Book Now: Diversity Matters Mini Conference
Tech Industry Alliance Diversity Matters Mini Conference: Moving Beyond Tokenism
This event is kindly sponsored by: Deloitte (Headline Sponsor), PepsiCo Ireland and Tech Industry Alliance Skillnet.
Tech Industry Alliance are excited to announce that due to the success of our first mini conference we will be hosting a second Diversity Matters mini conference on the 29th November in the Cork International Hotel. During this half day event you will get the opportunity to listen to and engage with various expert panellists who will discuss the importance and meaning of ‘Moving Beyond Tokenism’.
Moving beyond tokenism is crucial for achieving true diversity and inclusivity. While tokenism may provide a starting point for underrepresented individuals to gain visibility, it is not enough to create lasting change. True inclusivity requires recognising and valuing the unique perspectives and experiences of all individuals, irrespective of their background. It involves dismantling systemic barriers and creating an environment that fosters equal opportunities for everyone. By moving beyond tokenism, we can create spaces where all voices are heard, respected, and uplifted, leading to a more equitable and inclusive society. The outline for this event includes:
- 08.30 – Networking & Registration
- 09.15 – Welcome & Opening Remarks
- 09.25 – Keynote: Lip service … is it really a thing of the past? Moving from a space of awareness to one of equity delivered by Sharon McCarthy, Founder at Autism Journeys
- 10.10 – Panel Session 1: “Beyond Tokenism”
- Clive Davis, Regional Director at Youth Work Ireland Laois
- Elena Canty, Professional Communications and Strong Supporter of Disability Rights & Inclusion
- Amanullah De Sondy, Head of the Study of Religions Department at UCC
- Remi Kolawole, Chief Executive Officer at Solid-Link Consulting Ltd
- MC: Niamh Denihan, Human Capital Consultant at Deloitte
- 11.05 – Break & Networking
- 11.30 – Panel Session 2: “Allyship in Action”
- Bríd Nolan, IT Operations Manager at PepsiCo Ireland
- Clare Kennelly, Disability Support at CETB Active Inclusion Service
- Shay Nolan, Employability Project Manager at UCC Disability Support Service (DSS)
- MC: Laura Hughes, Program Manager at Cloudera
- 12.15 – Interactive Coaching Workshop delivered by Jennifer Dowling
- 13.00 – Summary of the Day & Closing Remarks
Listen and engage with all the speakers throughout this mini conference which promises to be motivating, insightful, and informative. There will be plenty of opportunities to network with likeminded peers throughout the morning.
Registration: Tickets are free for students, members and €15 for non-members. Registration is essential. For group bookings please contact us directly at: info@techindustryalliance.ie.
We strive to host inclusive and accessible events that enable all individuals to engage fully. Please let us know if you have any accessibility requirements in advance; and we will do our best to accommodate you.
Event Location: In 2019, Cork International Hotel joined forces with The Rainbow Club, Cork to achieve several key goals to train staff, develop social stories, introduce autism-friendly sensory tools and toys and develop a sensory activity specific to the hotel. Read more here.
Event Keynote: Lip service … is it really a thing of the past? Moving from a space of awareness to one of equity delivered by Sharon McCarthy
While our societal understanding and acknowledgement of the strengths and differences of neurodivergent people has grown in recent years, it is unfortunately still all too common to see the way this acknowledgement manifests be little more than buzz words and platitudes to commemorate a particular ‘awareness’ month. Autistic author, advocate and lecturer Sharon McCarthy will outline what is needed to move away from tokenistic, surface-level ‘acknowledgement’ across environments, and towards more meaningful, genuinely inclusive and empathetic accommodation of the neurodiverse population as a whole.
Sharon has been immersed in the field of autism academically and professionally for over 15 years in a variety of different roles. She is the host of the Autism Journeys Radio Show and Podcasts, a show which has garnered tens of thousands of listens over more than a hundred total episodes. Sharon works alongside a number of different organisations in an educational capacity, acting as course/module author and lecturer in both University College Dublin and the Cork College of FET- Morrison Island Campus, filling the role of course coordinator in the latter position. Additionally, Sharon regularly develops and delivers autism specific neuroaffirmative training across a range of corporate, educational and governmental settings both nationally and internationally. She delivered a TEDx talk in October 2022 which can be viewed here. Sharon recently published a book called: Making Space for Autism and is available to purchase here.
