11.45am-1.15pm, Friday 18th November 2022

Women face many internal and external barriers in the workplace, but how to do we combat these?

In this lunchtime talk on 18th November, we will welcome Lesley Williams, Community Outreach Director at Welsh Ice, who will discuss the gendered barriers in business. The talk will include gender differences in networking and confidence and explore where the barriers come from. There is also substantial research on sector preferences for careers among males and females, especially in STEM, so Lesley will cover where these begin and how (or whether!) we should try to change that.

Formerly an events and business development manager, Lesley previously ran her own business internationally exporting hand-made teddy bears in the luxury family market, and was a Big Ideas Wales Role Model, as well as being a board member for the Women’s Enterprise Hub.

Lesley Joined the Welsh ICE team in 2019 as their Community Outreach Manager, and since then has applied her business knowledge to offer support to more than 700 budding entrepreneurs to start up and grow businesses, with the vision of developing entrepreneurial communities in deprived areas, while growing Welsh ICE revenue streams.

She now sits on the Welsh ICE board, and through her work, has also been recognised for her outstanding contribution to equality – particularly recognised for taking a proactive approach to closing the gender gap in entrepreneurship in Wales.

This event is open to women from any professional background, especially those who have a keen interest in technology and wish to learn from other inspirational women within the technology sector.

Our aim is to bring together like-minded women to build strong and supportive networks.