Speaking Event: Inspiring Women in Tech

Kinkajou regularly delivers paid and pro bono talks to businesses supporting women in technology and leadership, as well as community groups.

Our Kinkajou founder, Nancy Maher, was invited to take part in two panel discussions for Lloyds Banking Group’s women in tech talent programme, sharing her insights from 25+ years in tech leadership.

Client

“Nancy was a fantastic panelist recently for Lloyd’s Banking Group women in tech talent programme Elevate.”

"You Are Enough and You Belong in Tech"

Industry: Financial Services
Size: Large
Location: United Kingdom
Services: Speaking

40-60k

50%

UK Women leaving tech annually

Women earn below average pay for their level

£2-3.5 billon

Value of keeping Women in Tech

Lovelace Report 2025

Inspiring and Advocating for Women in Tech

According to the UK 2025 Lovelace Report, women are leaving tech in droves.

As many as 60,000 women leave tech and digital roles each year in the UK alone, costing the country billions.

Why? Reasons include a lack of career progression and recognition, gender pay gaps, workplace culture, and work-life balance.

The numbers in the Lovelace Report paint a stark picture:

Over 75% of women with 11–20 years of experience had waited more than 3 years for a promotion
90% want to lead, but only 25% believe they can
More than 50% earned below the average pay for their level
25% left due to a lack of career advancement

The Challenge

Lloyds Banking Group were looking for speakers from outside the company to inspire members of their career acceleration programme, Elevate. Launched in 2021, Elevate is an award-winning programme designed to support women in tech, data and security roles to progress in their careers.

The Solution

The team from Lloyds reached out to Nancy Maher and invited her as a speaker to join two panel discussions, Being the Only Women in the Room and Building Confidence in Your Tech Career.

Inspirational Storytelling for Women in Tech

With a 25+ career in tech leadership, Kinkajou founder Nancy Maher has a special interest in helping and inspiring people from underrepresented groups to get into tech and leadership, and is an experienced, genuine and engaging speaker.

The Only Woman in the Room

Nancy shares her personal journey in tech, starting as a software engineer in the 1990s, working internationally in tech director roles, and eventually founding Kinkajou. (Read more about Nancy’s story). She speaks candidly about her experiences as a woman in tech, including feeling different from her peers because of her gender and socioeconomic background.

🔗 Read Nancy’s writing and research

Women Leaders: Being The Only

Coaching for Gender Diversity Research Paper

Imposter Syndrome Feelings

Many women (and men) sometimes feel like impostors at work. But Nancy argues against calling those feelings a ‘syndrome’ when in fact they often stem from systemic issues rather than individual shortcomings. She distinguishes between impostor feelings and self-belief, advocating for understanding the broader context and not internalising systemic barriers.

Nancy also draws parallels between personal growth and agile software development: the importance of learning from failure, embracing imperfection, and focusing on continuous improvement.

🔗 Read Nancy's blog: Goodbye Imposter Syndrome.

You Are Enough and You Belong in Tech

Nancy’s big message to the women from Lloyds and to all under-represented groups is this: “you are enough and you belong in tech”. She encourages individuals to recognise the value they bring to their current roles and more broadly the importance of their presence in the industry.

🔗 For more inspiration, try these blogs for size:

Speaking Event Inspiring Women in Leadership.jpg

Client

“...she brought such insight and credible experience to inspire others

The Results

The client welcomed Nancy's sharing of her experience to the Elevate Community

Client

Nancy…brought such insight and credible experience to inspire others. She’s thoughtful, articulate and passionate about sharing knowledge and brought brilliant expertise and challenge on imposter syndrome as a concept.