Join us for International Women's Day as we talk with five inspirational women from across the UWE Bristol University Enterprise Zone: Amanda Nurse, Amber Probyn, Hazel McShane, Thanh Quan-Nicholls, and Tonia Tzemanaki.

Hosted by our very own Innovation Manager, Aimee Skinner, the panel will discuss what breaking the bias means. You will hear first hand the journeys of these five incredible leaders, experts in their field and paving the way for a new generation of female entrepreneurs and innovators.

Agenda

16:00 - Welcome
16:30 - Panel discussion
17:00 - Drinks & nibbles
18:00 - Close

About the panel

Amanda Nurse: Amanda is co-founder of Carterwood, a multi-award-winning consultancy dedicated to social care. Amanda has nearly 30 years’ experience in the social care sector. Representing clients within both the not-for-profit and private sectors, she has provided extensive disposal and strategic advice. More recently, Amanda has advised a range of private equity funds, financial institutions and corporates, with a focus on the development of elderly care homes.

Amber Probyn & Hazel McShane: co-founders of PEEQUAL, the UK's first stand alone women's urinal. They give women the choice to pee in a safe, clean space. They're challenging the status quo by liberating women from toilet queues with a sustainable urinal that halves the time spent in a cross-legged queue. Men don’t queue for ages and nor should women. With a fun, fearless attitude, and community camaraderie they're the pee-equality pioneers. Driving gender equality one pee at a time.

Thanh Quan Nicholls: With 20 years of professional management and economic development experience, Thanh is an expert in business growth. She has setup three successful and award-winning co-working spaces in Bristol and Basingstoke, and in her role as Digital Innovation Lead at UWE Bristol, Thanh delivered £1.2m in grants to innovative companies in the region. Thanh is also Co-founder of Women’s Tech Hub, advancing gender diversity in tech and working to close the gender entrepreneurship gap.

Tonia Tzemanaki: Tonia is the Assistant Professor in Robotics at the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Bristol and is leading the Dexterous Manipulation and Wearable Robotics at the Bristol Robotics Laboratory. Her research includes human and robot hands, hand exoskeletons, haptics and wearable robotics, especially with applications in surgery and healthcare, as well as extreme environments such as nuclear and space industry. In 2021, she featured as one of the 50 women in robotics that you need to know about.

Our host

Aimee Skinner: Listed in the top 75 innovators in the South West in 2021, Aimee is driving forward the innovation and business support agenda at Future Space to support resident companies. Aimee has a decade of corporate experience in regulated industries, leading transformation projects and creating open innovation networks. She has led several high-profile events in the region, and now co-manages the Bristol Innovators' Group – a network of over 600 innovation and change professionals, offering regular workshops, talks, and networking opportunities.