Gemserv pledges support for gender diversity in cyber initiative as panel meets to agree latest cohort
Leading UK professional services firm, Gemserv, has joined a rapidly growing list of public and private sector organisations who have thrown their weight behind an initiative aimed at improving levels of gender diversity in the UK’s cyber security sector. The 'Empowering Women to Lead, Cyber Security' initiative launched last year in Scotland with the goal of developing a sustainable community of emerging female leaders in cyber security and information governance roles across the UK and with the backing of techUK and government partners in Cabinet Office and the devolved administrations, is now running regional programmes for London & Southern England, Northern Ireland and Scotland.
Each of the regional leadership programmes brings together around 20 cyber security and information management professionals, who are selected from an open application process to take part in a unique, three-month leadership development programme which combines in-person group workshops, dedicated one-to-one coaching, industry-leader guest speakers and culminates in a group project, where the participants present their solutions for long-standing challenges facing society which cyber security can help to address to an audience of industry peers. All places on the programme are free of charge to participants, with the funding provided by a combination of government and industry partners.
The final make-up of each cohort is decided by a programme panel, made up of sector experts from across government and industry. The panel for the London & Southern England programme is meeting on Thursday 8 September and will be reviewing applications from aspiring leaders working in organisations that span the entire cyber eco-system including central government, financial services, telecommunications, defence and aviation, academia and research, professional services and cyber solution providers, all vying for the 20 places available on the cohort.
Gemserv’s Director of Data Privacy, Camilla Winlo, has joined the panel of industry experts who will decide on which applicants make the final cohort. Commenting on why Gemserv had decided to support the 'Empowering …' initiative, Camilla said:
“Gemserv wholeheartedly believes in the power of diversity and inclusion and has a large and active ED&I Committee. Half of the consultants in our cybersecurity and privacy team are women and we are keen to support them to reach our management team. The more we encourage a range of voices to build careers in cybersecurity, the better we get at assessing and addressing information risks for different types of people. We recognise that women are generally under-represented within cybersecurity, and so we are delighted to have the chance to support this cohort of talented women to develop their leadership skills and build their careers. I am really looking forward to meeting them and becoming part of this powerful community.”
Further details on the 'Empowering Women to Lead Cyber Security – London & Southern England' programme can be found at EW to Lead Cyber - London and Southern England (empowering-you.co.uk).
Jill Broom
Jill Broom
Jill is techUK’s Programme Manager for Cyber Security, working across the cyber eco-system to bring industry together with key stakeholders across the public and private sectors.
Prior to focusing in on techUK's cyber security work, Jill was also part of techUK's Central Government programme team, representing the supplier community of technology products and services to Whitehall departments.
Before joining techUK, Jill worked as a Senior Caseworker for an MP, advocating for local communities, businesses and individuals, so she is particularly committed to techUK’s vision of harnessing the power of technology to improve people’s lives. Jill is also an experienced editorial professional and has delivered copyediting and writing services for public-body and SME clients as well as publishers.
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Dan Patefield
Dan Patefield
Dan leads the techUK Cyber Security programme, having originally joined techUK in August 2017 as a Programme Manager working across the Cyber and Defence programmes. He is responsible for managing techUK's work across the cyber security eco-system, bringing industry together with key stakeholders across the public and private sectors. Dan also provides the industry secretariat for the Cyber Growth Partnership, the industry and Governmnet conduit for supporting growth across the sector. A key focus of his work is to strengthen the public-private partnership across cyber security to support further development of UK cyber security policy.
Before joining techUK he worked as Forum Lead for the Westminster eForum. In this role he had a focus on the technology and telecoms space, on issues ranging from Broadband and Mobile Infrastructure, the Internet of Things, Cyber Security, Data and diversity in tech. Dan has a BA in History from the University of Liverpool.
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- [email protected]
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- 020 7331 2165