I am interested in technology and always was. I learned to weld farm machinery before I was old enough to attend secondary school. I could split an engine in my sleep. However, engineering was not a role for women – or so I was led to believe. The story of the years in between are both funny and sad but I shall keep them for another time. Years later, when I attended my first conference I was the only women in attendance out of 200 attendees. Over 20 years have passed and little has changed. There could be many reasons for the issue none of which I will go into here. I would rather be proactive. I work hard in my spare time to encourage more women into computing, engineering and general technical fields. To give you an idea of what I do see the table below but I would say this to you, the next time you are in the c-suite and a woman in tech speaks up, take note if she is ‘heard’. Take note of the other attendees and whether or not they are heard. Become an advocate simply by listening yourself. You don’t have to be an activist, just be active by listening to everyone alike. Give the same opportunity to everyone, nothing more and nothing less.

Some of the roles that I currently hold are:

Role	Acronym	Organization	Years
Chair	ACM-W Europe	Association for Computing Machinery Women in Europe	2019 – to present
Executive Committee Member	ACM-W Europe		2017 – to present
Executive Committee Member	IEEE-WIE UK&I	Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) -Women in Engineering for UK&Ireland	2015 – to present
Chapter Leader	AnitaB.org Dublin Chapter	AnitaB.Org	2020 – to present
Chair for Culture & Organization, Athena Swan SAT	Athena Swan	Athena Swan LYIT SAT	2019 – to present
Committee Member	ITAG Digital Women’s Forum	Innovation Technology AtlanTec Gateway (ITAG)	2020 – to present
Member	DWIB	Donegal Women in Business	2019 – to present