Organised by Eskenzi PR in media partnership with the IT Safety Guru, the Most Inspiring Ladies in Cyber Awards intention to make clear the exceptional girls in our trade. The next is a characteristic on one in all 2026’s Prime 20 girls chosen by an esteemed panel of judges. Introduced in a Q&A format, the nominee’s solutions are written in their very own phrases.
In 2026, the awards had been sponsored by BT, Bridewell, Plexal and Constancy Worldwide. Group companions included WiCyS UK & Eire Affiliate, Ladies in Tech and Cybersecurity Hub (WiTCH) and Seidea.
What does your job function entail?
In my function, I work in partnership with a variety of exterior organisations to strengthen and diversify the expertise pipeline coming into cyber and particularly at entry stage. I’m keen about creating alternatives for individuals who might not have seen themselves on this trade earlier than. Completely different views make us stronger and extra resilient as a sector, and the extra voices we usher in, the higher we grow to be at tackling advanced safety challenges.
I additionally deal with championing BT’s fame as a safety employer. Not many individuals realise the dimensions of BT’s safety functionality, so I work to lift our profile, construct significant relationships and present potential expertise that BT is an thrilling, inclusive place to develop a cyber profession.
How did you get into the cybersecurity trade?
That’s fairly a protracted story – I really fell into cyber earlier than we even known as it cyber! Again then, everybody was nonetheless determining what the web would possibly imply for companies and I used to be serving to a buyer with their advertising and marketing campaigns recruiting for data and digital safety roles. In a short time, I realised what an enchanting world it was: new roles had been popping up on a regular basis, threats getting smarter by the day and there was a buzz of an trade that was always reinventing itself. I cherished the tempo, the problem and in addition the sense that the work actually mattered.
What is likely one of the largest challenges you could have confronted as a lady within the tech/cyber trade and the way did you overcome it?
One factor I’ll say right away is that this: it’s positively not as robust because it was 20 years in the past. The trade has matured, the tradition has improved and there are much more girls’s networks, allies and assist programs than once I began. However that doesn’t imply the challenges have disappeared.
Like many ladies in cyber (and enterprise typically, it’s not unique to tech! ), I’ve had my justifiable share of being talked over, underestimated, or having issues defined to me that I completely already knew. Mansplaining continues to be alive and properly – and sure, it’s nonetheless annoying! However through the years I’ve realized to select my moments, maintain my floor and let my work communicate for itself.
I’m resilient, and I’ve constructed confidence by expertise, however I’m additionally very conscious that not everybody needs to struggle these battles every single day. And that’s why illustration and creating inclusive environments matter a lot. If you see girls main, shaping technique and driving innovation, it shifts the tradition for everybody coming behind them. That’s why I’m actually lucky to work at BT, the place quickly, half of our govt management roles will probably be held by girls. That’s one thing to rejoice!
So sure, the challenges are actual, however they’re altering. And a part of why I do the work I do now could be to ensure the following era doesn’t need to navigate the identical boundaries I did.
What are you doing to assist different girls, and/or to extend variety, within the tech/cyber trade?
I’m actually centered on making cyber really feel open to everybody, as a result of the trade is at its finest once we’ve bought a mixture of experiences, backgrounds and views. Plenty of my work is about partnering with organisations who care about that simply as a lot as I do. It’s been an awesome privilege to work with the NCSC’ s CyberFirst programme over the previous few years, the place we’re creating actual profession pathways and alternatives for younger individuals who would possibly by no means have imagined a future in cyber.
I’m additionally actively concerned with group networks and organisations such because the sensible student-led CyberWomen Teams CIC and the UK Cyber Leaders Problem, that elevate up girls and below‑represented expertise. These areas matter, they offer folks confidence, connections and a way of belonging, which is commonly the distinction between somebody getting into the trade or stepping away from it. And naturally we couldn’t do any of it with out our allies cheering us on…
On the BT aspect, I’m always taking a look at how we present up as a safety employer. Folks don’t all the time realise the dimensions or impression of our safety work, so a part of my function is making BT extra seen and approachable to new expertise. The extra we will present that cyber has room for various voices, completely different strengths and completely different life tales, the extra resilient we grow to be as a sector.
Who has impressed you in your life/profession?
As you possibly can inform, I’m actually keen about creating the chance for a profession in cyber and one of many best privileges of my profession has been understanding I helped convey a few of the brightest expertise into the sector. Watching their careers take off has been extremely rewarding, it nonetheless offers me an actual spark! When BT ran an inside re-skilling programme in cyber, partnering with CAPSLOCK it delivered a few of the most life altering experiences for my colleagues and I couldn’t be extra pleased with what they’ve gone on to realize. For me, it’s not in regards to the seniority of your function or your job title that makes you inspiring. It’s about bizarre folks, doing extraordinary issues and exhibiting up every day – generally in probably the most troublesome of circumstances – that’s what I discover inspiring!
