Hosted by the inspiring Hayley Lewis, the 2016 Women in IT Queensland (WiT) Awards gala dinner on 2nd September, celebrated nine of Queensland’s most talented women making a difference in technology and life sciences.
Announced as the winner of the Sue Wickenden Entrepreneurial Award, Gemma Lloyd was nominated for her work at Diverse City Careers (DCC)* – a social enterprise addressing the gender diversity issue in Australia. After working in IT for nearly 10 years, Gemma co-founded DCC* with the goal of helping women pursue rewarding careers across any industry, specializing in supporting women wanting to enter non-traditional industries.
The DCC* jobs board is Australia’s only exclusive jobs board, meaning employers must be pre-qualified before advertising to ensure they support women’s careers. DCC works with leading companies focused on diversity including Dropbox, Xero, Deloitte, AECOM, Accenture and a number of start-ups and SMBs.
Gemma is also very involved in the industry as Company Secretary of the Diversity Practitioners Association (DPA), and has served on two not-for-profit Boards including IT Queensland and Females in Technology and Telecommunications (FITT). Passionate about raising awareness of the benefits of gender diversity within organizations and building confidence for women, Gemma’s often a speaker at both corporate, community and events aimed at young females.
DCC’s* unique position as a trusted website for female jobseekers has helped companies increase the number of women in leadership and fill difficult roles, with clients experiencing much higher success than when working with traditional job boards.
“Receiving this award for something we’re so passionate about and have worked so hard on is a dream come true,” said Ms Lloyd. “Over the last two years, whilst starting a business isn’t easy, seeing our clients attract talented women, and seeing those women gain employment with truly supportive employers has been incredibly rewarding. I’m excited for DCC’s* continued growth within Australia as the number one jobs platform for women, and for our next phase of expanding the platform globally”.
Gemma pictured with the late Sue Wickenden’s son, Ben Wickenden
“A recurring theme from this year’s winners is a real commitment to make the workplace better for future generations,” said WiT president Fiona Hayes. “Gemma has developed an innovative and unique partnership with organizations to show the vision of diversity within a business. DCC has been driven by the passion and leadership that Gemma has demonstrated in conjunction with her partner. The vision that Gemma has for utilizing technology and data in the future to help organizations develop their diversity agenda will revolutionize the way business reports and benefits from a diverse workforce.”
*This article references Diversity City Careers or DCC. This is what WORK180 was known as when we first launched back in 2015. You can find out more about our story here.