Memset CEO gets female biz-leaders' award from IBM
'Truly an inspiration to other women'
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Famed skydiving hosting-biz queenpin Kate Craig-Wood, head of Memset, last week won an IBM and NatWest sponsored award for successful women in business.
Memset representatives informed the Reg:
Kate has overcome personal hurdles having undergone a gender reassignment in 2005, which involved numerous operations, whilst still successfully running the business.
The expensive process of becoming a woman, largely undertaken in overseas hospitals, was paid for entirely out of the former Mr Craig-Wood's own pocket.
"The determination demonstrated by the many female entrepreneurs we come across every day has been astounding," said Karen Gill, co-founder of the NatWest everywoman awards.
"Women business owners have a huge desire for growth ... these winners are truly an inspiration to other women who are thinking of starting up their own venture at this time."
Craig-Wood started Memset, "the UK's first carbon-neutral ISP", in 2002, while still a man. She was honoured with the "Demeter" everywoman award, which is sponsored by IBM, at a ceremony in London last week.
Helen Wood, Leader of IBM's UK Women’s Leadership Team, added: "Kate is a real inspiration and role model, helping to give confidence to other young women starting out on a similar journey."
Craig-Wood recently undertook a skydive above Mount Everest to raise money for the charity Computer Clubs for Girls (CC4G), which seeks to attract more young females into an IT career. ®
COMMENTS
No title.
"She pointed out that as she has got more "feminine" in appearance post op. she has found it increasingly difficult to be taken seriously in technical discussions."
I guess that's why gurus have beards.
Interesting choice
It does raise some interesting questions and should provoke discussion. Which in some ways makes her a good choice.
I heard her interviewed on the radio and was impressed by how well she talked about both the difficulties facing women in IT and also the wider issues around gender and gender reasignment.
She pointed out that as she has got more "feminine" in appearance post op. she has found it increasingly difficult to be taken seriously in technical discussions. I bet a lot of female engineers out there can relate to that.
Unbelievable
I was expecting some comments like these too, but I thought they'd be mixed at least 50/50 with well-wishers. This reflects pretty damned poorly on the Reg readership. FWIW, congratulations on the award Kate, and thanks for everything you're doing for women in the industry.

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