Cambridge puts International Women’s Day events firmly centre-stage
The theme for this year’s International Women’s Day is #accelerateaction, with organisers stressing the need to speed up actions geared towards gender equality.
There has been a Women’s Day event of some sort since 1909 (the first was in New York City), but the day was enshrined as a holiday in 1977 following its adoption by the United Nations.
Progress has been sporadic and the World Economic Forum estimates that full gender parity won’t be achieved until 2158 at the current pace – so the aim this year is to find ways to hasten the pace of change.
This year, International Women’s Day is on 8 March – Saturday. In Cambridge, events have been organised at the Bradfield Centre (Thursday) and at Cambridge Judge Business School (Thursday and Friday).
At the Bradfield Centre from 12 noon to 2pm in the auditorium, there will be talks and a panel session on women and AI. Chaired by Jane Hutchins, the director of Cambridge Science Park, the session features four women who work on the Park.
They are:
- Akanksha Baranwal – a senior software engineer in AMD’s NPU (AI Engine) Architecture team, focusing on AI inference. She holds a master’s in computer science from ETH Zurich, with a specialisation in machine intelligence. Her journey includes roles at ETH’s Robotics Systems Lab, IBM Research Zurich, and NVIDIA;
- Sukhpreet Kaur Virdi – the software engineer, test, at Roku, has nine years in gaming and entertainment media, and is part of a team creating tools and processes for developers and QA teams. She holds a Master’s in machine learning and AI from Polimi, Italy;
- Layla Hosseini-Gerami – the co-founder and chief data science officer at biotech start-up Ignota Labs, completed her PhD at the University of Cambridge, working on integrative cheminformatics and bioinformatics to clarify drug mechanisms. At Ignota Labs, she uses these methods to understand and mitigate drug toxicity, aiming to leverage AI for safer therapies; and
- Elena Cismigiu – the CEO and co-founder of Neuro XR, specialises in behavioural neuroscience and neuropsychology. Elena is bringing research, innovative technology, and business practice together.
The event will discuss each panellist’s personal journeys, offer advice, stress the importance of relatable role models, and outline why diversity in AI teams leads to better technology.
Jane Hutchins said of the occasion: “Artificial Intelligence offers great opportunities for women working both in AI and with AI. The benefits for them are very exciting, but so are the risks. AI learns by studying existing sources, often replicating and even reinforcing inherent bias and prejudice.
“Our panel of four experienced women working in AI for companies on Cambridge Science Park promises a stimulating, informative and relevant exploration of this subject for all members of the Science Park community, irrespective of gender.”
Register here for The Bradfield Centre’s ‘Women in AI’ session.
Meanwhile, at Cambridge Judge Business School on 6 March, Accelerate Cambridge hosts the third Female Founders Day.
The packed schedule starts with mentoring sessions at 9.15am (where accomplished female entrepreneurs share their business experiences, insights, and challenges) and proceeds to a panel discussion, a ‘Judge and Jury’ pitch exercise (4-5.30pm) and concludes with networking drinks, 5.30-7pm. Register here.
The ‘Judge & Jury’ sessions offer dynamic courtroom-style pitch trials – audience participation is encouraged – where ventures present and defend their business ideas before a panel, providing entrepreneurs with valuable feedback and an opportunity to refine their pitches in a challenging yet supportive environment.
“The inaugural Female Founders Day on 14 March, 2024, brought together inspiring female-led ventures from the Accelerate Cambridge programme to discuss issues faced by female founders and envision the future of female entrepreneurship,” notes Accelerate Cambridge programme manager Luther Phillips.
“Notably, over a quarter of all ventures in the Accelerate Cambridge programme are female-led, nearly double the average seen in 2023. A recent cohort even comprised over 50 per cent female-led ventures, suggesting continued progress.”
Lluna Gallego, COO and co-founder at Vector Bioscience, said: “Given that women make up 51 per cent of the population, it’s time our representation in the entrepreneurial sector mirrors this.”
The Wo+Men’s Leadership Centre at Cambridge Judge Business School is also hosting a fireside chat and networking event titled ‘Accelerating Action through Allyship’ on 7 March 2025, starting at 6.30pm. Register here.
