Johanna Waite became one of the TechWomen100 for 2022 in December.
At a prestigious London awards ceremony on 6 December, Johanna Waite, Programme Manager in the Department of Computer Science, gained the accolade of being one of 100 women named the top tech talent in the country.
The TechWomen100 awards are the first of their kind to focus solely on the female tech talent pipeline and to also recognise the impact of champions, companies and networks that are leading the way for future generations of tech talent.
Highlighting the achievements of these women is part of WeAreTechWomen’s campaign to shine a spotlight on 1000 future female leaders in technology by 2025.
Johanna is one of the team behind TechUP, an initiative designed to retrain individuals into technology careers and redress the balance of underrepresented groups in the sector.
The programme particularly focuses on women of colour, with disabilities, or those who identify as LGBTQIA+.
In its pilot year, TechUPWomen achieved a 96% retention rate, with over 50% of learners finding new jobs, achieving promotions or going into further education in a tech subject within 18 months.
Johanna has overseen the development of the programme, which has since run two Skills Bootcamps. Its recent Digital Skills courses reached over 8500 learners across the country.
Johanna commented:
It’s an honour to have been recognised with this award alongside other amazing women in tech. There’s so much work to do to address the gender gap in the tech sector, initiatives such as WeAreTechWomen and TechUP are vital in continuing to raise awareness and support more women into the sector.
''I’m thrilled to be part of TechUP, training, supporting and empowering women and can’t wait to see where our work takes us next.''
Professor Sue Black, Principal Investigator at TechUP and Professor of Computer Science and Technology Evangelist in the Department of Computer Science here at Durham, said: “I’m absolutely delighted that Johanna has won this award, she is an absolute superstar and a critical success factor in TechUP. I hope it’s the first of many awards celebrating Johanna’s dedication, hard work and outstanding results.”
Vanessa Vallely OBE, Managing Director of WeAreTechWomen, said: “I would like to extend huge congratulations to this year's winners of the TechWomen100 Awards. Women represent only 17 per cent of the tech industry and that figure has remained stagnant for the past eight years. By highlighting these incredible women and their achievements, we hope to create much-needed role models for the future.”
Alongside Google, Durham University is one of the education partners for the awards, honouring the female talent pipeline in technology.
Over 1,000 entries were narrowed down to the shortlist by a diverse panel of 20 independent industry judges. The public was then asked to show its support by voting for these incredible women. A second round of judging by the panel resulted in 100 winners being chosen, alongside the overall winner of the public vote.
Find out more about TechUP and WeAreTechWomen