Ada Lovelace Day celebrates the achievements of women in STEM careers (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) around the world. It was created in the memory of Ada, born in 1815, who is officially considered the first computer programmer, and was also the daughter of famed poet Lord Byron.
Despite the advancements all those years ago, the tech sector still struggles to attract female talent. According to estimates, women only make up between 11% and 19% of the UK technology industry, which is disappointing given that tech is one of the most creative, rewarding, and fastest-growing sectors.
At Hippo, our gender balance is currently 60% male and 40% female, which we want to continue improving upon whilst also actively encouraging greater gender diversity across the tech industry. Hippo believes that equality and diversity are critical to the success of organisations, society, our people, our clients, and our industry as a whole. The tech industry needs people from many different backgrounds to achieve imaginative and innovative ideas. We want to create inclusive services for all people, and we can only do that if we can fully empathise with users. We also want our entire team to realise their fullest potential, which they can only do when comfortable being themselves at all times, including at work.
Following the announcement in April of investment by Growth Capital Partners (GCP), Hippo has expanded its senior team with four key appointments in support of their ambition to drive the growth of the business over the coming years and continue to develop their client and employee experience.
Lynne Mulligan, who was previously at Hermes, joined as Head of Talent Acquisition. Lynne and her team are focused on helping bring the best talent in the market to Hippo.
Lynne said: “My aim at Hippo is to grow our brand awareness as a great employer and continue to attract and select the highest quality talent as we grow.”
Tracy Green joined the team as Client Director for Public Sector from The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), where she was Interim Digital Programme Director. Tracy focuses on bringing the best of Hippo’s digital services to central government and other markets.
Lynsey Kerr joins this month as Head of Legal. She’s previously worked at Infinity Works and O2 as part of their legal teams after training at Pinsent Masons and will provide legal guidance to Hippo.
Finally, Lara Longhurst joined Hippo as Chief Operating Officer. She is working alongside Hippo’s founders and investor, GCP, to establish the business operations which will support the delivery of the company’s future strategy.
Lara said: “As COO, I am focused on ensuring the business operates effectively, providing support to the business, ensuring we are delivering outstanding digital services to Hippo’s customers and providing exciting and rewarding careers for our staff.”
Established in Leeds and operated in Coventry, Manchester and London, Hippo is a leading digital services supplier to public and private sector organisations. Providing multi-disciplinary teams including digital leaders, service design teams and delivery expertise to enable large-scale digital transformation.
Adam Lewis, Managing Director, said:
“We are delighted to bring such talented and experienced people to senior positions at Hippo to help us build the right foundations to support growth through the next phase”.