Sharon works as a professional advocate and tirelessly strives to ensure the autistic ‘voice’ is kept central always. She provides support, advice and mentorship for autistic individuals and their families and she regularly audits and modifies environments to best meet the needs of autistic people at home, in school, university and in the workplace. She has also appeared in a multitude of different speaking roles, speaking to autism best practice both nationally and internationally. Sharon brings a wholly unique perspective to her work, combining her professional expertise, her parental experience as a mother to multiply identified autistic and otherwise neurodivergent children, and her personal journey as a late-identified autistic person and ADHDer to provide holistic and neuroaffirmative input into any project with which she is involved.
Overview of speakers:
MC: Niamh Denihan
Niamh is a Consultant within the Workforce Transformation team in the Human Capital division at Deloitte. Her experience to date has focused on various topics related to developing an organisation’s workforce including topics such as talent strategy, diversity and inclusion, and skills and capability analysis for organisations both nationally and internationally.
Niamh has over 3 years of experience delivering in this space both within Deloitte and within a start-up firm previously. Niamh’s educational background is within Organisational Psychology through which she is a Chartered Organisational Psychologist accredited by the DWOP of Ireland.
Elena Canty
Elena Canty is a strong supporter of Disability Rights and Inclusion, and is a strong believer in Access for All. She has 2½ year’s experience working in professional communications in areas such as PR, events and digital marketing. She is an MTU Cork alumni and obtained a masters in Public Relations with New Media in 2019. For more info visit here.
Dr. Amanullah De Sondy
Dr. Amanullah De Sondy is Head of the Study of Religions Department at University College Cork in Ireland and Senior Lecturer in Contemporary Islam. Aman has taught Islamic Studies at Ithaca College and University of Miami in the USA and is an affiliate of the University of Glasgow’s Theology and Religious Studies department. He is the author of the Crisis of Islamic Masculinities (Bloomsbury Academic 2014) and Judaism, Christianity and Islam: An Introduction to Monotheism with Michelle A. Gonzalez and William S. Green (Bloomsbury Academic 2020). Aman has been broadcasting “thought for the day” with BBC Radio Scotland for nearly twenty years, a regular contributor to the News Panel on RTE 1 ‘Today’ TV show and is passionate about the public understanding of religion through the themes of race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality and pluralism. Aman tweets @desondy
Remi Kolawole
Remi has proudly embraced Ireland as her home for more than two decades. With an extensive career as a software quality engineer spanning numerous years, Remi has lent her expertise to both global and local IT companies. Presently, she holds the position of CEO at Solid-Link Consulting Limited, a company committed to facilitating international experiences, fostering cross-cultural education, and connecting individuals with transformative global opportunities.
In addition to her professional pursuits, Remi is an enthusiastic volunteer involved in various community projects in Cork. She also serves as the visionary founder of Africans Connect, a community group wholeheartedly dedicated to promoting growth, fostering collaboration, and nurturing synergy among members of the African and African descent community in Cork. At the core of Remi’s endeavours lies her steadfast dedication to the values of freedom, human development, and social justice.
Clive Davis
Clive is an LGBT rights advocate and activist, and has been the Chairperson of the Cork LGBT+ Pride Festival for the past 14 years, where he continues to play a pivotal role in Cork Pride’s strategic development. Clive is also Co-Chair for the InterPride Governance Board, Chair of the Ireland Pride Network, is a Board Member and Treasurer of LGBT Ireland. Clive was Manager of The Other Place LGBT Resource Centre and Community Services Manager at the Gay Project for 8 years, and was the Volunteers Coordinator for the LGBT Helpline and Yes Equality Cork Campaign. Clive is currently a Regional Director with Youth Work Ireland, and manages Youth Work Ireland Laois, where he has also recently established the Midlands LGBT Project and Proud Spaces initiative.
Clare Kennelly
Clare is an education graduate of UCC. Her vision impairment has informed a 30-year career of eclectic and innovative teaching and training. She is personally and professionally committed to universal design, assistive technology, and disability employment. Clare’s role with the Active Inclusion service supports learners and staff members across Cork ETB’s Further Education and Training services. She provides specific and practical advice on managing disabilities in a classroom/ workshop/ work placement or other education and training setting.
