Organised by Eskenzi PR in media partnership with the IT Safety Guru, the Most Inspiring Girls in Cyber Awards intention to make clear the exceptional girls in our business. The next is a characteristic on considered one of 2026’s Prime 20 girls chosen by an esteemed panel of judges. Offered in a Q&A format, the nominee’s solutions are written in their very own phrases.
In 2026, the awards had been sponsored by BT, Bridewell, Plexal and Constancy Worldwide. Neighborhood companions included WiCyS UK & Eire Affiliate, Girls in Tech and Cybersecurity Hub (WiTCH) and Seidea..
What does your job function entail?
My function as a lecturer in Laptop Science at Teesside is splendidly assorted, and that selection is among the issues I take pleasure in most about it. No two days look the identical, and I get to contribute to the college in a number of alternative ways.
Educating is essentially the most seen a part of my work, and it’s an element I genuinely love. I at the moment educate throughout 5 modules, from basis 12 months by to grasp’s stage. I lead two of those: a closing 12 months module on Service Administration and Info Governance, and an MSc module on IT Ethics and Regulation. Main and educating these modules means designing studying supplies, getting ready and delivering classes, creating and marking assessments, and supporting college students as they develop their expertise and confidence.
Analysis is one other core a part of my function, particularly in cybersecurity and utilized AI. This entails figuring out attention-grabbing questions, exploring them by investigation, and sharing the findings by publications. Alongside this, I’m concerned in actions that assist the broader analysis group, together with reviewing papers, making use of for grants, presenting at conferences, and contributing to the event of others’ work.
There’s additionally a big aspect of educational management and administration. I handle my very own analysis tasks and budgets, supervise MSc scholar theses and PhD college students, and supply pastoral assist to each undergraduate and postgraduate college students. These obligations enable me to mentor rising researchers and assist college students navigate their educational journeys.
Past educating and analysis, I contribute to the broader lifetime of the college. I participate in outreach and advertising and marketing actions similar to open days and discovery days, and I serve on university-level committees, together with the ECR Analysis Discussion board and the Athena Swan staff.
General, my function brings collectively educating, analysis, management, and group engagement.
How did you get into the cybersecurity business?
I usually say I dabbled my means into cybersecurity, and I believe that’s a well-known story for a lot of girls who grew up and studied in Nigeria within the early 2000s. After my GCSEs, it was apparent my strengths lay in arithmetic, physics, and chemistry, so engineering appeared just like the pure path. My older sibling was already learning drugs, however that was by no means going to be my route; you actually don’t need to see me making an attempt to decorate even a small scratch.
All the pieces modified when my dad, who I genuinely consider was forward of his time, introduced dwelling a pc with an enormous monitor. I used to be immediately captivated. I didn’t but know what a profession in computing may appear like, however I knew it sparked one thing in me.
I went on to review Arithmetic and Laptop Science, and though cybersecurity wasn’t a significant a part of the curriculum, the curiosity was nonetheless there. I saved questioning what it meant to safe computer systems and what alternatives may exist in that house. That curiosity ultimately led me to pursue a grasp’s diploma in Community and Info Safety at Kingston College.
That diploma opened the door to the cybersecurity world for me. I later accomplished a PhD in Laptop Science, the place I constructed and utilized machine studying algorithms to detect phishing assaults. And that’s how I discovered myself absolutely immersed within the cybersecurity business.
What is among the largest challenges you might have confronted as a girl within the tech/cyber business and the way did you overcome it?
One of many largest challenges I confronted early in my profession was the dearth of visibility and steering. I didn’t have many ladies, not to mention girls who regarded like me, who had been forward of me in cybersecurity. With out that illustration, I discovered largely by trial and error, and I’m positive I missed alternatives I didn’t even know existed. For instance, I began my MSc satisfied that “community safety” was the trail, solely to grasp later that my strengths and pursuits aligned much more with information safety. With a mentor, I might have made these selections earlier and extra strategically.
One other ongoing problem has been balancing household life with the calls for of staying seen and aggressive in tech. I’m a mum of three, and on the identical time, I’m anticipated to publish, lead tasks, and say sure to alternatives that preserve me progressing. Imposter syndrome nonetheless exhibits up sometimes, particularly in areas that stay closely male-dominated.
What has helped me overcome these challenges is a mixture of assist and intentionality. I’m lucky to have a deeply supportive companion, and Teesside College’s versatile working tradition, wellbeing assist, and dedication to gender equality have made it potential for me to develop with out burning out. Over time, I’ve additionally discovered to anchor myself in outcomes, particularly specializing in delivering robust outputs with confidence.
What are you doing to assist different girls, and/or to extend variety, within the tech/cyber business?
A giant a part of my work is ensuring the following era of cybersecurity professionals, particularly girls and other people from underrepresented backgrounds, can see themselves on this discipline and really feel supported as they develop. I mentor by Kingston College’s Past Obstacles programme, working one-to-one with college students from underrepresented backgrounds to assist them construct confidence, recognise their strengths, perceive their talent gaps, and plan their educational and profession journeys. Many merely want somebody who believes in them and will help them navigate a system not initially designed with them in thoughts.
I additionally created CipherSeen, a self-nominated, searchable listing designed to extend visibility and fairness in cybersecurity. It highlights professionals from underrepresented teams to allow them to be simply discovered for recruitment, talking engagements, panels, collaborations, and recognition alternatives.
Who has impressed you in your life/profession?
I’ve been impressed by many individuals all through my life and profession, however the very first supply of inspiration was myself. I grew up decided to create a special mindset and trajectory from what I noticed round me, and I wished my youthful siblings, nieces, and cousins to see that fields like computing and cybersecurity had been completely open to them, too.
Alongside the way in which, I’ve been formed by so many others, particularly girls in STEM, even outdoors my discipline. Seeing girls excel in areas like physics, biology and arithmetic confirmed me what was potential lengthy earlier than I had the language or confidence to assert it for myself.
My mother and father have additionally been highly effective influences. My mum went to school with a number of kids in tow and nonetheless excelled, exhibiting me what resilience and ambition appear like in actual life. My dad, sensible and forward of his time, pursued larger schooling in Nigeria when it was far much less frequent, and he by no means stopped pushing us to consider in our personal potential.
And immediately, I’m deeply impressed by my husband, Kennedy. He skilled as a civil engineer however had the braveness to pivot into a brand new business-focused profession whereas learning for an MBA. His willingness to reinvent himself jogs my memory that development is all the time potential.
All these folks, and the teachings they mannequin, proceed to form how I present up in my work and in my life.
