have two amazing female role models, my Technical Lead Olympia, and experienced Java Developer Rashmi, who I really enjoy working with on projects. Learning first-hand from them has really inspired me to progress my technical skills and career at ICE.”