WiT20: Supportive, Disruptive, Resilient

Kathryn has over eight years of experience of working in a variety of different roles and teams in Higher Education. For the last four years she has specialised in digital and business change at the University of York. As Portfolio Manager she manages a portfolio of 15-20 projects delivering new services and capabilities across the University, and the team of project managers and business analysts that make it happen. Kathryn’s mission is bringing together high-performing and inclusive teams to make successful change a reality.

Katie Wilde is the Digital Research Services Manager with a remit of supporting Researchers with their digital needs. Katie has over 13 years of experience of working at the University of Aberdeen’s , joining as a Graduate Trainee back in 2007 and now heads up three teams in the Digital and Information Services directorate.

Sarah is the Head of Desktop, Printing and Support Services and has worked in HE for over 10 years. Her current role forms part of the IT Senior Management team and is responsible for leading the user facing service delivery teams within IT. Sarah is passionate about building inclusive and compassionate cultures. Her strengths lie in her focus on people and process over technology and has a track record for building highly effective teams.

Sophie is passionate about crafting delightful user experiences and using design thinking methodologies to solve complex problems. She has worked with start-ups and scale-ups, product companies and digital agencies, to help bring top-notch UX and UI work to life on the web. She offers a strategist and facilitator’s understanding of stakeholder dynamics, and helps teams stay focused on the bigger picture. Certified by both IBM and the Interaction Design Foundation, she is also a volunteer at Cancer Research UK.

Tara has worked in various digital roles at the University of Birmingham before moving to the new Head of IT Business Partnering post. She is a member of the IT Services Leadership Team with accountability for Business Partnering, Customer Experience and Communications. She is also the chair of the Women in IT group at the University.

I have recently changed roles and I am now an IT Services Operational Assurance Officer. I've worked at the University of York for 13 years, starting as a library assistant. Before that I had a range of roles including museum guide, barista and ear piercer. I have a strong focus on customer service and encouraging diversity within IT.