Hello, I’m a Senior Consultant at Accenture.  I’ve been in technology for a long while, my first job was in 1998 programming in C and then moving into Java and web services in about 2014.

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My STEM journey really began when I took my son and daughter to a Kids Programming event at Leeds Digital Festival. I really liked their Edison robots’ workshop because it built on my children’s Scratch coding skills to make a real-life object move around.  I bought one for myself and started tinkering with it alongside my children.

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Growing up on a remote rural farm, I had no idea what technology was. My grandfather, an electronics engineer, became my technology champion, buying the family our first computer and a kids’ programming book for me. I wasn't the most academic or confident child, so his encouragement was life-changing, and ultimately led me into a successful career in tech.

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It struck me that many children don’t have such a champion. I want to show them that they’re capable of pursuing their curiosity, and that the barriers they perceive often don’t exist. I decided to buy a fleet of Edison robots and launched a lunchtime coding club at my local primary school.  

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Soon after, I discovered the “Tech We Can” Champion scheme that Accenture participates in and thus joined officially as a STEM Ambassador.  Since then, I’ve focussed on KS2 workshops using the robots, micro:bits and makey-makey kits.  And I have also delivered some Gen-AI talks. 

 

In my workshops I also like to encourage the soft skills too, having them working in pairs and encouraging them to help each other. 

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Now, I’m now looking forward to new adventures as a CyberFirst Ambassador.