Your Future, Your Ambition invites you to the 8th Annual Executive Event

THE EVOLUTION TO STEAM: PREPARING BUSINESSES FOR TOMORROW

Traditionally, when speaking of the STEM industry, many revert to speaking solely about the four pillars of the acronym; however, the Arts, creativity and innovation have always been the golden thread running through the industry which is why it comes as no surprise there has been a push to transition STEM into the more appropriate STEAM 

But what benefits does the inclusion of the Arts mean for the world of business?

During this evening of insights and discussion, you will have the opportunity to hear from leading voices within both the corporate and academic worlds to understand the challenges, the bias and the missed opportunities that organisations today can learn and benefit from.

Attendees will also meet some of the talented individuals that have benefitted from attending YFYA’s annual event previously and learn how their careers have since progressed.

Join other Executive leaders in an evening of lively discussion and how we, as an industry, can continue to drive excellence and opportunities for all.

Our Guest Speaker, 

Tonie Odeniyi

Tonie is a senior Partner Manager in AWS and responsible for working with the partner across EMEA in developing their VMware Cloud on AWS offerings to help customers build and deploy a Hybrid Cloud Strategy. 

He has over 20 years of experience in the IT industry and has been working with AWS partners for the past 3 years. He brings a lot of experience in VMWare Cloud on AWS and we are pleased to have him keynote at this event. 

Vicky Sleight

A cultural diversity and inclusion executive, with almost 20 years’ experience in the global telecoms industry, Vicky is leading, influencing and driving change at the international level in leading-edge technology.,  She has a successful track record of fostering innovative approaches and driving messaging and communications for technical products through to  D&I and cultural change.

The key for Vicky has always been a collaboration with key stakeholders in MNO’s and the wider eco-system, industry, government, NGO’s and academia. She is currently enabling collaboration on a Perfect Ltd initiative to promote the need for diversity of thought and perspectives in AI technologies as well as participating in a global industry council to drive education and to deliver tools for better impact through D&I.

 Vicky has created and delivered global programs and interventions to benchmark industry-wide progress against D&I benchmarks and to stimulate inclusive participation in STEAM education.   An active participant in many international networks for promoting inclusion, she has authored published articles and is a social media commentator on topical future tech as well as D&I issues in the tech sector.

A true cultural change and marketing expert, applying a range of tools and approaches to deliver business transformation – helping organisations radically re-think how they will identify and nurture key talent in the future using The GC Index ®.

Shilpa Shah

 Shilpa leads Deloitte’s Alternative Delivery Models agenda and programme and is passionate about Respect and Inclusion. She leads the award-winning Women in Technology (WiT) network at Deloitte and is an active member and supporter of the Multi-Cultural Network (MCN). Shilpa has spoken at many Women in Technology and MCN events to inspire members and clients and those from ethnic minority backgrounds to reach their full potential.

 Shilpa has mentored over 100 individuals within Deloitte and externally. She also mentors and speaks with students, including 100 women from India sponsored by the UK British Council to undertake their Masters at UK universities. Shilpa has appeared on BBC Radio London and Radio 4’s Women’s Hour discussing diversity and will be speaking at the upcoming Alpbach forum on ‘Unleashing Europe’s Digital Potential’ (August 2019).

 She is a Board member of the Institute of Coding’s Industry Advisory Board, focus on widening participation and improving the industry relevance of computer science degrees.

To inspire future BAME STEM talent she has sponsored and championed Deloitte’s participation in ‘Your Future, Your Ambition’ at the Emirates Stadium for six years. She has also delivered WiSE’s ‘People Like Me’ training to inspire young girls to consider Physics A-Level and created the relationship with organisations such as CoderDojo and FireTechCamp to help children to learn coding skills.

 As a mum of two inquisitive digitally native daughters, Shilpa is passionate about equality, inclusion and widening participation in digital education and careers. She is leading Deloitte’s research for the IoC to better understand the motivating factors for choosing digital education and jobs.

Nadine Redd Blackburn 

Head Diversity, Inclusion & Outreach

EA

As Head of Inclusion, Diversity & Corporate Social Responsibility at Electronic Arts (EA), Nadine collaborates with EA’s Executive Team including the Chief People Officer to lead a global approach for hiring, engaging and retaining diverse talent while overseeing community engagement and charitable partnerships.  She drives global diversity and community outreach initiatives and programs in close partnership with the business, ensuring enterprise focus on key priorities.  Community outreach includes EA’s commitment to corporate social responsibility through employee and player engagement with charitable organizations.

Prior to joining EA, Nadine was Director Business Relevance in the Office of Inclusion and Collaboration at Cisco, where she was responsible for leading the engagement, adoption and amplified impact of Inclusion & Collaboration (I&C) across all levels, functions, and regions at Cisco.  She leveraged data to create business-relevant strategies and solutions that deliver inclusion excellence; drive broad adoption and integration of inclusive leadership behaviors and best practices; and instill leadership commitment and accountability. 

In addition to that, she was Global Inclusion Excellence & Innovation Strategist in the Worldwide Sales organization.  She also served as Chief of Staff and Operations Manager in the Learning & Development Solutions Group, where she was responsible for engineering learning operations; ensuring cross-functional collaboration; and provided strategic direction and leadership toward the achievement of the organization’s philosophy, mission, strategy, annual goals and objectives. Nadine held Senior Manager positions in both the Worldwide Channels Marketing and the U.S. & Canada Channels Marketing organizations. She was with Cisco for ten years.

In addition to being an Inclusion & Diversity Practitioner, Nadine has extensive experience in marketing, brand management and finance with progressive success at companies including General Motors, Verizon, and Procter & Gamble. Nadine has a Bachelor degree in Marketing & Accounting; an MBA in International Business and Advanced Practitioner Diversity Management Certification from Cornell.  She is active in the community as an alum of Leadership Gwinnett and served on the Board of Directors for Boys and Girls Club Atlanta and the Advisory Board of Emory’s Executive Women of Goizeuta Business School. She currently resides in California and is on the Board of Directors of Voices of Virtue Inc.