Salesforce Ireland’s Carolan Lennon clinched the coveted Grace Hopper Award at this year’s inspirational Diversity in Tech Awards. The event took place on September 27th at the RDS Concert Hall, Dublin, in partnership with JP Morgan.
Attendees braved the harsh weather to shine a spotlight on the many efforts made by companies to make the tech sphere a more inclusive place for minority groups the world over.
Lennon was thrilled to win and spoke with pride of Salesforce’s progress in diversity, equity, and inclusion. In a rousing speech, Lennon noted that we’ve made a lot of progress. However, “we’re certainly not there yet,” she said. Drawing on her working-class, Coolock-based background, Lennon spoke candidly about educational disparities between boys and girls.
“Girls continue to do better in school than boys in terms of state exams and university, but ... we don’t have the representation,” she said.
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Lennon passionately advocated for visibility as a solution, explaining: “If they can see it, they can be it.”
Aeronautical engineer, citizen scientist and astronaut candidate Dr Norah Patten described the influence a visit to Nasa at age 11 had on her: “[My eyes] were opened to an entirely new world of exploration and adventure.”
Dr Patten traced the arc of social progress from the 1950s, when women couldn’t apply to be astronauts, to 1983, when Sally Ride, a physicist from California, launched on STS-7, becoming the first American woman in space. “Just two months later, Guy Bluford launched on STS-8 becoming the first African American in space.”
Moderated by Steven Fuller of Race In STEM, an expert panel included Angelika Sharygina of Mindguardian, Kyran O’Mahoney of Inclusion and Accessibility Labs and Grace Hayes of Mastercard. Sharygina said that by 2050 there could be approximately 1.2 billion refugees as a result of war and climate change. She emphasised the need to adapt now, “because the urgency of the situation cannot wait”.
Hayes discussed future artificial intelligence and machine learning, and asked, “who’s creating those?” She stressed the need to ensure teams are diverse enough to future-proof such developments so as not recreate human biases.
O’Mahoney of IA Labs emphasised the need to recognise people with disabilities in tech development. “Up to 40 per cent of people who interact with our products as technologists need support,” he said. “To exclude them makes no sense.”
Winners
Ernst & Young, the professional services firm, won the Diverse Company of the Year award, sponsored by Oracle.
Generation Ireland won the coveted Diversity in Tech Impact Award, sponsored by Tata Consultancy Services, for their work around inclusion across entry-level workforce employment.
Other winners included the African Professional Network of Ireland and LinkedIn, who won the Cultural Inclusion Award, sponsored by Verizon Connect, for providing key “equitable support” by creating space for African professionals.
The LGBTQ+ Inclusion Award went to Amazon Web Services, while Antoinette Marshall won the Young Female STEM Pioneer Award.
Dublin’s Inclusion and Accessibility Labs won the Disability Inclusion Award, while other deserving leaders and innovators also claimed accolades. The night was one of jubilation for equality, diversity and inclusion pioneers.
Tracey Carney, the Diversity in Tech Awards managing director, closed the evening by praising the outstanding finalists and winners: “The event is not only about celebrating excellence, but also about sharing knowledge and experience.” She thanked partners JP Morgan, Oracle, Tata Consultancy Services Ireland and many more whose support proved invaluable.