Elevate Wholesale taking steps to improve diversity

Elevate Wholesale has indicated that it is prepared to take proactive action to increase the level of women working across the channel, preparing to launch a Women in Channel community over the next few months designed to address the imbalanced workforce across the industry.

Elevate quoted numbers from the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER), which indicated that women make up less than one-fifth of the nation’s telecoms workforce. The low levels of females working in the channel leads to a lack of visible inspiration for others and a dearth of mentors for those girls and women who do choose to enter the industry.

Teigan Kemp, partner account manager at Elevate Wholesale, said that it felt it had to respond, having recognised the hurdles women faced: “We know that there are certain trials and tribulations that come with working in such a traditionally male-dominated sector. And we also know that, together, we can move our industry forward in a way that gives more women more opportunities to succeed.”

The firm said it is leaning on the personal experiences of its own staff to understand the difficulties women face in the industry.

Emmeline Spann, partner account manager at Elevate Wholesale, shared some insights into her career journey: “I’ve spent nearly nine years working in a predominantly male industry, and I’m very proud of the impact I’ve made.

“Women make our channel offer and our wider business a success every day, and seeing this first hand has made me very passionate about proactively ensuring women who want to work in telecoms – and in the channel specifically – get the resources they need,” she said.

The recent International Women’s Day saw many women across the industry talk of the need for more action to be taken to increase diversity. Speaking last month, Sarah Richardson, a senior developer at Assured Data Protection, said collaboration and support was one of the ways the channel would address the issue. 

“For women entering tech and STEM, my advice is to seek opportunities to learn whenever possible and identify knowledge gaps that you can address, ” she said. “Cultivate a robust network through your colleagues and industry events, such as Wit Notts. 

“A mentor can prove to be invaluable when commencing your journey in an organisation. Encourage the women in your circle to pursue opportunities and enhance their confidence. Whenever possible, offer constructive feedback to support their learning and development.”

Ellison Anne Williams, CEO of Enveil, also stressed the importance of community and working with others to support the development of women’s IT careers: “None of us can do it alone; we can and should surround ourselves with people who support our pursuits and offer encouragement when needed.

“My advice to women with entrepreneurial aspirations in tech or any other field is to go for it. Instead of letting fear or any other assumption deter, find meaningful work and pursue it. Delivering value through action will quickly quiet the doubtful – and ready the path for those who follow,” she said.

The Elevate Wholesale Women in Channel community will launch on 19 June.