Clare is the founder of Inclusive World Training which delivers disability awareness and disability confidence programmes. The goal of IWT is to develop disability confidence in the business community and thus empower disabled people to navigate workplaces successfully. She is the creator and presenter of the “DisruptAbility” podcast which is an educational and information platform for all stakeholders. Interviews with disabled people, advocates and activists highlight the barriers and opportunities for employing people with disabilities in Irish society. Clare’s professional goal is to make Ireland a leader in inclusion.
Bríd Nolan 
Bríd is IT Operations Manager for PepsiCo working in Global IT based in Carrigaline. Bríd holds a Bachelor of Engineering from University of Limerick, a Master of Business Administration from The Open University UK. Brid is a passionate advocate for developing people and building an inclusive workplace & co-chairs our Enable Employee Resource Group. The groups priorities are to Inspire, attract, develop & retain diverse talent through building and enabling a culture of diverse abilities and support networks where each individual can create “a space to be you”.
Shay Nolan
Shay is the Employability Project Manager in the UCC Disability Support Service (DSS). Here he co-ordinates a number of programmes that support the development of employability skills for students with a disability. Chief among them is the Access UCC EmployAbility Programme which involves students with a disability being mentored by, and undertaking a summer internship with, a number of employer partners. The programme engages with locally based graduate employers with a further aim of supporting employers to become more disability confident in their recruitment practices. To this end, the project has developed training on inclusive recruitment that supports employers who are engaged with the Disability Support Service.
MC: Laura Hughes
Laura is a passionate advocate and ally for diversity and inclusion. She currently leads the Diversity Matters workstream within Tech Industry Alliance and is a board member. She’s a dedicated and dynamic Program Manager at Cloudera with an unwavering commitment to fostering diversity, equity, and inclusion in both professional and personal spheres. She believes in harnessing collective wisdom to create sustainable, inclusive cultures that foster growth, creativity, and innovation where everybody’s voices are heard and valued.
Interactive Coaching Workshop Facilitator:
Jennifer Dowling
Chartered Work and Organisational Psychologist, Jennifer is Director of Train Remote Ltd. where she specialises in the delivery of Virtual Training, Workshop Delivery, Facilitation, Coaching and Team Development.
Her background in Project Management, Consultancy, Coaching and Leadership Training has allowed her to work with a wide variety of clients and organisations both Nationally and Internationally across a variety of sectors including; Pharma, Health, Finance, Education and Tech. Jennifer has a strong research and training background in the area of remote, hybrid and flexible work. She is also an experienced trainer and facilitator in both online and classroom delivery.
Event sponsors:
Deloitte is the world’s largest professional service firm, advising multinational companies, private businesses and public sector organisations. Deloitte’s Cork office has been providing services in the local market since 1876. Deloitte currently have a team of over 300 people based in the region offering a full range of professional services: audit, tax, consulting, risk and financial advisory services to clients spanning multiple industries. In June Deloitte announced plans to double their work-force to 600 over three years as they mark 150 years in Cork City.
Deloitte’s programmes such as World Climate (strategy to drive responsible climate choices) and World Class (strategy to expand opportunities for 100 million people by 2030) help Deloitte lead in making a positive impact every day. Find out more here.
PepsiCo products are enjoyed by consumers more than one billion times a day in more than 200 countries and territories around the world. PepsiCo generated more than $79 billion in net revenue in 2021, driven by a complementary beverage and convenient foods portfolio that includes Lay’s, Doritos, Cheetos, Gatorade, Pepsi-Cola, Mountain Dew, Quaker, and SodaStream. PepsiCo’s product portfolio includes a wide range of enjoyable foods and beverages, including many iconic brands that generate more than $1 billion each in estimated annual retail sales.
Guiding PepsiCo is our vision to Be the Global Leader in Beverages and Convenient Foods by Winning with PepsiCo Positive (pep+). pep+ is our strategic end-to-end transformation that puts sustainability at the centre of how we will create value and growth by operating within planetary boundaries and inspiring positive change for planet and people. For more information, visit www.pepsico.com.
Tech Industry Alliance Skillnet
Tech Industry Alliance Skillnet is a business network for companies of all sizes in the technology sector based in the South West Region. Network companies work collaboratively to share best practice and to respond effectively to the specific skills needs of the sector. The network addresses both technical and non-technical skills needs of members.
The objective of this network is to support the growth of the technology sector in the South West, by developing a strong talent base and by enhancing the specialised knowledge and skills that exist within the sector and region. Tech Industry Alliance Skillnet is promoted by Tech Industry Alliance. Membership of the network is open to private enterprises in the technology sector based in the South West.