Diversity and inclusion, the rocket fuel of business success

Wednesday 16 November 1pm - 2pm

Diversity and inclusion has come a long way and now takes a priority position on the agenda for many organisations. It has moved from being seen as a social justice issue and therefore a “nice thing to do” for companies, to an essential business strategy which addresses the talent pipeline crisis, drives innovation and positively impacts the bottom line.

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In this webinar, presenter Debbie Forster discusses how her organisation, the Tech Talent Charter, has brought together over 700 organisations to drive progress in this space. She also shares key insights of what organisations can do (and *not* do) to move the dial in this important area as well as the challenges and opportunities that collaboration amongst “for good” organisations should grapple with in addressing key issues like this.

Presenter: Debbie Forster

Debbie Forster is an award-winning leader and a recognised figure in the areas of diversity, tech, innovation and education and was named by Computer Weekly as the Most Influential Woman in UK IT for 2019. She is a portfolio consultant and is co-founder and CEO for the Tech Talent Charter, an industry collective which aims to deliver greater inclusion and diversity in the UK tech workforce. As part of her wider portfolio, Debbie serves on a range of advisory boards and boards of director and works as an executive coach consultant specialising in supporting start-ups, scale ups, SMEs and social enterprises.

Debbie was awarded an MBE in January 2017 for “Services to Digital Technology and Tech Development” and Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) named her Woman of the Year for 2016. Her work for the TTC was recognised by Women in IT awards 2018 for Diversity Initiative of the Year and she was awarded Women in IT Awards Diversity Leader of the Year 2019.

After 20 years working within education, Debbie joined e-skills UK, the national IT Sector Skills Council, heading up their educational programmes, liaising with both policy makers and leaders in the IT industry. Debbie then became the Co CEO of Apps for Good, an award-winning education charity. Debbie joined Apps for Good in 2010 and took the organisation through a period of exponential growth, from 2 centres in London to almost 1000 schools around the world; reaching 75,000 young people in just 5 years, with 50% of its students and 40% of its tech mentors being female.