Sheree Atcheson (born 28 February 1991) is a Sri Lankan-born Northern Irish computer scientist and Group Vice-President of Diversity & Inclusion at Valtech. She previously has held roles such as Global Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at Peakon Head of Diversity and Inclusion at Monzo and Consulting Inclusion Lead at Deloitte. Atcheson has been recognised by Computer Weekly as one of the Most Influential Women in UK Tech. She is the Global Ambassador for Women Who Code.
Sheree Atcheson | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 28 February 1991 |
| Alma mater | Queen's University Belfast |
| Employer(s) | Valtech Peakon Monzo Deloitte |
| Organization | Women Who Code |
| Spouse | Sean McCrory |
Early life and education
editAtcheson was born in Sri Lanka.[1] At three weeks old, Atcheson was adopted by a Roman Catholic family in County Tyrone Northern Ireland United Kingdom, where she attended St Patrick's Academy, Dungannon.
As a child she played computer games with her brother and she decided that she wanted to pursue a career in technology.[2] Her first job was working at the counter at her local pharmacy.[3] She decided to study computer science at Queen's University Belfast.[4] As an undergraduate student, only one in ten of her classmates were women, and Atcheson has worked since then to address this imbalance.[5]
Career
editAfter graduating, Atcheson joined Kainos as a software engineer before joining SR Laboratories.[6] In 2016 Atcheson joined Deloitte, where she worked as a business consultant for strategy and architecture. She was eventually promoted lead for inclusion, and helped to design and implement the Deloitte Inclusion Strategy.[7] At Deloitte, Atcheson developed and led the Consulting practice Inclusion strategy. In 2019 she was appointed Head of Diversity and Inclusion at Monzo.[8][9] and left this role in June 2020. In August 2020, she was appointed as Global Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at Peakon.[10] She has written for Forbes and The Guardian.[11][12] and been featured in the Evening Standard,[13] BBC Make It Super Assembly [14] and Positive News.[15]
Advocacy
editAtcheson was involved with establishing United Kingdom expansion of Women Who Code.[16][17][18] Since launching in 2013, Atcheson has taken their membership to over 8,000 members, over 1,000 of which belong to the Belfast branch. She serves as their Global Ambassador.[3][19][20]
Atcheson established "I am Lanka", a project set up to champion role models from Sri Lanka.[21] "I am Lanka"[2] began when Atcheson was searching for her birth mother, receiving thousands of messages from Sri Lankan people revealing that she had inspired them to share their stories.[22][23] She delivered a keynote lecture at the 2018 InspireFest.[24]
Awards and honours
editAtcheson was selected by Computer Weekly as one of the Most Influential Women in UK tech.[25] She was selected by WeAreTheCity as one of the United Kingdom's Rising Stars.[26] In 2019 she was awarded Queen's University Belfast Graduate of the Year.[27] and was listed as one of the Financial Times Top 100 BAME Leaders influencing the Tech sector.[28] Whilst at Deloitte, she won the Women in Tech Employer of the Year Award in the Women in Tech Employer Awards 2019.[29]
Personal life
editAtcheson was married to Sean McCrory on 4 June 2017.[30]
References
edit- ^ Darmody, Jenny (13 July 2018). "Sheree Atcheson: 'The tech industry doesn't just have one face'". Silicon Republic. Retrieved 1 January 2020.
- ^ a b "BBC - Sheree Atcheson". BBC. 2019.
- ^ a b Intern, Media (1 December 2019). "Meet Sheree Atcheson: One of the UK's Top Most Influential Women..." Women of Influence. Retrieved 1 January 2020.
- ^ "40 under 40: Get to know Sheree Atcheson". One Young World. 2019.
- ^ "Meet Sheree, one of the UK's most influential women in tech - Deloitte careers blog". Blogs.deloitte.co.uk. 2019.
- ^ "Kainos: transformational Digital Services and market-leading Digital Platforms". Kainos. 2019.
- ^ Sheree Atcheson, Tech Respect & Inclusion Manager - Deloitte UK, at #DES2019 Digital Enterprise Show, retrieved 1 January 2020
- ^ "Monzo snags Deloitte consultant as head of diversity". Sifted. Retrieved 1 January 2020.
- ^ "Women In Finance Charter Update". Monzo. Retrieved 1 January 2020.
- ^ "Sheree Atcheson Joins Peakon As Its New Director of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion". Peakon. Retrieved 25 August 2020.
- ^ "Sheree Atcheson". Forbes. Retrieved 1 January 2020.
- ^ "Sheree Atcheson | The Guardian". the Guardian. Retrieved 1 January 2020.
- ^ "Women Who Code's global ambassador Sheree Atcheson on the importance of diversity and inclusion in tech".
- ^ "Make It: Super Assembly with Sheree Atcheson". BBC News.
- ^ "The leader who wants to inspire more women into tech careers".
- ^ Huntley, A. (2016). "Women Who Code survey: Women in tech have a hard time with career advancement". Fierce CIO. p. 1.
- ^ "The diversity series: Q&A with Sheree Atcheson at Women Who Code". Cohaesus. 20 July 2016. Retrieved 1 January 2020.
- ^ "35. Sheree Atcheson, UK expansion director, Women Who Code - The 50 Most Influential Women in UK Tech 2017". www.computerweekly.com. Retrieved 5 January 2020.
- ^ "Sheree Atcheson on the importance of diversity and inclusion in tech". Evening Standard. 13 June 2019. Retrieved 1 January 2020.
- ^ "Women Who Code | About Us". Women Who Code. Retrieved 1 January 2020.
- ^ "The Strategy Sessions – Sheree Atcheson". Eximo Marketing Ltd. 2019.
- ^ "I Am Lanka". Iamlanka.org. 2019.
- ^ "Sheree Atcheson to be reunited with her birth mother - Sri Lanka Latest News". Sri Lanka News - Newsfirst. 3 November 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2020.
- ^ Sheree Atcheson, Women Who Code | Inspirefest 2018, retrieved 1 January 2020
- ^ "Most influential women in UK tech: The 2017 longlist". ComputerWeekly.com. Retrieved 1 January 2020.
- ^ "Rising Star Awards Diversity Winners 2019". WeAreTheCity Rising Star Awards. Retrieved 1 January 2020.
- ^ "Graduate of the Year 2019 announced - QUB". daro.qub.ac.uk. Retrieved 1 January 2020.
- ^ "100 Bame leaders influencing the tech sector".
- ^ "Women in Tech Employer Awards 2019 - Winners". Women in Technology. Retrieved 30 January 2020.
- ^ Togoh, Isabel (28 July 2017). "This couple's dog absolutely stole the show at their wedding". Irish Independent.