The DigitalHer Project is inspiring young girls to work in digital and tech

"The DigitalHer initiative really strikes a chord with me. I used to doubt myself, thinking there’s no way I’d have enough experience to make a change, having studied and worked in accounting since I was 18. But things can change if you put your mind to it.

Now, I really want to show other girls that you don’t need to have studied a particular subject to get to where you want to go. You just need to love it and be prepared to work at it. The DigitalHer initiative is so important.

What are you currently working on?

The Co-operative Bank are currently working on a resource pack with Manchester Digital’s DigitalHer team, which we can send around to schools and colleges to inspire young girls to consider a career in Digital or Tech.

The pack includes some questions for the girls to think about, like what do they enjoy, what is their dream job etc. along with role profiles of some of Digital’s Role Models here at the Bank.

At the end of the pack, we ask some of the same questions again, to see whether reading our stories has helped to change their perception of the Digital industry and what it takes to be part of it.

I’ve loved working on this. It’s been really fun designing something a bit different from the normal ‘bank stuff’ and learning about everyone’s journeys to get to the roles they’re in now.

We also took over the DigitalHer Instagram stories for a whole week!

What’s coming up next for you?

We’re creating a more general pack that we’ll send out to other connections including MMU and Salford University.

I’m also a committee member of our Futures Network, so I’m taking the role profiles idea to them and trying to set up a bank-wide pack. This will be more for internal use, so we can all learn a bit more about our colleagues across the different floors and offices, particularly for those who are considering cross-department moves.

I’ll keep working with DigitalHer too of course as I’m signed up as a Real Role Model, so when lock down ends I’m sure there will be some networking opportunities and chance to chat to girls from local schools and colleges.

Northern Power Women sometimes run similar mentoring sessions so I’m going to look into being a part of that, too!"