Sheila, who received a Marketing MA and an MBA from the university’s Brighton Business School, is Chief Operating Officer of FDM Group, the Brighton-based international professional services company and global leader in the recruit, train, deploy sector.
She was awarded a CBE for “services to gender equality in IT and graduate and returners”.
Sheila said: “Women represent 50% of the population but only 17% of the IT workforce. Encouraging more women into a career in tech is a business imperative.
“Its not just a nice thing to do, it’s the right thing to do for numerous reasons not least to create greater diversity of thought and to help combat the growing skills gap within the sector.”
Sheila spearheads FDM’s Global Women in Tech and FDM’s Getting Back to Business programme which provides opportunities for people returning to work. She also chairs the Institute of Coding Industry Advisory Board, offering advice and guidance to a number of universities in England. She sits on the main Board of techUK and is often called to advise government committees, especially on the digital skills gap.
Sheila, who gave a keynote speech during the University of Brighton’s 2018 summer awards ceremony, has won numerous awards including a Lifetime Achievement Awards by Scotland Women in Technology, Woman of the Year at the information Age Women in IT awards, and Leader of the Year at the everywoman in Technology Awards.