As part of the academic enrichment programme, students in Years 4 – Upper 5 6 were treated to an inspiring talk by June Angelides at the start of this week about women in technology, taking risks and being brave.
Born into a family of entrepreneurs, June is passionate about getting people from all backgrounds into careers in tech and helping more underrepresented founders gain access to funding. Her values mirror ours at Habs and June spoke about having the courage to make a change if you feel passionate about something and doing so in a confident and positive manner. June is a role model for working mothers, a huge advocate for mentoring and supportive communities. Having recently launched her podcast Believe It, Achieve It, June hopes to inspire women all over the world to live limitlessly. June has been awarded an MBE for services to Women in Technology.
Read what our students had to say below:
We found June’s words very inspiring and see her as a role model for our futures. Her talk was very interesting and we learnt that she played a very important role in empowering women on maternity leave at work. She was the most important and determined woman we have ever met. – Alexa Ucar and Eva Leung, Student Voice Prefects.
It was a very motivational speech and I especially enjoyed hearing about how she managed to overcome so many challenges and fears in order to achieve what she has. For me, the most inspirational thing she said was about the fact that she didn’t have any idea about what she was doing and yet not only did she take the opportunity but she also made them. – Arianna Jethwa (Year 8 pupil)
I found it inspiring how she started her own coding school for mothers from scratch, with no prior experience of programming, but still persevered when others told her that it was impossible and built much of the website for teaching how to code herself. I also thought that her advice in taking risks and rising to overcome challenges, especially as a woman of colour, was motivating to everyone at the talk. Personally, I was amazed at how she had accomplished so many incredible achievements, while balancing being a mother of three! As well as this, I loved how responsive June was with all the questions she was asked, answering each one in depth. Yanxi Jin (Year 9 student)
June Angelides – what a stunning example of the values that we hold dear as a school! June taught us the importance of cherishing mentors and leaders in our community whilst also becoming mentors ourselves and sustaining the pipeline of new leaders. She showed us the importance of hard work and dedication and inspired us to challenge ourselves and take risks. I was particularly excited to learn about June’s entrepreneurial streak- she illustrated the fulfilment she found in starting her own company and making a change in our society. ‘Mums in tech’ – born out of June’s frustration about the financial cost of childcare and the mental cost of maternity leave – allowed thousands of mothers to learn how to code while keeping an eye on their young children in a safe and stimulating environment. While June is an inspiration to the masses and invests in many different brands and businesses, for me she was also was a very poignant example of how a young black girl with a couple of dreams could become an accomplished black woman with an MBE and a strong message of encouraging women to defy the stereotypes. Anaya Jess (Year 11 student)
