WiTWA Tech [+] Conference

The Power of Diverse Innovation as WiTWA turns 25!

Every year WiTWA hosts our Tech [+] Conference – 5 years and still going strong! But this year is an extra special one as we are celebrating our 25th Anniversary. 

What we love the most is to watch our audience go through a journey of inspiration, emotion and learning – goosebumps! Sharing our space with our amazing sponsors, who truly support our mission to expand our reach, broaden our impact and amplify positive change – increasing gender diversity, equity and inclusion in tech [+].

Join us on a journey of discovering the profound benefits that come from embracing gender diversity, along with diversity in ethnicity, age, and backgrounds. Together, we’ll explore how this inclusive approach enhances our ability to solve problems, fuels creativity, and ultimately yields better results and healthier workplaces.

💜 Topic #1: Celebrating WiTWA’s 25th birthday! Let’s looking back on how far we’ve come.
We will explore how women can boost their own power and step up as leaders. Join us as we sit down for a conversation with some incredible women who’ve used their influence to drive change and keep advocating for equality, especially in the tech world in WA.  A celebration of the progress we’ve made!

💜 Topic #2: The power of storytelling.
Storytelling has always been an integral part of humanity and communities, serving as a powerful tool for communication and knowledge sharing. By integrating storytelling principles into a tech diverse world, innovators and creators can bridge the gap between complex concepts and user understanding, making technology more accessible and engaging for all audiences.

💜 Topic #3: What do the next 25 years of innovative, diverse technology look like?
Let’s delve into how historical biases are shaping our future, the current landscape of diversity, equity, and inclusion in the tech field, and how we can individually contribute to reshaping the path ahead. Join us to uncover how the past influences the present and what actions we can take to steer the future in a more positive direction.

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⭐ Meet our Inspiring Speaker Line up ⭐ 

🤩 Kemi Nekvapil – Kemi is one of Australia’s leading coaches for female executives and entrepreneurs and a sought-after professional speaker and facilitator! With over 25 years of experience in the wellness industry and 10+ years in holistic leadership, Kemi brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to her work. Kemi’s passion for leadership and purpose has taken her around the world, where she helps leaders unlock obstacles to value-based leadership. As a Certified Dare to Lead™ Facilitator trained by Dr. Brenè Brown, Kemi also works with teams and organisations to create daring leaders and courageous cultures. She has been recognised for her contributions to the field of leadership, including being invited to Richard Branson’s Necker Island to discuss “humanity at work” and being a Virgin Unite alumni of 100% Human At Work. Kemi also sits on the Australian Human Resources Institute advisory panel, and serves as a lead facilitator for The Hunger Project Australia, leading immersive leadership programs to Africa and mentoring for AIME.

🤩 Tracey Spicer AM – Tracey Spicer AM is a multiple Walkley Award winning author, journalist and broadcaster who has anchored national programs for ABC TV and radio, Network Ten and Sky News. The inaugural national convenor of Women in Media, Tracey is one of the most sought-after keynote speakers and emcees in Australia. In 2019 she was named the NSW Premier’s Woman of the Year, accepted the Sydney Peace Prize alongside Tarana Burke for the Me Too movement, and won the national award for Excellence in Women’s Leadership through Women & Leadership Australia. In 2018, Tracey was chosen as one of the Australian Financial Review’s 100 Women of Influence, winning the Social Enterprise and Not-For-Profit category. For her 30 years of media and charity work, Tracey has been awarded the Order of Australia.Her new book about artificial intelligence, Man-Made: How the bias of the past is being built into the future, was published by Simon & Schuster in May 2023.

🤩 Lucy Peach – Lucy has spent the past two decades studying human biology, woman’s health & wellbeing, and menstrual education. She has a Bachelor of Science in human biology and biomedicine with honours in medicine, and a graduate diploma of education in human biology. As a long-time champion of the power of the menstrual cycle and an advocate for self-love and positive body literacy, Lucy is also an award winning performer who has educated and empowered thousands with her theatre performances, public speaking, workshops, and her best selling book, ‘Period Queen’ using science, stories and songs to shift the period narrative in our culture from one of shame to one of pride. A seasoned facilitator, Lucy works with corporate groups like Apple, Water Corporation, The West Coast Eagles as well as schools and individuals who want to optimise their cycles and create a more equitable world.

🤩 Clara Sekowski – Clara is an accomplished engineer at the forefront of innovative solutions for carbon reduction, leveraging her extensive background in Physics, Math, and Electrical Engineering. With a dynamic career spanning a decade, Clara has emerged as an expert in the modeling and simulation of complex systems from asteroid mining space exploration to emissions-reduction technology for mobile applications in heavy industry. As the current Director of Strategic R&D at First Mode, Clara focuses on finding right-sized, system-integrated solutions that move the needle on creating a more sustainable future.

