These inaugural awards celebrate the educators inspiring and empowering the next generation of girls and women in stem.
Our goal is to recognise and celebrate the educators who are making a real impact in closing the gender gap in STEM and creating inclusive, empowering learning environments for girls and women.
After receiving an overwhelming number of nominations, each submission was carefully reviewed to create a shortlist of outstanding candidates across various categories. The final decision will be a combination of public votes and the expertise of our judges.
Here are the categories and the shortlisted nominees for each:
STEM Educators of the Year
- ALEKS GOODIER, Subject Leader of Computer Science and Subject Coordinator for Further Maths, Chelmsford County High School
- AMIE BOWERS, Headteacher, Georgian Gardens CP School
- CHRISTINE HARVEY, Assistant Head for Pupil Progress and Digital Strategy, Appleton Academy
- EMMA MOREL, Head of Computing and Business Studies, Langtree School
- GEMMA SHORT, Science Lead, Haringey Learning Partnership
- HANNAH CLIFFORD, Digital Skills Teacher, Rydes Hill Preparatory School & Nursery
- IRENE JERRY, Data Engineer, Analyst & STEAM Educator, Aize and STEM Center Africa
- JANET MILLER, Digital Skills Trainer, The CRUMBS Project
- JO-ANN BRIGHT, Head of Computer Science, Co-Op Academy Belle Vue
- JOSHUA PIGGOTT, Science Lead and Y3 Teacher, St Nicholas CE First School
- JUDITH EDGE, Head of Science Department and Head of Chemistry, William Brookes School
- KATIE ASTLEY, Curriculum Lead for Computing, The Deanery High School
- KATY GRIFFIN, Assistant Headteacher (Teaching and Learning), St Hilda’s Harpenden
- LARA BAKER, Forensic Science Lecturer, Bishop Burton College
- LAUREN STEVENSON, Teacher, St Patrick’s RC Primary
- MICHELLE FEARN, STEM Educator, STEM Discovery Centre
- OLIVIA RODRIGUES, Assistant Headteacher: Technology and Innovation, Donhead Preparatory School
- RACHAEL WILLIAMS, Teacher, Subject Lead for Science, Temple Ewell CEP School
- SAFIA BARIKZAI, Associate Professor, London South Bank University
- WIOLETTA GALLIE, Head of Computer Science, Prendergast Ladywell School
Emerging STEM Educators
- AYLA ZENKIC, Teacher of Computing, Bishop Challoner Catholic College
- CHARLIE MACKENZIE, Founder, Primary Coding League
- CIARA MULHOLLAND, Early Careers Teacher – Science Teacher, St Patrick’s College
- JEYABHARATHI MOHANDAS, Assistant Professor, KSR Institute for Engineering and Technology
- MATHUSA THIRUCHENTHOOR, President, Women in STEM Society, University of Essex
- MELANIE WALKER, Computing Lead, St Mary’s Catholic Primary School
- PHILIPPA BENNETT, Assistant Academy Manager Health Science, Harlow College
- RACHIDA NAMOUNE, Educator
- SADAF REHMAN, CEO, Code School
- STELLA WAITHERA, CEO, AfricanSTEMGirl Hub
- TONI HOLLAND, Science Educator, Little Sparks Science
Community STEM Champions
- ALEX KNIGHT, CEO, STEMAZING
- ANNE OKAFOR, Planner, Robertson Group
- AUDREY YOUNG, Founder, Encore Initiative
- AURELIA BRZEZOWSKA, Computer Science student and RAEng scholar
- CLAIRE GARSIDE, Computing Hub Lead and National Specialist for Equity in Computing Education, Computer Science SME and Senior Facilitator, National Centre for Computing Education & CyberFirst
- DRAGANA BABIC, CEO, KIBERone
- DR LUCY CATTO, Science Educator & Business Owner, Fossils and Fireworks
- JEMIMA ORAKWUE, Placement Software Engineer & Student, Kainos & University of Staffordshire
- JENNIFER LEE, Coastal and Offshore Engineer, Mott MacDonald
- KASHVI ARORA, Engineering Undergraduate, Freelance in Research, Tech & Personal Branding, Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University
- KATE WARDLE, Project Development Manager, SSE
- KELLY GARDNER, Head of National Community, CodeBase
- LEONIE BRIGGS, Director, Amazelab
- LIN VONG, Founder & CEO, Ignite Hubs
- LOUISA VENABLES, Engineering Assistant, Gatwick Airport
- MANIK, Founder, Girls in Tech
- MINI BISWAS, AI & Security Specialist, Cisilion
- NANCY MAINA, Executive Director, Women in Sustainable STEM Africa
- SARA BHATTI, Programme Coordinator, Tech She Can
- TIA LUSH, Director, STEM Wana Trust
STEM Role Models
- ALICE HENDY MBE, Cyber Culture Manager, Deloitte & Founder, R;pple
- AMBER VILLEGAS-WILLIAMSON, Senior Consultant, Uptime Institute
- ANNA BRAILSFORD, CEO & Co-Founder, Code First Girls
- ARVINDER THANDI, Performance Engineer, Nationwide Building Society
- AYESHA IQBAL, Course Manager & Lecturer in Engineering, The Bedford College Group
- BETI WILLIAMS, Patron, TechnoCamps
- CHARLENE HUNTER MBE, CEO & Founder, Coding Black Females
- DEIMANTE RAMONAITE, Postgraduate Research Student (Cell and Molecular Biology), University of Essex
- DR ANDREA CULLEN, CEO & Co-Founder, CAPSLOCK
- DR ROSEMARY COOGAN, Astronaut, European Space Agency
- ELIZABETH ANDERSON, CEO, Digital Poverty Alliance
- HOLLY-ROSE HARRISON, Forensic Science Lecturer, Bishop Burton College
- KELLY PRINCESS SHUNGU, Engineer & Podcaster, Women in STEM Podcast
- PAULA MCMAHON, Regional Supervising Officer, Sir Robert McAlpine
- RANA ELFARRA, Biology & Forensic Science Tutor, North Hertfordshire College and Project Lead of Stevenage Innovation and Technology Centre
- RAV BUMBRA, Founder, Cajigo
- SARAH CHAPMAN, Head of EMEA Product Compliance, 3M
- SUZE SHARDLOW, Published Technical Author, Coding Instructor and Public Speaker
- TRACEY-JANE CASSIDY, Founder & CEO, Junior Einsteins Science Club
- WINCIE WONG, Head of Digital X Workforce Technical Capability, NatWest
Not-For-Profits in STEM Education
- AMAZELAB
- CHELMSFORD SCIENCE & ENGINEERING SOCIETY
- EDUCATING THE CHILDREN
- GIRLS INTO CODING
- GIRLS WHO CODE
- GREENLIGHT FOR GIRLS
- IGNITE HUBS
- INNOVATEHER
- PRIMARY CODING LEAGUE
- STEMAZING
- STEM DISCOVERY CENTRE
- STEMETTES
- TEACH FIRST
- TECHNOCAMPS
- TECH SHE CAN
- TECH UP WOMEN
- WiSTEM
- WOMEN IN SUSTAINABLE STEM AFRICA
Now it’s your turn to get involved! Public voting* is now open and will count towards the final scores, alongside the judges’ decisions. Your vote is crucial in helping us select the most deserving winners in each category.
*Please note: To vote, you’ll be asked to join our free community. This helps us verify real people and helps to keep voting fair.
Supported by
