Thames Valley: Tech sector meets to focus on diversity and inclusion

ConnectTVT, in partnership with EY, is running its next Connect Talks session on March 20. The afternoon workshop focuses on diversity and inclusion challenges from within the digital and tech sector, with employers working on and finding creative ways to open up a new talent pool for the Thames Valley.

Sarah Atkinson, chair, Diversity & Skills Council, techUK and James Simpson, ambassador, Big Youth Group, will share their ideas on how businesses can truly work towards transforming their people strategies to create more diverse workforces.

The afternoon includes a series of break-out sessions run by innovative employers, including online leadership development scale-up, Open Blend, who will set D&I-led challenges to encourage new ways of thinking.

Louize Clarke, founder at ConnectTVT, commented: “Tech remains a hugely polarised sector. The latest figures from Tech Nation show that, shamefully, 77% of tech directors are still men. This is pretty much consistent as when I started out in the industry 20 years ago. What’s more, we know that gender diverse boards have higher turnovers than those that don’t and internationally diverse boards raise significantly more investment than those from a single country. As a region, there’s a critical need to have an uncomfortable conversation about how we address this, collectively.”

Connect Talks is the quarterly events programme leading the talent conversation with the Thames Valley’s most ambitious and progressive start-ups, scale-ups and corporates.

Find out more about the event at https://www.connecttvt.co.uk/event/connect-talks-diversity-inclusion/

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