🤩 Sandra Tuohy – Sandra Tuohy is the Services Director, Western Region for Insight and has been in the role since January 2023. Running a business of circa 170 people – leading Sales, Practices & Delivery for Western Australia & South Australia. Starting her career in Ireland, Sandra has over 23 years of experience in the Technology Industry more recently in Australia. Collaborative, results-focused, and motivated by her core values of accountability, integrity, and family. Sandra is highly regarded for her ability to mentor and inspire large teams by leading from the front and prides herself on her ability to establish and maintain genuine customer relationships. Sandra has a consistent history of building and developing high performance teams.

🤩 Hon Stephen Dawson – Stephen was born in Dublin and migrated to Australia in 1989 with his family. He has been a Chief of Staff to a number of Government Ministers in WA and Victoria and worked with the Trade Union movement. In 2017, Stephen was elected as the Deputy Leader of the Government in the Legislative Council – a role he continues to hold – and was appointed as the Minister for Environment and Disability Services. Stephen is passionate about the enormous opportunities that Science, Medical Research and Innovation can offer to help improve the lives of Western Australians.  Advances in medical research are stamping WA as an internationally recognised hub with the results and knowledge set to enhance the health and wellbeing of more Western Australians.

🤩 Jaccy Rowe – Jaccy, upon discovering yoga and meditation over 20 years ago, developed a life-long commitment to practice. Following a corporate career spanning high-level support roles in legal, property development and mining, Jaccy and her husband Nick pivoted their focus to supporting their community through their yoga studio Mala Yoga in the Fremantle area. Focusing on so much more than the many physical benefits of practice, Jaccy embraces a holistic and inclusive approach to yoga. Blending asana, pranayama, meditation and breath awareness, Jaccy is passionate about making yoga available to everyone. With an emphasis on supporting the nervous system, mental well-being and offering a safe space for all. Jaccy inspires students to adapt the universal yogic principles into their life.

🤩 Dr Parwinder Kaur – Dr Parwinder Kaur has won numerous awards for her sustained contributions to science. She uses her expertise in biotechnology to reach people in new ways, connecting them with their surroundings. Through her diverse research teams, such as those at DNA Zoo Australia, she harnesses WA STEM to achieve maximised impact. In doing so, she believes this will help us tackle the bigger issues we as society are facing, bringing about solutions through fresh thinking rather than following usual norms. She believes in connecting different disciplines to convey ideas in new ways, and impacting communities in ways they have not experienced before. She empowers people from all walks of life and age groups by showing that individuals can make a difference.

🤩 Pia Turcinov AM – Pia manages a portfolio of interests, including as a general partner of Fund WA, a Perth-based VC fund focused on WA technology and innovation, and asChair and member of a number of boards across the technology, health, education and energy sectors. With 30+ years’ of legal, commercial, and corporate experience, across multiple industries, Pia has worked with 100’s of founders, start-ups and high-growth ventures and is passionate about building diverse ecosystems to effect positive change with impact. As the immediate past Chair and a current Ambassador of WiTWA, Pia is a vocal DEI advocate. In recognition of her work over the years, Pia was appointed as a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in the King’s Birthday 2023 Honours List for her significant service to technology and innovation, and to women in STEM, and recently received the WAITTA INCITE 2023 Pearcey Entrepreneur of the Year Award

🤩 Lacey Filipich – Lacey Filipich helps people become financially independent and reclaim their lives. Thousands around the world have used her Money School courses to liberate themselves from debt, start saving and investing, and raise financially capable kids. Money School is also the title of her international award-winning book, out now with Penguin Life. Lacey graduated as valedictorian from the University of Queensland with an Honours degree in Chemical Engineering (if you want to find out how a chemical engineer ends up teaching people about money, check out her TEDx talk.) She is the winner of the international Money Awareness and Inclusion Awards (Best Book 2022), a 2019 Business News ’40 under 40’ Award recipient and a LinkedIn Top Voice in Finance.

🤩 Amanda Toogood – Technical enough to be dangerous, passionate about customer success and obsessed with innovation, Amanda prides herself on pushing the boundaries to ensure the best possible outcomes for her customers and her teams.With almost 20 years in the IT industry spanning Pre-sales, Sales, Service Delivery & Customer Success, Amanda’s experience offers her a unique insight into the customer journey and aligns brilliantly to her role as Data#3’s National Manager for Annuity & Customer Success.Amanda is a DEI advocate and has created a high performing team consisting of people from all walks of life to foster a culture of innovation. She challenges her team to always consider the bigger picture and encourages active identification and pursuit of opportunities for improvement.

Don’t miss out on tickets! We look forward to celebrating many amazing achievements with you all over the last 25 Years! 💜

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Ticket Options:
We have a variety of ticket options available for our in-person conference to suit everyone’s needs, so check out your options and get in quick so that you don’t miss out!

Need Help?
Are you having issues purchasing your tickets, reach out to our friendly team who are more than happy to help via ticketsupport@witwa.org.au

WiTWA Tech [+] Conference Agenda (draft): 
We are going digital! The final agenda will be released in early October 2023.

8:00am – Registration
8:30am – Conference commences
5:30pm – Conference concludes & Networking Drinks Commence

WiTWA Hashtags:
#seeherbeher #witwa #techplus

💜 “IF YOU CAN SEE HER, YOU CAN BE HER!” 💜