Dream Big and Believe: Jo Stewart-Rattray's Guide for Women in Tech

This week, Ivy Slater, host of Her Success Story, chats with her guest, Jo Stewart-Rattray. The two talk about building a career as a woman in technology, overcoming barriers in male-dominated fields, and advancing global initiatives to support women in IT. In this episode, we discuss: How Jo Stewart-Rattray built her career as a woman in technology, starting from the infrastructure side and climbing the ranks despite being one of very few women in the field. What inspired the creation and global rollout of ISACA's She Leads Tech initiative, and how it responded directly to the needs expressed by women in technology focus groups. When Jo had her leadership "aha" moment, realizing the importance of encouraging and supporting other women rather than just pursuing her own success. Why building a strong support network, both at work and at home, is essential for women pursuing leadership roles in tech, and how having honest mentors has benefited Jo Stewart-Rattray throughout her career. Who has influenced and supported Jo Stewart-Rattray on her journey, including trusted mentors, professional peers, and her late husband, who provided personal encouragement and practical support, How she became involved with ISACA, what the organization does, and the mission of global professional development and support for technologists. Jo Stewart-Rattray, Director of Cyber Security & Assurance Jo has over 30 years' experience in the IT field some of which were spent as CIO in the Utilities and as Group CIO in the Tourism space, and with significant experience in the Information Security arena including as CISO in the healthcare sector. She underpins her information technology and security background with her qualifications in education and management.   She specialises in consulting in risk and technology issues with a particular emphasis on governance and security in both the commercial and operational areas of businesses. Jo provides strategic advice to organisations across a number of industry sectors including banking and finance, utilities, manufacturing, tertiary education, retail, healthcare and government.   Jo has extensive board and committee experience.  She has chaired a number of ISACA's international committees including the Board Audit & Risk Committee, Leadership Development and Professional Influence & Advocacy.  She served as an Elected Director on ISACA's international Board of Directors for seven years and was the founder of its global women's leadership initiative, SheLeadsTech and is Vice President, Communities for the Australian Computer Society.   CAREER HIGHLIGHTS Because of her involvement with the SheLeadsTech program and her rural background Jo was selected from a large number of candidates to be one of only two non-government delegates to join the official Australian Government delegation to the 62nd Session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW62) held in New York in March 2018.  She returned to the UN in 2019 and again virtually spoke at UN events in 2021, 2022 and conducted a conversation circle with women from 12 nations in 2023. She has spoken on Capitol Hill during a Day of Advocacy designed to bring tech leaders together in one place to discuss issues related to women in technology and then to meet with Congress representatives and Senator's offices. Jo has an annual award established in her honour to recognise her outstanding leadership and commitment to increasing the representation of women in technology leadership.  The inaugural ISACA Oceania Jo Stewart-Rattray Award was awarded in September 2018. QUALIFICATIONS, MEMBERSHIPS AND AWARDS Master of Education Studies – Psychology Bachelor of Education in Adult Education - Psychology Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA) Certified Information Security Manager (CISM) Certified in the Governance of Enterprise IT (CGEIT) Certified in Risk and Information Systems Control (CRISC) Fellow, Australian Computer Society, Certified Professional (Cyber Security) Vice President, National Rural Women's Coalition (2023-2024) Vice President (Community Boards), Australian Computer Society (2021-2024) Director, International Board of Directors, ISACA (2012-2014, 2015-2018) National ICT Professional of the Year (iAwards 2011) Paul Williams Award for Inspirational Leadership (2014) SA Women's Honour Roll Inductee (2015) IFSEC Global Top 20 Security Thought Leaders (2019) Eugene M. Frank Award for Meritorious Performance, ISACA Global (2020) Fellow & Life Member, Australian Information Security Association, AISA (2021) https://www.linkedin.com/in/jo-stewart-rattray-gaicd-4991a12/

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