Q1. Why are you nominating this person?  What contribution(s) and achievement(s) qualify the nominee for this award? Was their contribution(s)/achievement(s) for their organization, business, or client?

Sophie has achieved more for Women in Technology in a few years, since entering the workforce in 2018 than many people achieve in a lifetime and she is just getting started.  To explain....   Sophie is the Co-Founder and Chair of 'Women in Automation', a community for women in the Robotic Process Automation/ Intelligent Automation industry, with the aim of diversifying the market by empowering women across all roles, specialities and levels of seniority.   Sophie also created regional 'Women in Automation' communities for females within Blue Prism customer base to network, share best practices, and learn from one another  Sophie co-founded the "Women in Automation" community in 2018 when she was an Account Director at Blue Prism. It was her first job after university and she was struck by how few women there were in Automation at the time and developed a passion for increasing the visibility of women in traditionally male spaces and/ or roles.  She was so passionate about the topic of Diversity and Inclusion that she spoke to the Blue Prism Senior Leadership Team at Blue Prism about its importance and making it her full time job.  in 2022 Blue Prism made her global Diversity and Inclusion Lead for Blue Prism and now for the whole of SS&C following their acquisition of Blue Prism last year.

Q2. What metrics, if any, coincide with this nomination (e.g., financial, business growth, or client satisfaction impact)?

Women in Automation started as a grass roots programme in 2018 and now has over 3,804 community members on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/women-in-automation/)    Sophie worked with Product Leadership Team at Blue Prism in 2020 to discuss how to attract more diverse talent into the team. Resulted in a 50% increase of female new hires.

Q3. Please describe their influence. Is it internal via leadership roles, chairing groups, etc. or external via social media, speaking engagements, thought leadership, etc.?

Sophie has taken used her passion, experience and skills to influence the company she works for and the automation industry as a whole but is not stopping there.  She is now expanding her horizons beyond SS&C and has recently:

• Volunteered for the EY Tech Smart Futures programme. Mentor young people from low income backgrounds through an employability programme. The aim is that the students will gain a variety of transferable skills that will give them a head start in their career in tech.  
• Acted as an #IamRemarkable facilitator which is a Google led initiative that aims to empower women and other underrepresented individuals to celebrate their achievements in the workplace and beyond. Run workshops in the workplace to help individuals build confidence and recognise their successes.  

Q4. What personal qualities have they demonstrated that would qualify them for this nomination (e.g., promotes collaboration, great communicator, supports other women, leads by example)?

I first met Sophie when she was still an account director at Blue Prism and was immediately struck by her positive attitude, passion and energy.    She had already started the community but knew she could do much more so approached her management and convinced them to let her move into the role full time, thus demonstrating her skills of persuasion on top of vision and passion.    Sophie is young, likable and doing great things for women in technology and fully deserves to be recognised for that.

Nomination Summary

Sophie has achieved more for Women in Digital in a few short years, than many people achieve in their whole careers. Since joining the workforce as an account manager at Blue Prism in 2018 she has started the very successful Women In Automation community and made Diversity and Inclusion her full time job. Sophie has already achieved great things like increasing the percentage of women Blue Prism hire and is just getting started.

In which of the following years did the nominee demonstrate these qualities/achieve these results? Select all that apply.

2021, 2022, 2023